To what extent has North Korea achieved Economic Liberalisation?

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North Korea has a communist style of governance, and the role of market allocation schemes is limited. Basically, the country has a centrally planned economy with a total GDP of nearly 20 billion USD. It was expected to reach 21.24 USD billion by the end of 2023 and 25.06 USD billion in 2024. Comparably, North Korea’s GDP is 57 times smaller than that of South Korea’s GDP. The Gross Value Added (GVA) of the country is dominated by agriculture, followed by the manufacturing and construction sectors. North Korea had a similar GDP to its neighbour from the time of the Korean War until of mid-1970s. However, estimating the isolated nation’s GDP is actually a difficult task because of the lack of availability of data.

In this context, now the pertinent question is whether North Korea will open its economy or even if it tries to open its economy will it be effective to improve its economic conditions. After the failure of North Korea’s economy in 2021, and due to the constant sluggish economic growth, in 2023, President Kim Jong Un announced to ‘re-energise‘ the industrial production to put the economy back on track of pre-Covid disruption. As per the state media sources, the cabinet is constantly attempting to ensure the achievement of its economic indices along with sustainability. Putting the economy on a normal track will also improve the living standards of the people. Last year, the cabinet focused on ensuring that 2023 would be the year of development, as the country has celebrated 75 years of its foundation.

Economy Status from Soviet Era to Pre-Covid Era

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All the views and opinions expressed are those of the author. Image Credit – Vecteezy.

About the Author

Sanchaly Bhattacharya is a teaching assistant at the Jindal School of International Affairs (JSIA). She is a contributing writer for various think tanks and news media outlets such as Organisation for Research on China and Asia (ORCA), Defence and Security Alert Magazine and Modern Diplomacy. She is currently pursuing Master of Arts (MA) in Diplomacy, Law & Business from O. P. Jindal Global University (JGU) and Master of Public Administration (MPA) in Governance & Public Policy from Netaji Subhash Open University, Kolkata. She holds a Bachelors degree in Geography & Economics from West Bengal State University.

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