North Korea: The New Capitalists!

 By: Eunice Chang

Hello AP Econ!
Eunice here, again. I was lucky enough to have two blog entries back to back, considering my last name is at the beginning of the alphabet.  Anyways, let’s get to it.

Like my last post, I will be giving a brief summary. In the very recent article “North Korea: The new capitalists”, from the Economist talks about how North Korea’s new leader, Kim Jong Un, is starting to stray away from traditional North Korean values. Obviously this will be a long enduring process, however, North Korea is becoming more modern by the second. Since North Korea is a Communist country, to see any type of “freedom” in their economy is unheard of. In recent times, a lot of “under grown” capitalist exchanges have been made. This may be confusing, so I will explain. In the 1990’s, North Korea suffered with a famine. This opened opportunity for a new sort of North Korean trading. Obviously many of these people are smallholders, mainly women who were trying to sell vegetables from what their families had. Although there is little information about this, individuals are able to strive and operate by exporting raw materials to China, with the return of various consumer goods. An informal “money-exchanging” system is used to shift funds in and out of the country. Although government officials have tried different regimes to suppress this “farmers’ market” and catch smugglers, cash can bribe their ways out of trouble. This is now becoming an indispensable part of their whole economy.  It is crazy how North Korea is starting to hit somewhat of a “revolution” today.

  

Current President, Kim Jong Un, waving international money in the air. This also shows that there is economic revolution present in North Korea.

North Korea has always been in the back of my mind, probably because I happen to be Korean. Although my family is from South Korea, changes in North Korea not only affect them, but the whole world. Since North Korea is an extremely dangerous place for “outsiders”, we are constantly on the “lookout” for anything that may be fishy or threatening. To see any budge, even little like this, is just one step closer to revolution. Although that may be a very scary thing for some, it is kind of fascinating to see it in our lifetime. I’m not saying that they’re going to be a free market Capital economy like America tomorrow, but there are some tints of color in their economy now. It may take centuries and many lifetimes for North Korea to become truly “free”, but they’re certainly making progression (even if it’s the way they want it to be).  

Signs of Liberation in North Korea (in the economy and not in the economy):

- Kim Jong Un

·         He is the most modernized president North Korea has ever seen.

·         Speaks in Public (this was very rare for past North Korean presidents)

·         He is not polygamous. He has one wife.

-          Relationship with China

·         Although there are no “official” economic partnerships, there have been many “underground” economic deals, trades going on.

-          Missionary Work

·         Many “outsiders” are seeking jobs (like teaching English) in North Korea so that they can spread awareness and do missions work throughout North Korea

Although there are extremely small fluctuations in North Korea’s economy, this can lead to greater things. It is tragic to see the poverty in which some of the North Koreans live in. This is AP Econ, and we are talking about the economy, but it is cool to see that the changes in the economy of a certain country can completely change the lives of some individuals. Economics is doing things, people. It’s changing lives.

If you want to help bring liberty in North Korea, please visit: http://libertyinnorthkorea.org/