An Arduous March: The Development of North Korea's Political Economy

Amelia, Rudy and Matt sit down to discuss the Democratic People's Republic of Korea's political economy, with a focus on the distinct periods. We discuss the "information problem" and how it frames the discussion, before detailing the history of the DPRK's formation after Japanese colonialism and the Korean War. We then discuss the detailed planning period, its unraveling in the mid 80s, and the Arduous March period after the collapse of the USSR, before finishing off with the present periods of market reform and market elimination.

References:

Charles K. Armstrong - The North Korean revolution, 1945-1950

Ellen Brun, Jacques Hersch - Socialist Korea: a case study in the strategy of economic development

Liu Jinlong - Crying Forests: Political Ecology in the DPRK

Yang Mun-su - North Korea's Planned Economy and Marketization

Daniel Schwekendiek - A Socioeconomic History of North Korea

Phillip H. Park - History of Economic Management in North Korea

Zhihua Shen, Yafeng Xia - A Misunderstood Friendship: Mao Zedong, Kim Il-Sung, and Sino-North Korean Relations, 1949-1976