2000년대 북한의 반(反)시장화 정책 - 실태와 평가

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to examine and evaluate the antimarketization policy that North Korea promoted in the 2000s. The key component of the anti-marketization policy is the full-scale crackdown and control of market economic activities. Thus, this paper will focus on the results, limitations, and ripple effects of the market control measures. Furthermore, structural changes in the market influenced by the control and the responses of individual markets and economic agents were also observed. The period of investigation was limited to before the onset of the 2009 current redenomination. First of all, the anti-marketization policy was found to be effective to a certain extent. The market size appeared to have somewhat decreased and business activities also have dwindled. In actuality, the size of the market, both inside and outside of the general markets and inclusive of black market did not fluctuate. In essence, the effect of control was limited. Nevertheless, the ripple effect of the market control is worth examining. The enforcement of market control and regulation intensified the monopoly of the market from the early stage and polarization between the rich and the poor deepened. In particular, a phenomenon of collusion between the business and politics becomes more evident, as such structuralized relations are believed to have a spreading effect in the North Korean regime. In addition to this, rising corruption and wavering state operating system will become a critical factor in engender instability in the regime.