The North Korean Economy: Between Crisis and Catastrophe

by Eberstadt,Nicholas

• ISBN13: 9781412810524
• ISBN10: 1412810523
• Format: Nonspecific Binding
• Copyright: 2009-02-28
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

Viewed from afar, North Korea may appear bizarre, orpositively irrational. But as Nicholas Eberstadt demonstratesin this meticulously researched volume, there is agrim coherence to North Korea’s political economy, anda ruthless logic undergirding it-one that unreservedlysubordinates economic welfare to augmentation of politicalpower. Thus, paradoxically, even as official policies andpractices consign the DPRK economy to a perilous realmbetween crisis and catastrophe, the country’s leadershipmaintains unchallenged domestic control and has actuallymanaged to increase its international influence.Through painstaking collection of hard-to-uncoverdata and careful analysis, Eberstadt provides a quantitativetableau of North Korea’s terrible failure in its economicrace against South Korea; its stubborn adherence to policiesall but guaranteed to stifle growth and undermineeconomic performance; and the longstanding officialeffort to ignore, or mitigate, pressures for economicreform.Eberstadt is skeptical of optimistic accounts from SouthKorea and elsewhere suggesting that the North Koreanleadership is interested in resolving the current nuclearimpasse, and getting on with the business of reform anddevelopment. So long as Pyongyang’s rulers entertain theambition of reunifying the Korean peninsula on its ownterms, Eberstadt argues, economic reforms worthy of thename will be subversive of state authority-and vigilantlyresisted by Pyongyang’s rulers. This authoritative volumehas received widespread attention from Asian specialists,well as those concerned with nuclear proliferation andworld peace, and international relations professionalsin general.

Author Biography

Nicholas Eberstadt holds the Henry Wendt Chair in Political Economy at the American Enterprise Institute. His previous works on Korean affairs include The Population of North Korea (1992, co-author), Korea. Approaches Reunification (1995), The End of North Korea (1999), Korea's Future and the Great Powers (2001, co-editor), and A New International Engagement Framework for North Korea? Contending Perspectives (2004, co-editor).

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	p. ix
Preface	p. xi
Reform, Muddling Through, or Collapse?	p. 1
"Our Own Style of Statistics": Availability and Reliability of Official Quantitative Data	p. 17
International Trade in Capital Goods, 1970-1995: Indications from "Mirror Statistics"	p. 61
Interlocking Crises in Food, Energy, and Transport Equipment: Indications from "Mirror Statistics"	p. 99
Socioeconomic Development in Divided Korea: A Tale of Two "Strategies"	p. 127
Prospects for Inter-Korean Economic Cooperation in the "Sunshine" Era	p. 159
Economic Recovery in the DPRK: Status and Prospects	p. 197
If North Korea Were Really "Reforming" How Could We Tell and What Would We See?	p. 221
Economic Implications of a "Bold Switchover" in DPRK Security Policy	p. 245
North Korea's Survival Game: Understanding the Recent Past, Thinking about the Future	p. 275
List of Abbreviations and Definitions of Specific Korean Terms	p. 313
Index	p. 317
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