
Abstract. The paper deals with various aspects of economic and social crisis in the DPRK on the eve of 2010’s. Basically, there is an evident functional paralysis of the command economy that leads to its complete decay and breakdown. The result is emergence of a set of isolated sectors and segments living by different rules. Also, it triggers major social processes which undermine the stability of North Korean political system and its ideology. Different options of future developments are considered in the light of possible similarities with processes characteristic of the Soviet Union, East European countries and China in the past. Special attention is paid to actual and potential role of external factors, primarily to the influence of Chinese policy towards North Korea and the recent contacts with South Korea.
Keywords: North Korea, Kim Jong Il, Workers' Party of Korea (WPK), State Defense Committee, trade and economic zone (TAZ), special economic zone (SEZ), China’s factor
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