 North Korea as a Military DictatorshipPeace Economics, Peace Science, and Public Policy, 2013, vol. 19, issue 3, 459-471 Abstract: In this paper I apply the model of dictatorship, developed in my 1998 book, The Political Economy of Dictatorship, and elsewhere, to understand the workings of the North Korean regime. I argue that initially, under Kim Il Sung it was a Soviet-style regime but the shocks of the 1990s – the fall of communism in Russia and Eastern Europe, the capitalist turn of China, the economic takeoff of South Korea and the succession crisis caused by Kim Il Sung’s death threatened the stability of that regime. Kim Jong Il shored up the regime by marrying it to the military. However, military rule is typically unstable. Kim Jong Il resolved this paradox essentially by militarizing the entire society. This is the distinctive feature of the regime. I analyze the stability of that regime, and ask whether engagement or isolation is the best way for the rest of the world to deal with North Korea. Keywords: North Korea; military; dictatorship (search for similar items in EconPapers) Downloads: (external link) Related works: Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:bpj:pepspp:v:19:y:2013:i:3:p:459-471:n:6 Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from Access Statistics for this article Peace Economics, Peace Science, and Public Policy is currently edited by Raul Caruso More articles in Peace Economics, Peace Science, and Public Policy from De Gruyter |
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