Success and failure of North Korean development strategy

Nakagawa Masahiko

No 769, IDE Discussion Papers from Institute of Developing Economies, Japan External Trade Organization(JETRO)

Abstract: This study seeks to clarify the characteristics of the DPRK development strategy, examining how a self-reliant development strategy led to economic difficulties in the country. The author describes how the strategy to construct a self-sufficient economy negatively affected investment capital, production costs, and the trade balance, causing problems that included a foreign debt problem, a lack of consumer goods in the 1970s and 1980s, and a shortage of food and energy in the 1990s. North Korea’s self-supporting economic structure has persisted, despite food and power shortages. Today’s economic growth, led by personal consumption, is strengthening this structure. It has been argued that a serious challenge to the self-supporting structure will arise during the next stage of economic development.

Keywords: self-reliance; heavy industry; shortage of consumer goods; foreign debt; Economic development (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020-03
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Published in IDE Discussion Paper = IDE Discussion Paper, No. 769. 2020-03

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