Reforms have brought record harvests and economic growth in North Korea

[Tennis]

http://www.theguardian.com/world/201...ons?CMP=twt_gu

Kim Jong-un, the third hereditary ruler of North Korea, gets a really bad press. He is widely seen as a capricious, overweight youngster, fond of executing his generals and threatening the world with war; ruler of an impoverished country ever on the brink of famine but equipped with nuclear weapons.

There is some truth in this description but it does not represent the whole story. He may have a penchant for executions, but Kim is also the first ruler of the dynasty to implement market-oriented reforms.


The oft-repeated cliche of North Korea as a “starving Stalinist country” is outdated – it is neither starving nor Stalinist. Experts agree that over the past decade the country has not only recovered from the disastrous famine of the late 1990s, but has also experienced significant economic growth. Pessimists put the annual growth rate at about 1.5%, while the optimists believe it may be close to 4%.

This growth was brought about, above all, by the emergence of the private economy. While on paper private entrepreneurial activities remain illegal, the law is seldom, if ever, enforced. As a result some North Koreans – the more entrepreneurial, lucky, well-connected and ruthless of them – have recreated the market economy from scratch. Nowadays, there are private mines, truck companies and oil refineries in North Korea.

[Kalis]

Aah, look at his happy little chubby face...

[fengosa]

This isn't too surprising. Asia as a whole has done well economically the last decade. It's a great that more people have a higher standard of living but I'll guess there's still a great deal of human rights issue to address in North Korea. Economic growth doesn't mean much if you're in prison for something your grandparents did.