When Will We See Economic Reform?

When will North Korea see economic reform? Well, who the hell knows. We're a seeing reform at a snail's pace. Obviously North Korea isn't going to go the China route. Kim Jong-il is afraid of losing his grip on power. He has a cult following and doesn't want to see it go. Deng Xiopeng didn't have a cult personality and wanted rule centered around the Communist Party. KJI on the other hand doesn't want to see the Korean Workers Party have the central authority, he wants the power all to himself (Obviously he didn't go to a good pre-school).

But another factor that comes into this is hereditary succession. If the KWP is in power, they won't go through with KJI's plan. The North Korean people seeing the Kim family economic plan will begin questioning of the central authority and can lead to rebellion.

The obvious part is having the outside world come in. When a bunch of North Koreans had to come back from working in Russia they ouright refused to do so after seeing how great it was outside of North Korea. They even hired mercenaries to guard the complex.

So what can we wait for? Well, his successor. His son can bring about economic reforms and lead North Korea out of its cave. KJI would be dead by then, and North Korea will become a modern country again. If not that, we could see a political coup. The KWP getting rid of North Korea and introducing reforms.