Presenter: Kyungla Chae
Mentor: Shankha Charkaborty, Economics
Oral Presentation
Majors: Economics and International Studies
North Korea has been characterized by the mass media as a dormant country, one that stopped developing since the 60s, and where no economic freedom is guaranteed. This thesis questions such a notion and examines the economic development and social change in North Korea through the Kaesong Industrial Complex (KIC), a Special Economic Zone (SEZ) between the two Koreas. During the great famine in the mid-1990s, millions reportedly died of starvation and the state could no longer provide for its people. Amidst great despair and desperation grew an informal market called jang ma dang. This informal economy brought in a sense of individualism and reprioritization of personal needs over loyalty to the regime. The capitalist mindset of the people in how they perceived of themselves and the country corresponds to changes within KIC. North Korea’s future prosperity depends on the efforts by the complex in putting economic pragmatism over politics, presenting favorable conditions for foreign investments, improving technology and infrastructure, and training its workers for international business. Most importantly, it is argued that the KIC has the potential to be integrated into North Korean ideology over time. The regime can use KIC as an example to achieve both political stability and economic prosperity.