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North Korea is heading towards becoming the region's fastest growing economy

Reform remains a taboo word in the North but a few capitalist and liberal reform are transforming North Korea into the region's fastest growing economy. But new measures in the countryside appear to sanction people farming for the market rather than for the state. It represents a tacit abandonment of state collectives in favour of family farming, and seems already to have had an effect.
For the first time in decades, North Korea grew nearly enough to feed itself last year. Thanks to better harvests, the North Korean economy could grow by 7.5% this year, compared with annual growth of little more than 1% for a decade, reckons the Hyundai Research Institute, a think-tank in Seoul, the capital of South Korea. Asia's basket case could prove to be its fastest-growing economy.

The agricultural experiment seems to have been devised in secret after Kim Jong Un came to power just over three years ago following the death of his father, Kim Jong Il. It was set in motion from 2013. Initially, it allowed groups of about a dozen labourers to register as agricultural work teams, effectively reorganising the big socialist collectives that have been a feature of North Korean agriculture since the 1950s. Farmers were also allowed to retain 30% of a new quota on production--a much bigger share than before. In addition, they could keep (ie, sell on the market) any excess harvest above the quota.

http://uk.businessinsider.com/there-are-tantalizing-signs-of-liberal-reforms-in-north-korea-2015-2?r=US

(edited 9 years ago)

Reply 1

Fernand126

Austria has mixed perceptions of this. While it's great to see change and the possibility of lives slightly more dignified for North Koreans, we do not believe such a country should be given space for development until its despotic government has been dealt with.