Kim Jong-un’s 10 years era, the Performance of 'Urisik(self-style)Economic Management Mearsures' and Political and economic Implication

Abstract

At the 8th Party Congress in 2021, Kim Jong-un officially acknowledged the failure of the “five-year strategy for national economic development” at the 7th Party Congress. However, from the beginning of his administration in 2012, Kim Jong-un started with the June 28 Policy , followed by the 12ㆍ1 Measures , which expanded the autonomy of factories and businesses under the Socialist Enterprise Management System , and the 5‧30 Measures that made them all-out. The Urisik(self-style) economic management measures aimed at economic reform were actively promoted. On the other hand, looking at the economic performance from 2012 to 2014 in the first half of his reign, North Korea also showed the possibility of sustainable economic growth if it continuously pushes reform measures such as expanding the autonomy of agriculture and enterprises (trade). The problem is that, due to the nature of North Korean politics, as was confirmed in the July 1 Measures during the Kim Jong-il era in 2002, reform measures involved political struggle, and national strategies such as the Economic-Nuclear parallel Line can disable domestic economic reform measures against North Korea. The point is that it causes conflict with the international community, such as sanctions against North Korea. In addition, the economic outlook for North Korea after 2021 remains bleak due to the political and economic rigidity of the North Korean system, which adheres to the failed “self-style” economic policy and cannot make any attempts beyond it.