, Columnist
North Korea's Elites Are a Threat to Kim
The growth in North Korea's private economy has spawned a corrupt elite that Dear Leader Kim Jong Un must keep satisfied.
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Here's another myth about North Korea: The country is frequently described as "the world's last Stalinist state."
This is no longer the case. The North is now home to a large and growing private economy. Its existence is not officially recognized, but the regime has largely chosen not to enforce the Stalinist regulations banning almost all private economic activities. The resulting gray economy has clearly played a central role in the modest economic expansion of the last decade.