North Korea has long been a conservative and closed socialist country, and even after the past few years of liberalization details about this country are still largely unknown. However, recently the situation of the world has been changing rapidly, and under these stimuli, North Korea can not start but to open its doors. In this paper, we try to analyze the international relations and economic/trade conditions of North Korea, and to give a more concrete picture about this country.
There are four main sections in this paper in addition to the introduction and
conclusion. Chapter II deals with the background of the economic development of North Korea. Chapter III focuses on the international relations and the movements of trade in North Korea. Chapter IV briefly looks at the trade relations between North Korea and its main economic partners. Chapter V discusses the present state of the North Korean economy, and predicts its future developments.
The economic development of North Korea can be divided into four stages: nationalization; collectivization; industrialization; and a modernized and scientific basically national defense and heavy industry. From stressing a self-sufficient economy and asserting the “Chuche” Principle, economic movement has thus only been a vehicle of politics.
As for international relations, the former Soviet Union and Mainland China have been the most important partners both economically and diplomatically. Recently, due to the great demand for capital and technology, North Korea has started to liberalize its foreign policy and to attract foreign capital. In the past, the insistence on a self-sufficient economy made its international trade inactive. Were it not for the need of foreign currency to import goods, its exports would continue to be ignored. In this paper, we describe the trading conditions between North Korea and Russia, Mainland China, Japan, Germany, South Korea and other developing countries.
Generally speaking, the public infrastructure in North Korea is very poor, and the industrial development is out of balance. The economy stagnated after 1990. In the present stage, they are desperately seeking foreign capital and technology to solve their economic problems.
In summary, the present conditions of North Korea are: (a) gradual liberalization and opening, (b) rather stable politics, (c) social conditions are in order, (d) essential goods are in shortage, (e) a shortage of foreign currency, and a poor credit standing, (f) laws and regulations are imperfect, (g) public utilities are insufficient, and (h) information is not readily available.
