Understanding Markets in North Korea: Reforms, Narcotics, and Human Rights

As an isolated socialist country, North Korea has had to face a constant challenge of justifying its own vision of economic self-reliance and the dynamics of marketization. The North Korean people’s greater access to foreign media and domestic market information has required different versions of legitimization of mass mobilization. Drawing from a variety of academic disciplines and subject-matter specializations, this year’s North Korea Economic Forum Conference will examine the role that ideology has played in shaping and constraining economic policy and economic life in North Korea, both in the Kim Jong Un era and historically.

Register here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-fourth-north-korea-economic-forum-annua...

Background on the North Korea Economic Forum

The North Korea Economic Forum (NKEF) is part of the policy program at the George Washington University’s Institute for Korean Studies (GWIKS). The Forum aims to promote the understanding of North Korean economic issues, distribute the well-balanced, deeply touched, and multi-dimensionally explored pictures of North Korean economy and to expand the network among the various North Korean economy watchers. The Forum is mostly a closed and off-the-record meeting where participants can freely and seriously discuss the critical issues. Mr. William Brown is currently the chair of the NKEF and is leading the meetings. It also organizes special conferences made public throughout the academic year. The Forum is made possible by a generous grant provided by the KDI School of Public Policy and Management.

Program