Paul French -- North Korea: state of paranoia
===============================================

It's a fascinating book because it describes a world that is so
different from the one I live it.

It's also captivating because we know so little and because so
little information is allowed to get out of North Korea.

This book also contains an extensive critique of command economies
in general along with many notes on the difficulties they encounter.
In North Korea, certainly, the difficulties have overwhelmed and
defeated the system.  It worked for awhile.  I was surprised to
learn the North Korea actually led South Korea in economic growth
through the 1960's and early 1970's.  But, that turned out to be a
trap that led North Korea's leaders to believe that they had a
successful system.  Then, due to ideological and psychological
factors that French describes, they could not and would not changed
course, in spite of the failure of the economic system and the
collapse of industrial production.  Basically, almost all other
countries dropped the command economy and central planning models
after finding that these systems failed, but North Korea was unable
or unwilling to change.

North Korea cannot keep the lights on.  It produces such low quality
goods and machinery, that the need for maintenance outstrips
production.  It has been able to struggle on for as long as it has
only because of foreign aid: monetary aid from Russia mainly for a
time, but no longer, and humanitarian aid to feed a population that
it cannot feed by itself and whose government cannot either.

For an indication of how unwilling the leadership of North Korea is
to allow change, read French's account of their experiment with an
SEZ (special economic zone).  Even there, at Sinuju, they kept it so
isolated from the rest of the country, for fear that it would be
viewed favorably and spread I suppose, that it really had little
chance of succeeding or of doing much good for the rest of North
Korea.

And, why do they stay that way?  The most likely answer is that the
ruling elite believe that any change not under their control would
threaten their privileged positions.  Given a choice between
improving the miserable conditions of daily life for most people in
North Korea and maintaining their privileged positions, they have
chosen to sacrifice the people and save themselves.

A number of factors keep North Korea from collapsing completely: (1)
Humanitarian aid helps to feed the general population, but it's
unknown how much of that food aid goes to feed the military, or even
is sold at a profit by the military and other elites.  A major
motivation for this aid is to reduce suffering, but even without
that motivation, we'd want this aid continued so as to forestall the
day when North Koreans defect en-mass because of starvation, which
would be disastrous for South Korea and possibly China, too.  And,
(2) an army of more than one million men plus an incredible number
of artillery pieces pointed at Seoul, South Korea plus something in
the way of nuclear weapons makes dealing with North Korea in any
forceful way something that no one wants to consider.

North Korea is also interesting because it is so dangerous.  And, it
is intended to be dangerous by its leadership.  North Korea protects
itself by making clear to other countries, in particular South Korea
and the U.S., that if threatened, it could cause damage and death,
especially in South Korea that is unimaginable and unacceptable.
That helps explain why they have a one million man army, why they
have nuclear weapons, and why they keep a huge number of
(conventional) artillery pieces pointed at Seoul, South Korea.
Don't forget that Seoul is a mere 30 miles from the North Korean
border.

This is also part of the explanation for North Korea's "military
first" policy, and why so much in the way of resources is given to
the military and spent on armaments while the rest of the country
suffers and often goes hungry.

French's opinion is that it is a bizarre political system, a
bizarre economic system, and a country with bizarre foreign
relations.  It's fascinating to read about how that came about and
to get a few clues at least about why it remains the way it is.

North Korea is actually moving farther away from a socialist system
in the sense that it no longer distributes goods and services to its
people.  It is no longer able to do so.  That's sad, of course,
because the people suffer.  From the point of view of the outside
world, North Koreans suffer because a capitalist system has not
replaced, and is not allowed to replace that failed socialist
system.  Prior to the famine in the 1990's, the unspoken contract
was that the North Korean people surrendered their freedom, and in
exchange, their needs would be taken care of by the state.  But,
that deal has fallen apart.

If you are fascinated by North Korea, then you may also want to read
"Nothing to envy", by Barbara Demick.  Demick's book is an account
of the lives and experiences of a small number of defectors from
North Korea. It's much more personal and much less academic and
analytic than French's book, and it's just as eye-opening and
fascinating.

Read enough of these two books and you wonder how and why North
Korea has not not collapsed completely into chaos.  Fear,
intimidation, government surveillance, and brutal punishment are
certainly part of the explanation.  French also mentions a lack of a
culture of dissent or rebellion, and how could we expect there to be
when dissent is punished so severely and brutally.  Also, there is a
lack of information from the world outside Korea, although Demick
does talk about some North Koreans who receive help from Japanese
relatives, so some information must get in.  Another part is
extensive "education" about the devils outside North Korea (the U.S.
especially, but also South Korea) and about the need for
self-reliance and for support of the KWP (Korean Workers Party) and
the DPRK (Democratic People's Republic of Korea), and the country.
And, that collapse is not even something we want to hope for, since
it would likely mean chaos and destruction in South Korea, too.

01/28/2015

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