광복 80년, 북한 경제 80년 - 영광, 좌절 그리고 재건설의 역사

초록

Since the division of Korea, the two Koreas have taken different paths of development. Traditionally, the economies of the two Koreas were complementary. Despite the one-sided economic structure during the Japanese colonial period, the North and South exchanged resources and heavy industry in the North, and light industry and food in the South, as symbolized by the phrase “electricity in the North, rice in the South.” However, the division of Korea severed this complementary economic structure, and since then, the economies of the two Koreas have pursued separate paths of development. Over the past 80 years, North Korea’s economy has seen its share of glory, setbacks, and struggles to rebuild. Today, under Kim Jong Un, the country is focusing all its energy on rebuilding its economy. While the country hasn’t abandoned its traditional path of self-reliance, it’s a far cry from the past. The North Korean economy is currently facing a number of challenges. Externally, the country is faced with a stalled relationship with the United States and international sanctions and blockades that prevent it from accessing global markets, and internally, it is battling a lack of resources, past inertia, and corruption. Nevertheless, recent economic conditions appear to be improving. In particular, in 2024, the country announced that it had surpassed all of its projections, albeit from North Korea. On the other hand, however, exchanges and cooperation between North and South Korea, which once took place with the hope of an “economic community,” have come to a complete standstill, and the dramatic changes in inter-Korean and North American relations in 2018 have resulted in a relationship of stalemate and conflict without any results. With North Korea’s declaration of “two states” in 2023, exchanges and cooperation are unlikely to be expected in the near future. In the end, the economies of North and South Korea, which had been running separate “divided economies” since the division of the country, were driven further apart. It is now time for us to end the era of exchanges and cooperation based on the win-win model and explore new models of exchanges and cooperation.

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