By examining how North Korea, Inc. — the web of state trading companies affiliated to the Korean Workers’ Party, the Korean People’s Army, and the Cabinet — operates, this report highlights a new framework for gauging regime stability in North Korea.

Assessing regime stability in North Korea continues to be a major challenge for analysts. By examining how North Korea, Inc. — the web of state trading companies affiliated to the Korean Workers’ Party, the Korean People’s Army, and the Cabinet — operates, we can develop a new framework for gauging regime stability. As interviews with defectors who previously worked in these state trading companies indicate, the regime is able to derive funds from North Korea, Inc. to maintain the loyalty of the North Korean elites and to provide a mechanism through which different branches of the North Korean state can generate funds for operating budgets. During periods when North Korea's international isolation deepens as a result of its brinkmanship activities, North Korea, Inc. constitutes an effective coping mechanism for the Kim Jong Il regime.

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Since deadly clashes between India and China on their 2,100-mile disputed border — known as the Line of Actual Control (LAC) — nearly four years ago, the two countries have remained in a standoff and amassed an increasing number of troops on either side of the LAC. While India and China have held regular exchanges at the corps commander level since 2020, each side has also continued to militarize and invest in infrastructure in the high-altitude border regions, which may exacerbate risks of clashes or escalation. India-China competition has also deepened beyond the land border, particularly in the Indian Ocean region.

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Global Policy

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