Assessing North Korea’s New Economic Five-Year Plan

From energy to innovation, Kim Jong Un’s growth strategy is up against structural limits.

By: Lee Sang-yong

Kim Jong Un speaks to the Ninth Party Congress. Image from KCNA

North Korea’s Ninth Party Congress defined the new Five-Year Plan as a “stage of stabilization and consolidation, and gradual qualitative development.” This framing should not be dismissed as mere economic rhetoric. Rather than promising rapid growth or sweeping reform, the …