ABSTRACT
North Korea’s regime and system of government are increasingly anachronistic. North Korea’s form of communism, with its dynastic leadership and emphasis on juche, is unique. Contemporary assessments predicted a complete withdrawal of American forces within years, a prospect that may have encouraged the North to expand its military capability. The review of North Korea’s agricultural policy undertaken by the regime and the UN Development Programme in Geneva in May 1998 was the North’s clearest recognition of the need for change, suggesting that the regime may be responding to international pressure. North Korea’s economic crisis, and Pyongyang’s apparent inability to reverse it, have led observers to question the regime’s ability to survive. The UN International Narcotics Control Board has reported anecdotal evidence of opium farms in North Korea. The Soviet Union was shipping $1.9bn-worth of goods to North Korea in return for products valued at less than $0.9bn – nearly three-fifths of the North’s total trade turnover.
