Communism And Change In North Korea's Economy

North Korea has been living in a Communist government since 1918 which affected the country economically in a very drastic way. Back in 1930 North Korea had the most advanced economy in continental East Asia but things have changed since the late 1950’s when they stated the spirit of self-reliance which is when their Autarky started. Due to their “self-reliance spirit” they closed their trades and started trading a lot less to a point it started being considered Autarky.

Today North Korea only trades with specific countries which are China, India, Pakistan, Thailand, Philippines and Russia.

An autarky it’s a self-sufficiency, Independence; specifically: national economic self sufficiency and independence. The reason North Korea fits into

“Mercantilism, also called "commercialism,” is a system in which a country attempts to amass wealth through trade with other countries, exporting more than it imports and increasing stores of gold and precious metals. It is often considered an outdated system.” According to this definition North Korea would fit in Mercantilism because they try to gain more independent power by not trading and depending on other, but it wouldn’t fit as much because they simply don’t like to trade. Not exports nor imports but that doesn’t mean they still don’t do it simply up to a certain extent.

When it comes to exports and imports “In 2015, North Korea exported $2.83B and imported $3.47B, resulting in a negative trade balance of $640M.” In a perfect Mercantilist world as it was in the 16th century where you had to export more that import to have more power they wouldn’t have as much power/independence considering they still imported more than exported but in today’s world where trading is more beneficial and people are fighting for free trade and globalization these numbers could turn North Korea into a Mercantilist nation, easily the only country with

Another characteristic that’s important in Mercantilism is the thriving of agriculture encouraged in one’s country. Less foods imported as possible.

Back in 2016 North Korea found themselves with a scarce of food which gave them the need of having to open more imports on food than they already had. “As a result, the country will need to import 694,000 tons of food -- just 300,000 tons of which is expected to be covered by government imports”. This issue contradicts the Mercantilist characteristic of less food imports. Although their plan is to not have any imports on food which its affecting their citizens they’re still having imports.

A very important characteristic of Mercantilisms is the belief in raw material. In Mercantilism raw materials such as gold, platinum and coal were considered were important as they were the most valuables. “The most recent exports are led by Coal Briquettes which represent 33.6% of the total exports of North Korea, followed by Non-Knit Men’s Coats, which account for 5.98%” This statement goes against the belief in Mercantilism as although their main exports and productions are raw material its followed by a product the next main export at it is Non-knit