North Koren's Six Reasons for Hope

For all the bloviating, North Korea is actually changing from the inside out, and things don't look good for its leadership.

Sokeel Park Jun 20 2013, 2:30 PM ET

The North Korean state is increasingly an anomaly in the world today, a throwback to some of the most egregious authoritarian regimes of the 20th century. The regime prevents any political dissent through collective punishment in political prison camps for not just the offending individual, but also their whole family. This means there are no known dissidents or human rights activists inside the country; no North Korean Aung San Suu Kyis or Liu Xiabos, and therefore no leaders for alternative domestic political forces to organize around......But wait, there's hope.

Here are the reasons North Korea is unsustainable.

1) Economic Divergence

2) Grassroots Glasnost

3) Explosion of Corruption

4) Refugees Bridging Back Into North Korea

5) Jangmadang (Market) Generatio

6) Bonds Between the People

It is impossible to predict the precise pathway or timeline for change in any society, let alone one with the research challenges of North Korea. The regime might even see that change is coming and proactively adapt and reform in response while managing the transformation. Or it may bunker down, and change will eventually be forced upon them. What we can be sure of though, is that these trends of empowerment are irreversible, and theymean that in the long term, change in North Korea is inevitable....To Read More...