Leadership Change and Economic Reform in North Korea

On September 12, the Mansfield Foundation hosted a roundtable discussion with Marcus Noland, Deputy Director and Senior Fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics.  The roundtable addressed the recent leadership change in North Korea and the prospects for economic reform. Dr. Noland highlighted the new developments in North Korea’s internal politics, economic policy and the external environment that could indicate potential for the country’s economic reform. He also emphasized challenges facing the leadership, including a potential gap between their aspirations and capacity, and the difficulty of convincing the citizenry of their credibility.