Throughout North Korea's history, it has regarded external relations
with suspicion and as a potential threat to its regime. With North Korea
working towards denuclearization, there is now hope for an economic
opening. This book examines the external economic strategies that North
Korea may consider for its reforms and development, which are related to
the East Asian economic integration process.
This book emphasizes that considering theoretical factors as well as
conditions of the North Korean economy, economic opening and integration
should have high priority, anteceding or at least being parallel to
economic reforms and transformation. Also, among various alternative
strategies for achieving the goal of economic reform and development
based on economic opening, the utilization of East Asian regional
economic integration framework would be the best option for North Korea,
because this framework can provide an opportunity for North Korea to
overcome structural problems in its external economic relations and to
circumvent political conflicts, thus leading to a smoother rapprochement
towards economic opening.
This book is timely as it shows how a new economic recovery strategy on
the Korean Peninsula may be accomplished.