North Korea Economic Reforms Aimed at Enhancing Kim Family Power

Cronyism at its best/worst

Two-thirds of North Korea's 24 million inhabitants live hand-to-mouth, according to UN figures, and several million depend on relief from the international community. At the same time, tens of thousands recently celebrated the country's nuclear and missile tests in the capital Pyongyang, while the government threatened the United States with a nuclear attack.

The discrepancy between North Korea's utter economic failure and surly superpower blustering is a clear indication of how necessary and urgent economic reforms are in the poorest country in Asia. Even young Kim Jong Un is feeling the pressure to deliver.