The North Korean leadership’s recent integration of financial committees and microeconomic agricultural and enterprise reform may indicate a willingness to pursue economic development.

Bradley O. Babson, Chair of the DPRK Economic Forum at the U.S.-Korea Institute, John Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), told NK Newsthat North Korea has the potential to grow like other Asian “miracle” economies like Japan, South Korea or Taiwan. However, Babson, who is also a member of the Advisory Council of the Korea Economic Institute of America, believes that the question is whether North Koreans have “the will to develop policies that will