Although largely unnoticed and still basically unknown outside the country, the early 1990s witnessed a revolution in the way North Korean state-owned enterprises (SOEs) were managed. The North Koreans emulated China and went far further, before they even had a name for what they were doing: “Grasping the big, letting go of the small” (抓大放小).

Back in 1997, the Chinese government released ,control over a large number of smaller SOEs, privatizing them, while maintaining state control and support for enterprises in strategic industries – heavy industry, defense, telecommunications, transport et al.