Changes occurring in North Korea’s economy under Kim Jong Un have largely passed by unnoticed in the international media: missiles and nuclear weapons typically occupy most column inches. But analysis by NK Pro of North Korean laws and South Korean academic sources indicates that the changes occurring inside the industrial sector are real, if nebulous.

The DPRK is a heavily urbanized, industrial, and highly impoverished country of 25 million people. Changes in this sector matter for the North Korean people and state.

NK Pro analysis and existing South Korean research involving refugees from the DPRK