North Korea’s reputation as a potentially lucrative investment environment has taken a significant beating over the past decade and a half. Hopes that the 1994 Agreed Framework could have led to a major opening of the North Korean economy – in the way expected of the recent Iran nuclear deal – have since been revealed to be premature.

The subsequent Six-Party Talks, which could have also led to a grand bargain on the nuclear issue, collapsed with great fanfare following Pyongyang’s unilateral walkout in 2009. And today, with two nuclear tests and three satellite launches under his belt, Kim