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 Jong