The Future Possibilities of North Korea - The Future Possibilities of North Korea

In global politics, North Korea is considered to be one of the most controversial countries around the world. In most of the situation, North Korea has been described and referred to as the rogue nation because of its withdrawn status and lack of any significant economic ties or collaboration with any other country. The political tension between the North and South Korea has persisted for the last seven decades since the Korean Peninsula split into the two independent countries. However, in the recent past, North Korea has made significant steps that have rekindled the hope of a North Korea that will be more economically and politically liberated. There was much hope when the leaders of the two nations met and held negotioations that the it will result in improvements on the issue between the two nations. Notably, in early 2018, the leader of North Korea and the US held negotiation and better results are expected to come from the same. The recent political engagements between the leader of North Korea and those of South Korea and the US is expected to pave the way for both political reforms and economic liberalization that will significantly benefit civilians in the country.

The political challenges facing North Korea can be traced back to the splitting of unified Korea in the course of the 1940s. As explained by Pruitt (2018), before the creation and emergence of North and South Korea, there was one single unified Korean Peninsula. In 1948, the involvement of the US and the Soviet Union resulted in a crash of interests of these two nations. In the Northern region of the Korean Peninsula, the Soviet Union established a communist regime to the dissatisfaction of the United States (Pruitt, 2018). In the Southern region of the Peninsula, the United States established a military government. These events were followed by social stratification of the Koreans along their social status and economic activities. Specifically, most of the laborers and peasant population settled in the North, while the majority of the middle-income population moved and settled in the south of the Peninsula. The United States favored the South and initiated anti-communist policies from the North, while the northern region and side were placed under the communist regime that was propagated by the former Soviet Union. On close examination, the North was comprised of an economically weak peasant population, while the south was comprised of the economically empowered society with middle-class status.

Scholars around the world have unanimously agreed that the splitting of the Korean Peninsula was one of the noticeable implications of the cold war between the US and the Soviet Union. According to Felician (2011), the fact that the Korean Peninsula split into different political blocks is a clear manifestation of the long-standing legacy of the Cold War. The political indifferences between the North and South Korean have led to an increase in the political tension between these nations. Notably, the two distinct and contrasting political systems exist under what has been described as fragile peace that can be broken at any given time. The existence of the demilitarized zone between the two nations deployed with troops from both sides has significantly demonstrated the significance of military and political tensions between the two sides. There is a need to downsize the militarization of the country’s affairs in North Korea and asses ways through which the country can be liberated politically and economically. The most affected by the political and economic exclusivity of North Korea from the world are the civilians. The country has channeled its limited revenue to the creation of nuclear weapons that have attracted a wide range of reactions from different leaders around the world.

North Korea has lived in constant fear and military paranoia about an imminent attack either from the United States or from South Korea. For this reason, North Korea has prioritized on the development of nuclear weapons in defiance to world orders that demands denuclearization of the country. However, having nuclear arsenal is seen as a defense mechanism of North Korea against an imminent attack from the West or South Korea.

There is a wide array of factors that have resulted in a weak economic system in North Korea country. Frail economy is usually a great liability to the citizens of the affected country that strains them to empower themselves. One of the major factors that have contributed to poor economic status in North Korea is the communist political system. From both political and sociological perspectives, communism is usually defined as a socioeconomic and political ideology and a movement, the ultimate objective of which is the establishment of a communist society where means of production and major drivers of the economy are under common ownership (Song, 2010). The communist economic structure and related policies from the government tend to limit and suppress the entrepreneurial spirit among the citizens. Considering that most of the North Koreans are peasant farmers and casual laborers, it becomes difficult for individuals in such state to progress economically. Therefore, if North Korea had another political and economic system, for example, such as capitalism, there is a high likelihood that most of the citizens would have accessed resources that are essential to improve the economic status.

The other factor that has contributed to a weak economic system in North Korea is the economic and political exclusivity that characterizes the country. North Korea is considered one of the most isolated economies at the global stage. The country has no significant trade ties with any other country making it most excluded in the world. One of the components that have contributed and worsened the economic isolation of North Korea is the sanctions that have been implemented against the country mostly by the United States and other western countries across Europe. As explained Whitty, Kim, and Crick (2006), most of the sanctions that have been imposed on North Korea by the United States and other entities have mainly political reasons. North Korea has not only been sanctioned by the western countries but has also by key international bodies such as the United Nations and the European Union. Most of the sanctioned parties are targeted at economic activities of North Korea including exportation and importation, and the transfer of money to and from the country. Such sanctions have denied North Korea a myriad of opportunities to transact business with other willing nations at the expense of the citizens.

With the recent improvement of the trade ties of diplomatic relationships between South Korea and the United States, the future of North Korea can be described as promising. First, one of the most notable effects of the recent negotiations between the leader of North Korea and the United States is lifting of some of the harsh economic sanctions. According to Salama and Talley (2018), the United States has considered holding off some of the economic sanctions that had been proposed against North Korea. The event of the United States lifting its economic and political sanctions against North Korea is expected to start a similar trend of lifting the sanction from other countries and international bodies. By the removal of the economic sanctions inposed on North Korea, the economy of the country will be open to possible trade ties with other countries around the world. When economic sanctions are lifted, the country will be open to many investment opportunities from the leading economies around the world such as China, the US, and Russia.

Continued lifting of sanctions against North Korea will also lead to key international bodies lifting sanctions and guiding the country towards utilization of the existing economic agencies. For instance, when the United Nations lifts its sanctions against North Korea, the country will be liable for funding from major international financial organizations and institutions such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) or the Development Bank (DB) in the region. These international financial institutions are known to accelerate revenue aimed at funding infrastructure development in the target country. Specifically, lifting of sanctions targeted at North Korea is expected to accelerate development funding into the country that has had a long history of using its limited revenue to fund its military capabilities (Lee, 2018). As a result, the road network in North Korea will significantly be improved, which will open up the country for more economic activities. Further, North Korea would be expected to receive funding aimed at the construction of essential social amenities that include schools and hospitals. Therefore, with an increasing improvement in diplomatic relations with other nations, North Korea is expected to significantly benefit from the lifting of the sanctions that been imposed on the country.

One of the major occurrences that have high probability and possibilities of North Korea is a complete denuclearization of the country. It is a fact that one of the aspects that have resulted in isolation and alienation of North Korea includes its continued involvement in the development of nuclear weapons and other weapons capable of mass destruction. The United States has been on the forefront in formulating strategies and ways of shutting down the nuclear program in North Korea. As explained by Shin and Heavey (2018), the agenda that dominated the negotiation between the leader of North Korea and that of South Korea was discussion and evaluation of practical solutions that can be used to oversee the process of denuclearization. Additionally, this year, the current president of the United States had mentioned a possibility of utilizing a military intervention aimed at getting North Korea to shut its nuclear program. However, the leader of North Korea opened up and allowed diplomatic processes to prevail in search of a solution to the issue of nuclear tension that North Korea has continued to create at the global level. Therefore, it is expected that future North Korea will completely be denuclearized and that the global community will reconsider renewing political relations with the country. The denuclearization of North Korea will also end the military tension that was increasing on a daily basis between North Korea and the United States. It can, therefore, be stated that a bright future for North Korea about better political ties and relations with other countries depends mainly on denuclearization.

Another possibility that is expected on the side of North Korea includes improvement of the political and economic relations with South Korea. The two leaders of North and South Korea have met, and much is expected to come from the negotiations that they held. Over 70 years have elapsed since the Korean Peninsula split into two parts. However, in the context of the current improved political ties between the two nations, it would be expected that both countries will start collaborating. Specifically, one of the major events that will result in this is the abolishment of the demilitarized zone that exists between the two countries. Therefore, a future possibility for North Korea includes improved relations with its southern counterpart.

Over time, North Korea is expected to accelerate both political and economic reforms that will serve to greatly benefit the civilians in the country. It is a fact that the current and prevalent political system of communism operates under the dictatorial principles. The dictatorial regime in the country has resulted in the formulation of weak economic policies that are of no help to the North Korean populace. The current communist government system focused most of its resources on the funding of military campaigns and the nuclear program. It has been revealed that North Korea has prioritized on military projects and the nuclear program at the expense of civilians. Notably, the government has neglected some of the essential services and economic sectors that benefit the citizens directly. Some of these essential services that the government has neglected include public health, agriculture, food production, and household development for the citizens. As explained by Yop (n.d.), the North Korean government has continued to violate some of the major human rights in the country. However, as there are no mechanisms that enforce human rights in the country and the country is not subject to the oversight of the United Nations, the government has continued to act in impunity about human rights.

Therefore, in the wake of political reforms, North Korea is expected to significantly benefit from a change to a political system that observes and respect human rights. It is a sad fact that the current government regime does not in any way guarantee the basic living conditions that people need. For instance, because of the communist tendencies in the country, no person is required to own land in the country. Land is owned and controlled by the ruling party in the country, which runs the government. From an economic perspective, the land is identified as one of the major factors of production. When people or citizens in a country are not required to acquire and own any piece of land, such a provision is a strategy by the government to deny its citizens capacity of ever empowering themselves economically. It is more unfortunate because most of the civilians in the country are peasant farmers and the fact that they can never own any land means that they can never exercise any autonomy in farming. These are some of the things that should change in the future and accelerate ownership of land by the citizens and allow them to exercise autonomy and independence in farming. Such an economic reform will facilitate more production of food and will cushion the population from the persistent challenge of starvation and hunger.

In conclusion, it is a fact that there is a wide range of political and economic possibilities that are available for North Korea. The recent political engagements that has occurred in the recent past between the leader of North Korea and those of South Korea and the US is expected to make improvements on the perspectives of the world towards North Korea. A notable possibility will include paving way for both political reforms and economic liberalization that will significantly benefit civilians in the country. Political reforms would serve to usher for a political system that is democratic and that which has a greater respect for the basic human rights. Economic reforms would be expected to end communist ideologies and facilitate an overhaul of land ownership regime in the country where people cannot own and use land for production. Such a move will accelerate land ownership, followed by increased agricultural activity and bring to an end starvation incidents reported in the country. A political possibility that will accelerate the realization of other possibilities includes the denuclearization of North Korea. Once the denuclearization is attained, North Korea is expected to benefit from other possibilities such as the lifting of sanctions placed against the country. The move will improve relations with its immediate neighbor South Korea and with international community, and end tension with the US. After lifting of the sanctions, North Korea will benefit from cooperation with other countries around the world through establishment of trade ties. The country will also get advantages from foreign investment and funding from international entities such as the IMF and World Bank. Such investment and funding will help in infrastructure development, for example, improvement of roads, creation of more schools and healthcare facilities among others.

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