[Yonhap Photo]
Despite harsh international sanctions, North Korea's economy grew 3.9 percent last year, the fastest pace in 17 years, after a contraction of 1.1 percent in 2015 when the impoverished country was hit by a severe drought, according to South Korea's central bank.
It marked the highest growth since 1999 when North Korea's economy expanded 6.1 percent, the Bank of Korea (BOK) said, citing a base effect.
Growth appeared to have been enabled by an improved economy, fueled in part by Chinese aid and trade, as well as the reallocation of conventional defense spending, Henri Feron, a research associate of the Center for Korean Legal Studies at Columbia University School of Law, said in an article carried by 38 North, the website of a US research institute.
Unlike his grandfather and father, leader Kim Jong-un depends on much more on his governing performance and popular approval for legitimacy, he said. "It should be no surprise then that he focuses on highly visible signs of improving livelihoods, such as prestigious residential complexes."
"A Pyongyang full of shiny, new buildings belies the assumption that the North Korean economy is about to collapse under the weight of sanctions. While there are some valid concerns about the sturdiness of these mushrooming high-rise buildings, there are too many of them," the US expert said.
The construction boom in Pyongyang, along with other indicators of improved economic performance such as food production and foreign trade, provide further evidence of the "ineffectiveness" of economic sanctions, he said.
BOK data showed the North's economy has expanded 1.2 percent on average since the young leader took power in late 2011 following the sudden death of his father who achieved a GDP expansion of 0.2 percent on average during his 17-year rule. The North's trade volume rose 4.7 percent on-year to 6.55 billion US dollars last year.
"The North Korean economy appears to be beating sanctions thanks to Chinese aid and trade, as well as the reallocation of conventional defense spending to the civilian economy," Feron said, adding that besides trade, the nuclear program could be benefiting the economy by allowing the government to reallocate funds from conventional defense spending.
The only way to develop the economy without sacrificing security is to focus on "relatively cost-effective asymmetric warfare capabilities such as a nuclear deterrent", he said. "For now, at least, it seems that the North Korean economy is improving."
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