What will happen to

North Korea’s special economic areas and other economic development activities in the years following the purge and execution of Jang

Song Taek?

Jang was among those at the forefront of North Korea’s economic projects, and it has

been suggested that his execution and the subsequent purging of his “line” could have

a serious knock-on effect on economic policy. However, Pyongyang has been working hard since the execution to show that its economic projects are intended to continue over the long-term, no doubt thus earning some of the funds needed for the rule of Kim Jong Eun.

In the short term, however, the effect on economic policy should not be underestimated. Included on the long official

list of Jang Song Taek’s crimes was selling off North Korea’s mineral

wealth at low cost and the sale of land at Rasun. Thus, the North Korean

authorities will have to carry out an investigation in order to remove the “Jang Song Taek economic line” and restore central control through alternative channels. This

process is sure to set back projects that were linked too closely to Jang.

Nevertheless, over the

long term the Kim Jong Eun regime is going to have to continue working to attract

foreign investment, even if only to buttress the claim that it is “improving

the lives of the people.” These efforts can be portrayed as helping the people, but they bring in

foreign currency, and this foreign currency is one core element in providing Kim’s “governing

funds.”

In an interview with

Associated Press on the 15th, a representative for the Chosun Economic

Development Association, Yun Yong Sok asserted, “There will be no change

to our economic policy; it will be exactly as before [Jang’s

execution].” He further stated that work on the economic development

zones is to continue.

However, the

international environment may prove tougher than Yun’s bullish comments imply. The

development of Hwanggeumpyeong and Wihwa Island in North Pyongan Province, over

which Jang Song Taek took a particularly public leading role, could face serious delays and hardships due to Chinese

irritation at Jang’s fate. The Chinese state-run “People’s Daily”

stated on the 19th that Chinese public opinion of the Jang case is

not positive, and that damage has been done to bilateral relations.

A senior researcher with

IBK Economic Research Institute, Cho Bong Hyun explained to Daily NK, “Issues

are sure to crop up in areas of cooperation between China and North Korea

because China was implicated in the judgment against Jang. However, Kim Jong

Eun needs to log some results, so they will attempt to normalize things out of

pure economic necessity.”

“The North Korean side has to deal with the Jang

line and reconstruct things with new personnel, so they need time” he acknowledged. “The economic development zones, which can’t’t be

done without China, were pushed through on the orders of Kim Jong Eun;

therefore, they will put in place people from outside the Jang line and show

an active approach to them, including things like the holding of investment expos.”

Oh Gyeong Seob of

Sejong Institute told Daily NK, “They

need people and agencies able to take responsibility for the projects

previously run by Jang and his associates, and this will probably lead to

internal competition. Things need to be straightened out there, so it is inevitable

that Sino-North Korean cooperation will enter a cooler period.”

However, Oh concluded,

“China does not overly concern itself with North Korea’s unilateral

declarations. As longa as existing contracts are adhered to then they will

keep investing,” before adding, “They will be able to

judge North Korea’s desire to develop its economy by the nature and depth of

the purges that occur in the North and how they deal with things thereafter.”