North Korea became a puppet of the China-Russia Alliance

Mauldin Economics

South Korea has emerged as one of the major industrial powers in the world. One reason for its economic success is the American grand strategy of maintaining a long-term commitment to defend South Korea.

But a strategic relationship with the US carries with it both benefits and risks. The major risk is war. The major benefit is that the US tilts the table in favor of the client state.

North Korea's relationship with China and Russia has not resulted in similar benefits.

The map above displays light visible from space at night. South Korea is ablaze, China less so, but with intense areas. North Korea, on the other hand, is virtually without light, or to be more precise, without enough clustered lighting to be seen from space.

Both South Korea and North Korea were devastated by the Korean War. But while South Korea has transformed into a modern industrial power, North Korea appears to be preindustrial — or so it appears, based on nighttime lighting.

How did this disjuncture occur? The Chinese and the Russians had fewer resources to invest in North Korea than the US had to invest in the South. But the complete answer must be somewhat more complex.

Even on their own, the North Koreans should have been able to generate greater economic growth than they have. And certainly, after the fall of the Soviet Union, the Chinese could have aided North Korea more fully had they wished to do so.

The rest of the answer has to do with the nature of the North Korean regime. The first strategy of any state is its preservation. North Korea was faced with a major US force and an increasingly powerful South Korean force. The logical thing would have been for the Chinese and Soviets to create an equivalent force. They chose not to.

The Chinese and Russians did not want a powerful North Korea because it could turn against them. They wanted a buffer state between themselves and American forces in the south. Therefore, the Russians and the Chinese together created a paradox in North Korea.

Both the Soviets and Chinese understood that simply being communist was no longer sufficient grounds for an alliance. The Soviets and the Chinese had become enemies in spite of a shared ideology. Neither wanted the other to use North Korea as a tool against it.

We should add that South Korea and the US themselves were not eager to see the North Korean regime fall. South Korea did not want to bear the expense and risks involved in reintegration. The US was content with the status quo in the Korean Peninsula, as its primary interest there was minimal conflict.

And out of this paradoxical strategy emerged the contemporary North Korean state.