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preface
As a socialist country, North Korea's per capita GDP in the former Soviet Union far exceeded that of China and South Korea. Now there are many North Korean defectors in North Korea, but back then, South Koreans had to run to live in North Korea.
However, the living standards of the people in the DPRK are now equivalent to those of the mainland in the seventies and eighties of the last century. Some people may wonder if the cause of North Korea's economic downturn is the corruption and incompetence of the officials.
In fact, no, the main reason is the "1718 Bill" passed by Western countries in 2006, which imposed comprehensive sanctions on North Korea, causing the originally economically prosperous North Korea to plummet, and to this day, North Korea is still the main target of sanctions by Western countries.
I believe that when you see the officials here, you will be curious about what is the "1718 bill"? Why did North Korea become what it is now? Then follow the editor to take a look.
North Korea's former glory
First of all, let's take a look at how North Korea developed its economy in the past, North Korea that had just ended the war, the original economic system was greatly damaged, social infrastructure was destroyed, North Korea at that time was mainly based on agriculture, after the war, a large amount of land was bombed and agricultural facilities were destroyed.
The war resulted in massive deaths and loss of the country's population, labor shortages, and the lack of an industrial system in North Korea at the time. This made it difficult for North Korea, which wanted to develop its economy, and in the face of such difficulties, the North Korean leadership and the North Korean people did not flinch, and the North Korean people actively responded to the call of the country.
Under the leadership of the government, economic construction began, first learning from China's experience, they began the first "five-year plan" in 1957, and achieved great achievements in the following year. At that time, the internal environment in North Korea was stable and there was no turmoil, so their first "five-year plan" was implemented, which led to the recovery and development of the domestic economy.
In 1967, North Korea proposed its first "seven-year plan" in response to the domestic economic environment at that time, although this process was affected, and the entire plan was postponed for three years.
But by 1970, North Korea had basically completed this "seven-year plan", which further improved the entire North Korean economy. One statistic best illustrates the development of the North Korean economy, which grew at an annual rate of 25% in the decade after the Korean War.
Taking South Korea at the same time as comparison, as North Korea, whose population was only half of South Korea, its industrial and agricultural products were comparable to South Korea, so North Korea was also called "a miracle of the economic development of the Far East" by the media at the time and "Shuangjie" by Japan at that time.
By the seventies, North Korea had achieved self-sufficiency in agriculture, and in the eighties, it had realized the irrigation and mechanization of arable land, which shows its achievements in agriculture. Unlike other countries, North Korea focused on the coordinated development of agriculture, light industry, and heavy industry, which made North Korea develop better than South Korea at that time.
Of course, North Korea's achievements at that time were naturally inseparable from the help of the mainland and the Soviet Union, the big brother of socialism at that time, which provided a lot of socialist assistance to North Korea, including infrastructure construction, low-interest loans, and so on.
Originally, it would have been almost no difficulty for the DPRK to become an economically developed country in Asia if it had continued along this line. However, in the nineties of the last century, a policy in North Korea changed everything.
Origin of "Bill 1718"
It all started in 2006, a year of unprecedented economic development and growth, after which North Korea began to shift its focus to the military and nuclear business. So, in October of the same year, a mushroom cloud slowly rose in Gilju, North Hamgyong Province, North Korea, and a huge sound could be heard in the northeast of the mainland.
Subsequently, North Korea issued an international statement: "The mainland nuclear test has been a great success, and our side will start researching nuclear weapons." As soon as this news came out, it was like throwing a boulder on calm water, causing a huge splash. Countries in the world were shocked by North Korea's "open and honest" words.
Western countries, led by the United States, immediately could not sit still and spoke out in the international community to express their opposition, unanimously believing that the DPRK violated international security law by maliciously spreading the threat of nuclear weapons, attempting to undermine the international order established and endanger world peace.
If North Korea changes from a non-nuclear country to a nuclear-armed state, whether this will have an impact on world peace, whether it will be a strong challenge, from the background of the times, there will definitely be an impact, but whether it will pose a threat, we do not know.
In the eyes of the United States and other Western countries, North Korea wants to develop nuclear weapons, which must not be allowed, the United States, as a country with nuclear weapons at that time, used its military strength in hand, repeatedly interfered in the internal affairs of other countries, and even established its own military bases in other countries, threatening to protect the world order and protect weak countries.
The United States has a layout in many regions, and naturally it will not and cannot allow North Korea to research nuclear weapons, but will affect its own layout in East Asia for many years. Therefore, the United States has repeatedly stated internationally that if North Korea studies nuclear weapons again, the United States is very likely to take action first.
This is a naked threat, but North Korea is a sovereign country known as the "small steel cannon of Asia", and it is not afraid of, or even taking the threat of the United States, seriously. The North Korean leader has long seen through everything, and he knows that the colonial war in China is because of backwardness, and backwardness will be beaten. Not having a sword in your hand and not using a sword are completely different things.
As a result, the North Korean leader quarreled with the United States and other Western countries at the United Nations Security Council. In order to sanction North Korea, Western countries led by the United States passed Resolution 1718 at the Security Council, which requires North Korea to make commitments.
It was clear that North Korea would not accept any nuclear-related tests and activities, and abandon all nuclear weapons and large-scale missile weapons, so the North Korean leader decisively rejected the proposal. There were Western sanctions against North Korea, and North Korea suffered the largest sanction since the founding of the country.
Seeing the continuous decline of the domestic economy, under great pressure, North Korea participated in the six-party talks led by China, and finally reached a consensus, North Korea closed nuclear facilities to stop research on nuclear weapons, and the United States suspended sanctions against North Korea.
North Korea is naturally unwilling to stop researching nuclear weapons, after all, it is related to national security and international status. As a result, North Korea withdrew from the Six-Party Talks, and Western countries sanctioned North Korea comprehensively.
North Korea under comprehensive sanctions
After the Six-Party Meeting, North Korea's economy was restored, and Western countries led by the United States no longer imposed sanctions on North Korea, and North Korea did not appear isolated in the international community, and gradually gained a foothold in the international community. In 2009, North Korea released the communications satellite Gwangsung.
He also said that the satellite is a scientific experiment satellite for the purpose of space research, which is to develop North Korea's space industry, not for military purposes. When the United States heard the news, it was very angry, after all, North Korea's actions violated the original agreement.
Therefore, the United States unilaterally condemned North Korea's private satellite launch in the international community, believing that this was for better research and missile deployment in the future, and then did not wait for North Korea to respond, and then jointly imposed sanctions on North Korea in conjunction with the Security Council. North Korea is naturally not affected by this, so in April 09, it announced its withdrawal from the six-party talks.
At the same time, it believes that the United Nations does not respect the DPRK and demands that the Security Council respond positively and give an answer to the DPRK people. In addition, it has announced in the international community that North Korea will continue its research on nuclear weapons. North Korea's move was undoubtedly a provocation to the big tiger of the United States, and it also angered Committee 1718.
So the committee decided to impose larger and more comprehensive sanctions on North Korea in five new directions on the basis of Resolution 1718. These include important areas such as arms, capital and foreign exports. This time the sanctions obviously show that the Western countries led by the United States are really on fire, and for North Korea, this sanctions and blockade directly affect North Korea's imports and exports.
Due to the inability to import energy, domestic fuel, oil and other energy sources are constantly decreasing, resulting in a serious blow to the domestic metallurgy, power generation and other industries, the entire industrial system is difficult to operate, and gradually going downhill. Not only was industry devastated, but agriculture was also greatly affected.
Due to the lack of energy and fuel, agricultural machinery cannot be used normally, resulting in agricultural production returning to the previous era of manual cultivation, food output has been greatly reduced, and there is no way to achieve self-sufficiency in the past, and even once relied on Chinese assistance.
The decline of the domestic economy and the decline of light and heavy industry can no longer support North Korea's ambitions to develop nuclear weapons. Western sanctions against North Korea continue to this day, but what is the situation in North Korea today?
The current situation in North Korea
North Korea's international trade and external assistance have been greatly restricted due to sanctions imposed by the United Nations and other countries, and North Korea itself is a small country on the peninsula, mainly relying on import and export trade, and the main products exported are coal, ore and other resources.
It strictly restricts North Korea's foreign trade, which is a bit of a sit on the sidelines. If you want to develop nuclear weapons, you do not have perfect technology in China, and talents with relevant technologies cannot enter, which has led to the slow progress of North Korea's nuclear weapons research. Due to the lack of modern technology and equipment, domestic metallurgy, manufacturing, chemical and other industries are even in a state of suspension.
In addition, the mineral resources produced are not well developed. In agriculture, there is a lack of modern agricultural equipment, food output is far from reaching self-sufficiency, and its people's living standards are equivalent to the seventies and eighties of the last century on the mainland.
Those who are a little poor may have eaten the last meal but not the next, running around for a living, and don't talk about spiritual pursuits. According to relevant data, North Korea's current GDP ranks 101st in the world, and its per capita GDP is only more than $1,000. The impact of Proposition 1718 on North Korea is too great, limiting North Korea's development in many ways.
If North Korea had not been facilitated by the mainland's One Belt, One Road policy, perhaps North Korea would be worse off than it is today, since China's implementation of the Belt and Road Initiative, China and North Korea have significantly increased exchanges between infrastructure construction and high-end technology, and in high-end fields such as the Internet, it is all dependent on China's help. Without China, perhaps North Korea is now derailed from the world.
epilogue
It is not easy for North Korea to have its current development, after all, North Korea is only a small country, and the opponent it faces is a Western country led by the United States, which does not bow its head under sanctions for so many years, and this backbone alone is worthy of praise.
Look at the countries that are willing to be American eagle dogs, their behavior is really disgusting, and finally, they also hope that North Korea will strengthen its ties with China and become better and better.