In the previous assignment, I
had claimed that North Korea falls under the category of economic moghuls. This is mainly because of the centralised
system that exists in North Korea, its stunt in terms of economic growth and its
high ranking in its Transparency international Corruption Rank.
But when one looks at it carefully we can find that
corruption in North Korea is multi- dimensional. Here corruption is not a
matter of choice to make their lives easier, it is rather a necessity, be it to
participate in the black market to buy food items or to prevent a relative from
going to jail or being killed.
For officials on the other hand it is a way to get ahead in
life and gain as much wealth and power as possible. For the upper cadre
officials, since their position is strong as long as they stay loyal to the
Supreme leader and as long as the Supreme leader stays in power, they do
everything possible to showcase their loyalty and remain in power. The very
shape of the bureaucracy is in such a way that it enables corruption: centrally-directed economy .
It is ironic that Kim
Jong Un held a meeting on strengthening the ruling party where he criticized
"the practices of seeking privileges, misuse of authority, abuse of power
and bureaucratism," according to a report by the Korean Central News
Agency.
The meeting marked perhaps the first public recognition of
systemic abuse of power that is believed to run rampant within the ruling
party, Agence France-Presse reported.
The
marketization of the North Korean economy has been steadily growing since the
famine years of the 1990s. The breakdown of the state-run Public Distribution
System that provided most North Koreans with food and basic necessities for
free or at highly subsidized prices is believed to have forced many citizens to
produce and sell goods on their own to make ends meet.
As such
economic activity, often conducted in cash, grew on the fringes and has become
more mainstream, it created opportunities for some individuals to amass wealth
and has led to what many see as a nascent middle class that is growing in the
North and particularly in places like the capital,
But
it is believed to have also opened up more avenues for officials in the party
and the powerful military to seek bribes to look the other way or to demand
kickbacks.
Kim’s uncle Jang
Song Thaek was vilified as being a corrupt womanizer intent on dividing the
leadership and was subsequently expelled from the party. He was executed in December 2013.
So is corruption
used as an excuse to get rid of politicians that the Supreme Leader considers a
threat? Or is Kim Jung Un actually taking measured to bring down corruption? We
will never know considering the low levels of transparency in the government and
absence of the freedom of press and speech. Like I already mentioned in the 1st
assignment, Korea is corrupting the minds of the people. The poor economic
development is just a manifest of it.
SOURCES:
No comments:
Post a Comment