Nordkorea - bisarrt, fascinerande, sjukt

SEOUL, Aug. 29 (Yonhap) -- North Korean leader Kim Jong-un probably has a public approval rating of over 50 percent, a poll conducted on escapees living in South Korea showed Thursday.
The survey carried out by the Institute for Peace and Unification Studies at Seoul National University on 133 North Korean defectors showed that 61.7 percent believe the young leader has a majority support of his people.
A similar report conducted in 2011 showed that only 55.7 percent of defectors said the former North Korean leader Kim Jong-il had support of at least 50 percent of his people.
The former head is the late father of the incumbent leader, with Kim Jong-un taking control in December 2011.
The latest survey may be an indication that there has been an improvement in the lives of ordinary people.
The survey, however, showed that many defectors still believe that most North Koreans suffer from a lack of food.
North Korea watchers in Seoul said Kim Jong-un's popularity partly reflects his young age and that he is trying to improve the lives of everyday citizens.
The leader, thought to be about 30 years-old, has emphasized economic growth, light industries and farming. He also appears in the media more often than his reclusive father, which could of aided his image.

2012: G1
Kim Jong-un assumes power in North Korea and in June North Korea begins
implementation of a reform package, officially called the “Economic Management
System in Our Style,” but colloquially referred to as the “June 28 Measures.” The New
Economic Management System is described as bringing the economy into a system of
communist rule, providing for the coexistence of market and planned economies and state
ownership of the means of production. What this appears to mean in practice is that while
the state owns the means of production and appoints the heads of state-owned enterprises,
these enterprises can exercise independent decision-making to determine how to meet the
state’s production targets and market needs. These changes are announced for both the
agricultural and the manufacturing/services sector. North Korea’s GDP growth rate is
estimated at 1.3 percent, according to the Bank of Korea.

2013: G1
North Korea introduces the byungjin line of parallel development of the military and the
economy. North Korea’s GDP growth rate is estimated at 1.1 percent, according to the
Bank of Korea. This growth may be driven in party by gains in agriculture, mining, and
trade with China, with the combined value of its imports and exports registering at $7.34
billion.

2014: G1
North Korea institutes the May 30 measures that provide some market reforms for
enterprise managers, allowing them, among other things, to keep a share of their revenues,
hire inputs at market prices from suppliers of their choice, sell excess output, and enter
into joint ventures. These reforms might have recognized a private class of emerging
entrepreneurs, though they are not fully implemented. Nevertheless, North Korea
continues to see an increase in small-scale entrepreneurship. North Korea is estimated to
have a GDP growth rate of 1.0 percent, according to the Bank of Korea.

2015: G2
North Korea is estimated to have a GDP growth rate of -1.1 percent, its lowest growth
rate since 2007, according to the Bank of Korea. A bad drought in 2015 negatively
impacts North Korea’s economic growth. The results of the small-scale entrepreneurship
are noticeable as that activity continues to grow. Trade with China continues to grow.

2016: G2
North Korea’s GDP is estimated at $28.5 billion in 2016 with the largest growth in nearly
twenty years of 3.9 %, according to the Bank of Korea. This impressive gain in GDP may
be partially attributable to the recovery from the bad drought in 2015. The Kaesong
Industrial Complex is closed.

2017: G2
Market activity and entrepreneurial growth have continued, especially in Pyongyang.
Street vendors, luxury cars, high-rises, and modern supermarkets are all much more
present in Pyongyang. The private sector may now be producing up to half of North
Korea’s GDP. The international community imposes additional sanctions on North Korea
and China begins more effective implementation and enforcement of sanctions. However,
in 2017 the sanctions do not have a noticeable effect on North Korea’s economy. The
black market exchange rate for North Korea’s currency and the price of rice, for example,
remain flat, whereas conventional economic theory holds that if the economy were in
distress, these values would be expected to rise. North Korea touts the revitalization of
local production, which has been a key policy of Kim Jong Un.