100 Things I Love About Korea: #70 - The Slow, Unsteady Opening of North Korea

This is a repost from July 14, 2011.  I had hoped to be here when North Korea opens up.  I guess there's better than a 50/50 chance it will happen within the next 10 years.

Coca-cola and KFC have recently signed deals to establish operations in North Korea.  (Short article ... slightly longer article).  So far, they will be limited to hotels and tourist locations serving foreigners.  However, make no mistake about it, this is a step into the future.
Communism can only survive within a closed system.  Dictators maintain power by limiting information.  (And yes, all communist leaders are dictators of one variety or another.)  With external contact comes information.  With information comes power.  With power for the people comes the fall (slow or fast) of all dictatorships.  Once people know there is an outside world where life is far better, they demand to participate in that better-ness, and they rid themselves of their ineffective leaders.
This is how it went in Eastern Europe.  This is how it happened in Africa and Latin America.  This is how communism has slowly been transitioning to capitalistic democracy in China.  And this is the beginning of the end for North Korea.
Actually, this is not the first crack.  Mass starvation, mass illegal immigration, and mass corruption were the first real cracks.  Porous borders with China brought black market capitalism and information (in the form of cell phones and DVDs).  International aid workers were a steady drip, drip, drip of outside influence.
But now, now, after these subterranean foundation shifts, we see the crack going up the wall, and it looks like the Coca-cola trademark wave.

Korea Tip 117: A Few Good Articles on North and South Korea

1. North Korea's Patchy Capitalism.  Due to the total failure of the government controlled system, North Korean citizens of all levels are resorting to gray-market capitalism.  Simply to purchase food and fuel, they must barter services and goods on the open market.  This hints at hopes and problems for unification.

2. Better Food-Aid to North Korea.  20 years of food assistance has failed to relieve chronic food-insecurity in North Korea, and hundreds of thousands have starved.  This is largely due to the governments incapacity and unwillingness to distribute the aid effectively and fairly.  Therefore, future aid programs need more stringent demands for outside involvement

3. Capitalism's Unstoppable Bubbling Up.  Once you start, you can't stop.  Capitalism is coming to North Korea, largely tainted with corruption and black markets, but still coming.  This is the crack in the communist system that will shatter it.  (This is why we should release all sanctions and invest and trade heavily with North Korea.)

4. Multiculturalism in South Korea. With increasing numbers of long-term foreign residents and multicultural marriages, South Korea is quickly losing its homogeneous make-up.  By 2020, 1/3 of all children born in South Korea may be multi-ethnic.  South Korea is still very much in the growing pains on adjusting to multiculturalism, but there are some signs of hope.

The First Crack in the DMZ?

Coca-cola and KFC have recently signed deals to establish operations in North Korea.  (Short article ... slightly longer article).  So far, they will be limited to hotels and tourist locations serving foreigners.  However, make no mistake about it, this is a step into the future. 
Communism can only survive within a closed system.  Dictators maintain power by limiting information.  (And yes, all communist leaders are dictators of one variety or another.)  With external contact comes information.  With information comes power.  With power for the people comes the fall (slow or fast) of all dictatorships.  Once people know there is an outside world where life is far better, they demand to participate in that better-ness, and they rid themselves of their ineffective leaders.
This is how it went in Eastern Europe.  This is how it happened in Africa and Latin America.  This is how communism has slowly been transitioning to capitalistic democracy in China.  And this is the beginning of the end for North Korea.
Actually, this is not the first crack.  Mass starvation, mass illegal immigration, and mass corruption were the first real cracks.  Porous borders with China brought black market capitalism and information (in the form of cell phones and DVDs).  International aid workers were a steady drip, drip, drip of outside influence.
But now, now, after these subterranean foundation shifts, we see the crack going up the wall, and it looks like the Coca-cola trademark wave.