51吃瓜

Swiss-educated reformer Kim Jong-un is liberating North Korea by proliferating a capitalist, knowledge-based economy, says Michael Bassett.聽

When Kim Jong-il died,聽聽that North Korea would either collapse or be taken over by hard-liners. Analysts watched doggedly as the young marshal, Kim Jong-un, emplaced a聽聽in power鈥攁 gang whom his father had not recommended in the聽. Kim Jong-un鈥檚 affinity for these technocrats was temporary: That nearly all have been banished, purged or killed begs inquiry of the 鈥�.鈥�

As I will show, Kim Jong-un has defied all predictions and permanently changed the trajectory of North Korea.

During his three years of Confucian mourning, the young marshal acted like a force of nature, obsessively restructuring the basic tenants of reality in North Korea鈥檚 foundational doctrine. Jang Jin-sung correctly argues that Kim Jong-un聽 for聽trying to sell off state resources鈥攊n other words, North Korea鈥檚 sovereignty鈥攂ut later misinterpreted the rationale of his measures. The rest of the world largely misread the reason for his uncle鈥檚 execution, and to make matters worse, Jang Jin-sung published a book propagating that Kim Jong-un was secretly governed by the Organization and Guidance Department.

This hypothesis fell short of explaining the radical changes he has imposed, and it lacks an explanation for the聽 he has committed.聽We must consider the possibility that Kim Jong-un has been purging anti-reform hard-liners.聽To understand the 鈥渕ethod to Kim鈥檚 madness,鈥� we must look at what Kim Jong-un has actually done and reflect critically over .

To claim that a secret organization is implementing structural changes fails to account for the fact that the changes are stripping themselves of power and spreading it across the board in a more democratic manner. It is more likely that Kim Jong-un is not a false figurehead, but instead has total control and is a reformer. Just like he聽removed his , he has now removed the ideological damage imposed by his father, Kim Jong-il.

Liberty in North Korea

I suspect鈥攍ike does鈥攖hat in the 2016 Party Congress, the young marshal will announce that North Korea is adopting true reforms. We must consider that he knows聽unification could to the global economy, and that聽90% of North Korea鈥檚 problems could be solved by unification.

Since Kim Jong-un came to power,聽406 state-sanctioned听补苍诲听more than 1,000 informal in North Korea. Instead of stopping them, he has聽聽by聽allowing markets to . These markets are not only 鈥�,鈥� but they鈥檙e聽selling an abundance of , accepting foreign currency and聽electronic and even聽offering 聽as a payment option.

Kim Jong-un / Flickr

As a result of these combined liberties, 聽are spreading like wildfire. And despite some satellite imagery depicting a labyrinth of sanction-induced blackness, the聽.

Some may still argue that Kim Jong-un is an evil dictator and that North Koreans are reforming the country from the bottom-up, but that does not explain the聽proliferation of a .

Critics must concede that the monopoly of first level of consciousness thought control can only be relinquished from the top-down. A knowledge-based economy means the state is encouraging its people to adopt new ways of thinking that are not part of traditional ideological tenants. This liberation of thought is evidenced by the聽听补苍诲听, which encourage and incentivize average North Koreans to adopt critical thinking skills if they wish to succeed.

If some are still not yet convinced that Kim Jong-un is not only a reformer, but a liberator, then consider the following:聽On two occasions, 聽back into society and聽are permitted upward social mobility in the 聽by working in privately-owned markets. North Koreans are no longer confined within towns and provinces.聽Many have been engaged in that a market for navigation and lodging聽has sprouted as a result. In fact, the biggest revelations are that聽the state allowed to travel abroad聽in 2014, and it has聽opened an 听补苍诲听welcomed the to report from within聽North Korea, alongside Associated Press.

Becoming a 鈥淣ormal State鈥� Requires Normalization of Relations

The doors are wide open for science,聽, economic,聽 and even (state-sanctioned)聽.

But the United States is the greatest barrier to unleashing the progress that North Korea is clearly on the brink of. Washington refuses to empower and enable these reforms without preconditions of Pyongyang abandoning its nuclear weapons program.

South Korean President Park Geun-hye鈥檚 offer of聽 a year to denuclearize聽the country matters little without a peace treaty and, therefore, brokering one is the best way for the US to stop being a barrier to North Korea鈥檚 liberation.

America should broker peace and unification on the Korean Peninsula, and instead worry about Chinese containment geo-strategy through a separate and less fatalistic lens. After all, China is a proven partner in global trade, and that aspect of the relationship should be continued and enhanced.

The US must seize the opportunity to play a productive role during the unification process and normalize relations with North Korea to allow for clearer communication and regional stability. To take any other measures would simply place America on the wrong side of history in one of the world鈥檚 longest-running conflicts. Being the main lien-holder on the armistice, the US is the only country that has the power to support a peaceful end to the war and broker unification in Korea. And as shown, an economic increase of $8.7 trillion should be enough incentive for those who have long been vested in maintaining the status quo鈥攖o change their course on parity with how Marshal Kim Jong-un has changed his leadership of North Korea.

If influencing these changes in North Korea鈥攁nd waiting for them to occur鈥攊s not what 鈥渟trategic patience鈥� has always been about, then what is?

The views expressed in this article are the author鈥檚 own and do not necessarily reflect 51吃瓜鈥檚 editorial policy.

Photo Credit: 听/听 /

We bring you perspectives from around the world. Help us to inform and educate. Your聽donation聽is tax-deductible. Join over 400 people to become a donor or you could choose to be a聽sponsor.