Can North Korea Become a Democracy?

North Korea is arguably the most closed and repressive society in the world. But over the past 25 years, the failures of North Korea’s totalitarian system have created the possibility of internal change. Tens and thousands of North Korean people have fled the country, the vast majority of whom now live in South Korea and support the friends and relatives they left behind through remittances and provision of outside information. The efforts of South Korean and defector organizations to provide independent news and information has cracked the information blockade. Moreover, the expanding private markets in North Korea, which are a product of the failed public distribution system, provide an independent space not only for commercial activities but also for the exchange of ideas and information. The access to outside information has challenged the regime’s propaganda and is changing the mindset of North Korean people. Though North Korea remains a repressive state, opportunities for change are greater than ever before. Mr. Thae Young-ho, the former North Korean Deputy Ambassador to the United Kingdom, will discuss how democracy – once considered inconceivable in North Korea – is now for the first time becoming a real possibility.

The Century Association

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2019-09-24 11:28:10

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