Rudiger Frank on North Korea’s hidden middle class: North Korea Unpacked

This month, Dr. Rüdiger Frank joins North Korea Unpacked with Jacco Zwetsloot to discuss how decades of marketization have transformed North Korea’s economy and society, and why old assumptions about engagement and pressure may no longer apply.

He talks about the emergence of what he describes as a sizable North Korean middle class, how smartphones, private wealth and limited consumer choices point to deeper social change, and why leader Kim Jong Un may be a reluctant reformer forced to manage economic realities he did not create.

He also explains why money is increasingly trapped inside North Korea, how projects like Wonsan-Kalma may be designed to absorb domestic spending and why Pyongyang could be moving toward something resembling a developmental dictatorship.

Dr. Rüdiger Frank is professor of East Asian Economy and Society at the University of Vienna and one of Europe’s foremost experts on North Korea. He studied at Kim Il Sung University in Pyongyang from 1991-1992, and has spent decades researching North Korea’s political economy, economic transformation and international relations.

About the podcast: North Korea Unpacked with Jacco Zwetsloot is a monthly long-form interview series from the NK News Podcast, featuring in-depth conversations with experts and specialists on North Korea.

The regular weekly NK News Podcast, hosted by Alannah Hill, continues to cover the latest developments in the North Korea news cycle.