@article{ART003183678},
author={sokchun chang and KIM EZRA},
title={Formation, Spread, and Countermeasures Against Corruption in North Korea},
journal={The Journal of Northeast Asia Research},
issn={2005-4432},
year={2025},
volume={40},
number={1},
pages={77-109},
doi={10.18013/jnar.2025.40.1.003}
TY - JOUR
AU - sokchun chang
AU - KIM EZRA
TI - Formation, Spread, and Countermeasures Against Corruption in North Korea
JO - The Journal of Northeast Asia Research
PY - 2025
VL - 40
IS - 1
PB - The Institute for Northeast Asia Research
SP - 77
EP - 109
SN - 2005-4432
AB - This study examines how corruption has formed, spread, and become entrenched within the North Korean regime, particularly about the regime’s responses to corruption, and applies these findings to assess the future trajectory of the North Korean regime. The study finds that the formation, spread, and entrenchment of corruption over time under Kim Jong-il and Kim Jong-un have reinforced ‘misgovernance’ and weakened the transparency of social institutions, subordinating the interests of the people and the bureaucracy. Corrupt behavior has further reinforced the structural expansion and entrenchment of corruption by increasing the concentration of limited resources in the hands of a small group, reducing the availability and accessibility of resources for the general population. As a result, the cycle of corruption, once conducted on a person-to-person basis, has gradually widened and evolved into structural corruption. North Korea should consider that systematic controls to combat entrenched corruption may threaten regime stability. Therefore, it is expected that North Korea will seek to maintain and manage entrenched corruption at a certain level to induce loyalty and compliance to maintain power and stabilize the regime. However, given the long-term risks of institutionalized corruption, the regime may also explore selective countermeasures to mitigate its most destabilizing effects while preserving its authority.
KW - North Korea;Structure of Corruption;Marketization;Maintaining the System;Regime Stability
DO - 10.18013/jnar.2025.40.1.003
ER -
sokchun chang and KIM EZRA. (2025). Formation, Spread, and Countermeasures Against Corruption in North Korea. The Journal of Northeast Asia Research, 40(1), 77-109.
sokchun chang and KIM EZRA. 2025, "Formation, Spread, and Countermeasures Against Corruption in North Korea", The Journal of Northeast Asia Research, vol.40, no.1 pp.77-109. Available from: doi:10.18013/jnar.2025.40.1.003
sokchun chang, KIM EZRA "Formation, Spread, and Countermeasures Against Corruption in North Korea" The Journal of Northeast Asia Research 40.1 pp.77-109 (2025) : 77.
sokchun chang, KIM EZRA. Formation, Spread, and Countermeasures Against Corruption in North Korea. 2025; 40(1), 77-109. Available from: doi:10.18013/jnar.2025.40.1.003
sokchun chang and KIM EZRA. "Formation, Spread, and Countermeasures Against Corruption in North Korea" The Journal of Northeast Asia Research 40, no.1 (2025) : 77-109.doi: 10.18013/jnar.2025.40.1.003
sokchun chang; KIM EZRA. Formation, Spread, and Countermeasures Against Corruption in North Korea. The Journal of Northeast Asia Research, 40(1), 77-109. doi: 10.18013/jnar.2025.40.1.003
sokchun chang; KIM EZRA. Formation, Spread, and Countermeasures Against Corruption in North Korea. The Journal of Northeast Asia Research. 2025; 40(1) 77-109. doi: 10.18013/jnar.2025.40.1.003
sokchun chang, KIM EZRA. Formation, Spread, and Countermeasures Against Corruption in North Korea. 2025; 40(1), 77-109. Available from: doi:10.18013/jnar.2025.40.1.003
sokchun chang and KIM EZRA. "Formation, Spread, and Countermeasures Against Corruption in North Korea" The Journal of Northeast Asia Research 40, no.1 (2025) : 77-109.doi: 10.18013/jnar.2025.40.1.003
