TY - JOUR
T1 - Shifting determinants of socioeconomic status in North Korea
T2 - The impact of marketisation
AU - Choi, Young Jun
AU - Joo, Hyung min
AU - Whang, Taehee
AU - Choi, Wooseon
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2025 Department of Sociology, National University of Singapore
PY - 2025/3
Y1 - 2025/3
N2 - Since the collapse of its socialist command economy in the mid-1990s, North Korea has experienced marketization from below. Has bottom-up marketization also affected the factors that determine subjective perceptions of socioeconomic status in North Korea? Although many studies have investigated various recent changes in North Korea, they often suffer from a lack of solid empirical research based on reliable data. In this paper, we theorize that political factors, which are typically most important in a socialist society, were critical in determining socioeconomic status during the early years of marketization, but economic factors have played an increasingly important role in the more mature stages of marketization. To test our theory, we use a survey of 1,309 North Korean defectors and in-depth interviews with 73 defectors. The results confirm that the key determinants of subjective socioeconomic status have shifted from political factors to market-related elements in contemporary North Korean society.
AB - Since the collapse of its socialist command economy in the mid-1990s, North Korea has experienced marketization from below. Has bottom-up marketization also affected the factors that determine subjective perceptions of socioeconomic status in North Korea? Although many studies have investigated various recent changes in North Korea, they often suffer from a lack of solid empirical research based on reliable data. In this paper, we theorize that political factors, which are typically most important in a socialist society, were critical in determining socioeconomic status during the early years of marketization, but economic factors have played an increasingly important role in the more mature stages of marketization. To test our theory, we use a survey of 1,309 North Korean defectors and in-depth interviews with 73 defectors. The results confirm that the key determinants of subjective socioeconomic status have shifted from political factors to market-related elements in contemporary North Korean society.
KW - Arduous March
KW - Marketisation
KW - North Korea
KW - Public distribution system
KW - Socioeconomic status
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85218244541&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85218244541&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.ajss.2025.100183
DO - 10.1016/j.ajss.2025.100183
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85218244541
SN - 1568-4849
VL - 53
JO - Asian Journal of Social Science
JF - Asian Journal of Social Science
IS - 1
M1 - 100183
ER -