North Korea's Economic Operations Direction and Implications for 2023 

Choi, Eun-ju

(ej0717@sejong.org)

Research Fellow,

The Sejong Institute

     North Korea held the 8th meeting of the 14th Supreme People's Assembly on January 17 and 18. The Supreme People's Assembly mainly emphasized the basic solidarity of maintenance and reinforcement plans in the economic sector, regional development projects at the city and county level, and rural construction projects.

     From the looks of the budget spending plans, the overall size increased by 1.7% compared to 2022, which is mainly concentrated in the agricultural and rural development sectors. In addition, the Central Prosecutor's office's project is expected to be evaluated as a separate agenda in 2023, not only the project to overhaul the legal system but also to strengthen the legal order in economic and social sectors.

     On the other hand, the policies on external economic sectors such as trade, expect to operate the economy by focusing on strengthening internal capabilities. Considering the 2023 budget spending plan, it is expected to face difficulties to hold clear results beyond the current maintenance level under the premise even if there are no additional problems in the quarantine and natural disasters.

     However, as described above, if the increase in the importation of necessary raw materials is to expand the production capacity of companies and factories through external trade, the desired results can be expected in the economic sector.