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North Korea amended its Criminal Law in April by reinforcing penalties for acts that threaten to undermine the regime and incorporating a horde of new articles to regulate new crimes, hinting at immense change that the regime is struggling to control.
The state increased the number of articles included in its criminal code from 161 to 303, widening the scope of the law to account for recent social change. It was last amended in 1999.
The revision reflects greater change in the reclusive state than was previously imagined, suggesting that people's lifestyles, ways of thinking and the speed with which information is circulated are all transforming rapidly.
The changes are so vast they threaten to unsettle the rigid power structure, with one official at the North's State Security Agency even attempting to extort money from a defector residing in the South after establishing contact using a Chinese-made cell phone.
With no sign of improvement in the North's escalating financial and food crises, the populace has to find extra-judicial ways of surviving. A collapsing system of food rationing has led to the rampant spread of illegal money-making enterprises, with 80-90 percent of the population making forays into the black market to support themselves. As a result, the new Criminal Law attempts to impose greater state control of the populace.
The fate of the North Korean system may well hinge on how well the regime copes with the expansive changes rippling through its social fabric from the lowest stratum. If the North pursues its policy of fending off any attempts at transparency and invites international isolation over the current nuclear standoff, the chances of its survival in the face of internal and external pressure will be plunged into greater uncertainty.
Establishing a strong system to supplant the sole leadership of Kim Jong-il also places the government in a tenuous position. Reports of the Workers' Party having been realigned and strengthened to bolster support based on members' loyalty to the North's Dear Leader suggest internal power plays and instability in the wake of the downgrading of Jang Sung-taek from his position as second on the ladder in the political hierarchy.
Believing the North fully capable of surmounting its current crises and tensions borders on being overly positive and sidesteps current realities. The level of uncertainty facing the regime demands that we develop a multi-faceted response in preparation for any eventuality.
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