KT on the Economics of NK Refugees

Although I don’t agree with the ultimate conclusion of this article, on the economics of North Korean refugees, I can’t say that its reasoning is unsound. As even Nicholas Eberstadt admits, sanctions against North Korea are a risky venture, standing against a solid body of evidence that sanctions–particularly absent other, more positive pressures–don’t work. I happen to think that North Korea is a special case because its poorest are already unnaturally deprived of the benefits of trade, and because those benefits are so concentrated in, and so critical to, the North Korean elite.

But leave that aside for a moment. Professor Chang Se-Moon has written a thoughtful and reasoned piece on why South Korea should take in more North Korean refugees, and what it can do to help both the refugees and other nations adjust to the shock of their flight. Unlike so many of his peers, Chang confronts, deals with, and addresses the moral (and then, economic) significance of North Korea’s repression, instead of brushing it aside.

For that reason alone, it is a valuable contribution to public debate in South Korea. Which is why it will be forgotten almost immediately.