North Korea in 2013: Economy, Executions, and Nuclear Brinksmanship

The second year of Kim Jong Un’s rule in North Korea was enormously eventful. The year began with Pyongyang carrying out its third nuclear test, a move of reckless brinksmanship that alarmed the region and beyond. North Korea formally declared its goal of “simultaneously pursuing nuclear and economic development,” but failed to take a decisive step toward economic reform. The ruthless purge and execution of Jang Song-taek revealed the structural weakness of the ruling system.