북한 김정은 정권 기업개혁의 정치적 배태성: 사회주의기업책임관리제하 기업소 무역 및 합영·합작사업의 제한성 문제

This study examines the foreign economic business of North Korean enterprises based on an analysis of the ‘Socialist Enterprise Responsibility Management System’ (SERMS, or corporate manage ment system) in order to reveal limitations of corporate reform due to its political embeddedness in the ‘system of protection of the leader [Suryong]’ (SPL). The political embeddedness of SERMS can be identified explicitly in the foreign economic business of state-owned enterprises (SOEs). Although according to the ‘Trade Act’ SOEs have the relatively autonomous authority to conduct trade with foreign partners and can open foreign currency (FC) accounts to manage their own FC earnings, in reality their authority is severely limited by the prohibition of holding foreign currency and the enforced transfer of FC earnings to the state. Cadres authorized to conduct foreign economic business are screened according to their political loyalty. The foreign economic business of enterprises is completely controlled by ramifications of the SPL. Agents of the State Security Department also surveil cadres’ economic business consultations with foreign partners. All these measures are taken in the name of protecting the Suryong and originate in the political characteristics of the SPL. This study investigates the operating mechanisms of these politicized factors.