North Korea's attitude towards opening up to the outside world has changed in recent years.
At the National Day celebrations marking the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China, the DPRK sent a strong signal of shifting the focus of economic construction and opening up to the outside world. Kim Jong-un, the supreme leader of the DPRK, stressed that the DPRK should develop foreign economic relations multilaterally and actively promote the industrial development of economic development zones. North Korea has turned to learn from China's reform and opening up, vigorously develop special economic zones, promote opening up to the outside world, and improve people's lives.
A similar policy of seclusion and seclusion that North Korea has been adhering to until now is its unique national strategy, and there are deep internal and external reasons for the formation of such a policy.
First of all, the socialist system practiced in the DPRK has unique ideological characteristics, advocating self-reliance, opposing capitalism, and supporting the party's leadership. In order to maintain this ideology, North Korea has chosen to close itself off from the rest of the country, limit external influence, and maintain its own ideological purity. North Korea, for example, implemented a policy of "Koreaization" in the 1950s, vigorously promoting the Korean language and limiting the influence of foreign cultures.
Second, North Korea's economic system is so different from the rest of the world that even the support of socialist countries such as the Soviet Union and China cannot meet North Korea's economic needs. In order to avoid dependence on external economic aid and to seek a path of independent economic development, the DPRK has chosen to close itself off from the rest of the country and implement a highly closed foreign economic policy to promote domestic economic development. For example, in the 1970s, North Korea implemented a "Juche economy" policy, emphasizing self-reliance, reducing foreign affairs, and developing domestic industry.
North Korea's policy of closing itself off from the rest of the world is also influenced by external factors. First of all, in order to safeguard its own security and political interests, the DPRK has chosen to close itself off from the rest of the country and implement a highly closed foreign policy to reduce the infiltration and interference of external forces in its political and military fields. For example, in the Korean War in the 1950s, North Korea faced military threats from the United States and other Western countries, so it chose to close its doors and strengthen its national defense.
Second, North Korea believes that closing the country to the outside world can protect its own industry and market and prevent the impact of external competition on its own industry. For example, in the economic crisis of the 1990s, North Korea faced the onslaught of foreign goods, so it chose to strengthen foreign control and protect the domestic market.
In general, the DPRK's policy of closing the country to the outside world is its unique national strategy, and the formation of such a policy has its own profound internal and external reasons. However, this policy has also brought some problems, such as insufficient materials**, shortage of daily necessities, etc. Therefore, the DPRK needs to make a trade-off between opening up to the outside world and closing itself off from the rest of the world, and find the most suitable development path for itself.