Insight with Paul French - North Korea - the Last Stalinist State

Paul French, Director of Access Asia, talks to the The Economist’s Simon Long about life in North Korea, the most isolated country in the world, plagued by famine, industrial decline and repression.

Paul French, Director of Access Asia, talks to the Economist’s Simon Long about life in North Korea, the most isolated country in the world, plagued by famine, industrial decline and repression.

French is one of few westerners to visit North Korea frequently. He will speak about what he has witnessed and learned about this hidden country.

The North Korean economy began to move towards industrial decline and famine after the collapse of its closest ally – the Soviet Union.

To help understand this country, the last bastion of military communism, French will talk about the country's long and troubled relationship with Washington, its international isolation, its Military-First ethos and the inflexible political philosophy of Juche.

Paul French is the director of Access Asia, a market research and business intelligence company specialising in China and North Asia’s economics and markets. He is based in Shanghai. He is the author of North Korea: The Paranoid Peninsular – A Modern History.

Simon Long is the Economist’s Asia Editor.

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