Planning in the socialist developing country: the case of North Korea

Although the planning strategies of socialist developing countries are applicable to the political economy in North Korea, North Korean urban and regional planning has not been analyzed in detail. Using a historical approach, this article analyzes North Korea from the perspective of its status as a socialist developing country. The analysis supports the theory of the socialist developing country, particularly, the predominance of unintentional components such as the economy and military affairs. This article further develops the argument presented by Forbes and Thrift that polarization reversal seems to be more typical of those socialist developing countries which have been established for a comparatively long period of time, by showing urban primacy in North Korea, which has a relatively long history as a socialist developing country. This article also analyzes the priority among the unintentional components, especially the predominance of the economy over military affairs. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.