North Korea has recently undergone a succession, with a young leader, a fact that represents a lack of change and the depletion of the regime, according to analysts. While the struggles for domestic power and the international military crises seem to signal a continuity, important transformations have been launched. The establishment boosts the refurbishment of the defense, whilst relocates the Party as a relevant actor, defining economic development as a vector. However, the modernization in course follows the same venture diplomacy and suggests the discard of the idea of reform, maintaining the essence of the regime.
North Korea; diplomacy; modernization without reforms