Even inside North Korea, the most restrictive, socialist regime in the world, there are entrepreneurs. People are dreaming up ideas of services to offer, products to sell, businesses to start. They’re called the ‘donju,’ and they’re part of North Korea’s small middle class. Kim Jong Un, North Korea’s leader, doesn’t throw them in jail.
This is relatively new. For a long time, even tiny acts of capitalism were thought of as ‘honey-coated poison’ by the North Korean government. Private business was banned. It has crept in at the edges slowly, but Kim Jong Un has set two main goals for his country: Build up the nuclear weapons program and grow the economy.