This paper uses a survey of North Korean refugees to investigate the evolution of informal economic activities of North Korean households. We find little evidence of increases in informal economic activities in terms of the aggregate participation rate in the informal economy from 1996 to 2009....

On May 15, 2007, the North Korean government issued a “portrait project” decree, requiring people to display their loyalty by cleaning up portraits of the Great Leader at homes, at workplaces, at government offices, and so on. Much ado was made over people’s efforts to clean up portraits,...