The country’s economic system is based on a communist system of production without the use of free markets. Everything is planned centrally and coordinated by the government. The Korean peninsula was a Japanese colony from to As World War II drew to a close, the Japanese forces in the northern region of Korea surrendered to the Soviet troops while the American troops took charge of the southern region. The supposed reunification through elections never took place in the Korean peninsula, and the two regions appointed their respective leaders. Kim II-Sung’s aspiration of bringing the entire peninsula under his communist rule failed. There is stagnation in industrial and power output, along with food shortages, because of systemic problems. Large-scale military spending draws off resources needed for investment and civilian consumption. With investments in the iron, steel, cement and machine tool sectors, there was a steady increase in industrial output in the s. North Korea w...