Donald Kirk

If communist Vietnam can thrive on capitalist enterprise, why not North Korea?

Donald Kirk says aside from a meeting with Donald Trump, Kim Jong-un’s trip to Hanoi may open his eyes to the possibility of unleashing the entrepreneurial spirit in a tightly controlled society, at no risk to his grip on power

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Vietnamese watch men wrestle for a ball during the traditional “Vat Cau” or ball wrestling festival on the fifth day of Tet, Vietnam’s Lunar New Year celebration. On his trip to Hanoi, Kim Jong-un may be shocked to discover just how capitalist Vietnam has become. Photo: AFP

Donald Kirk

Published: 10:45am, 15 Feb 2019Updated: 11:07am, 15 Feb 2019

As everybody knows, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has a lot to learn from the capitalist success of nearby communist countries. No example is better than that of China, whose leaders have urged him to walk the capitalist road to success. His late father, Kim Jong-il, was photographed during trips to China traipsing around one project or another as living evidence that communism and capitalism could survive together, to everyone’s benefit, at no risk to his grip on power.

Now Kim Jong-un has his own chance to witness capitalism in action in a communist country. When he gets to Hanoi to see his good friend Donald Trump for their summit at the end of the month, his motorcade will take him past hotels and shops bearing capitalist names, glitzy reminders of the riches that await him if he just behaves and stops clinging to his nuclear weapons and missiles.

Kim’s Vietnamese hosts can also assure him that a few capitalist enterprises won’t deprive him of his communist credentials, much less the trappings of a dictatorship. “Look,” they can tell him, “we arrest troublemakers all the time, give them a show trial and send them away to jail for years for the crime of criticising us, doubting the munificence of communist rule.” What better evidence could there be that capitalism and communism definitely go together?

Kim might be open to such advice, as he has said that he now wants to press ahead with economic development while going easy on the military side of things. That would be a great idea, considering that his economy is still a shambles, most of his people are ill-fed, and the country is suffering under sanctions imposed after all those nuclear and long-range missile tests.

It’s not likely, though, that Kim will take the hint, even if he’s welcomed in Hanoi not only for friendly chit-chat with Trump but also as a state guest. For one thing, Kim, if he’s able to take a serious look around, will be shocked to discover just how capitalist Vietnam has become. Sure, the state sticks its hand into everything, but factories and shops, roadside snack stands and elite nightspots are capitalist enterprises, living proof of the great transformation the country made from rigid communist principles to laissez-faire socialism and capitalism.

Vietnamese shop at a jewellery store in Hanoi on February 14, the 10th day of the Lunar New Year, a day when they traditionally buy gold to bring good luck for the rest of the year. Vietnam’s factories and shops, roadside snack stands and elite nightspots are capitalist enterprises, living proof of the great transformation from communism. Photo: EPA-EFE

For another thing, much though journalists and activists like to criticise Vietnam for its record on human rights, the system isn’t nearly as atrocious as that in North Korea. For a decade or two after the communist victory in 1975, we did hear terrible tales of the brutality, and the hardships, inflicted on former officials of the defeated Saigon regime.