Drastic economic aimed at improving the DRPK`s economic management came into effect in July 2002. Under these measures, the prices of all commodities were revised and living allowances were raised. The view from overseas seems to be that these measures are the beginning of economic reforms in the DPRK. However, since the end of the 1990s, restructuring in the manufacturing sector, changes in methods of production and distribution in the agricultural sector, and changes in ways of managing enterprises have
already taken place.
These changes have been reflected in alterations to the laws of the DRPK. One such change is the adoption of a comparatively aggressive posture with regard to legislation. The primary motivation for this change was the enforcement of important national policies. Thirteen laws were enacted
between 1999 and 2003, not including foreign investment related laws. The development of laws can also be seen in amendment to laws and regulations that have already been enacted. According to a series of foreign investment
related laws published in 2003 by the Committe for the Promotion of External Economic Cooperation of the DPRK, eleven foreign investment related laws and regulations have been amended since the same series of laws was issued in 2001. The characteristics of these revisions are as follows : (1) legislation has been passed in such important fields as the domestic economy, as well as in relation to foreign investment ; (2) signs of attempts to conform with international standards can be seen ; (3) some of the detailed regulations concerning foreign investment related laws have disappeared from the series of laws as a consequence of amendments in the late 1990s.
