How Kim Affords His Nukes

North Korea, with its malnourished populace, frequent famines and obsolete conventional weapons, is as famous for its poverty as it is for its provocations. That has many observers now wondering how a country that can barely afford to keep the lights on can foot the bill for a missile and nuclear-weapons program.

Part of the explanation lies in the Stalinist nation’s “military-first” policy, under which the Army gets to pocket a huge chunk of the national income—up to 40 percent, according to Marcus Noland, a North Korea expert at the Peterson Institute for International Economics. [read more...]

by Takashi Yokota | from NEWSWEEK | Published:  08 Jun 2009