Why can't North Korea practice communism Gangnam, er, Chinese style?

My guess is that they enjoy being little despots. Blending in capitalism means giving some power to other people.

Easy; Communism requires that the ruler not be a megalomaniac who makes their subjects believe that they are literally a god. Kim il-Sung turned North Korea into a huge cult, then passed the reins to his son Kim Jong-un in a dynastic manner. Kim Jong-Un attained power the same way his father did.

It’s extremely difficult to get a person who has been raised to rule absolutely to rule any other way, and I don’t think the people are really in any position to force the issue the way we did here a couple of centuries ago.

Because they are total dictators. They have no interest in anything but their own power. They do not want to interact with other nations any more than is absolutely necessary. Korea historically is know as the Hermit Kingdom, because of their closed door isolationist policy for hundred of years.

@jerv Does this mean that North Korea is not actually practicing communism?

I don’t know much on the topic, but my guess is China’s huge population might have something to do with it along with China becoming a factory heaven for companies outside of China. I’m guessing China needed a way for their population to earn money, because of this outside influences are in China, but North Korea is completely closed from what I understand.

I agree with @jerv that in communism the leader is supposed to be God to the population—worshipped with blind faith and obedience. It is part of the reason under communism there is usually a requirement the population be atheists. It’s part of the process, the conditioning of the citizenry.

@mazingerz88 True Communism? No. The way they run things is more like a Theocracy, except that the divine power they worship actually walks the earth in human form and rules directly as opposed to through a High Cleric who merely claims to be following the directions of the divine.
There is a hierarchy, and many religions have elements of Communism, but it not nearly the same as what China has; more like what China had centuries ago.

Guess I have my answer. There’s theocratic communism and capitalistic communism. Plus, I don’t think China would want North Korea to be a manufacturing haven for foreign companies and is content that it serves to remind the world that communism is still an ideological force to reckon with. And Kim Jong Jun ? the clone would never dilute his power of course.