Interesting article on economic reform by Lee Geun Young, Professor, Yanbian University

Lee Geun Young makes the comparison to various former socialist countries with North Korea regarding economic reform.
He thinks the north is in an awkward position because the regime is reluctant to dispense with the current political structure.

http://www.dailynk.com/english/read.php?num=14944&cataId=nk03600

I have read that when the Chinese were going through their reforms, they found that privatizing the small farms rather than having collectives as it is the case in North Korea, farmers had more incentive to cultivate their crops and usually had the surplus to sell at the market. thereby making food available to all.