The article is devoted to the changes that have taken place in North Korean society since 2002. Since the early 1990s, the old socio-political system, once modeled after the post-war USSR, has been in a state of deep crisis. In 2002, the North Korean authorities decided to implement moderate reforms, but these reforms were mainly limited to belated recognition of the socio-economic changes that had already occurred spontaneously by that time. However, contrary to the expectations of optimists, some improvement in the economic situation that has occurred in recent years has not led to further changes. On the contrary, since 2004, the North Korean Government has consistently pursued a policy of counter-reform. Recently, the DPRK authorities have been trying to revive, at least partially, the system of social and economic relations that existed during the time of Kim Il Sung. In the context of the political situation in North Korea, these measures of the authorities seem perfectly rational. The very existence of an economically successful South Korea means that North Korean leaders are facing a situation that is radically different from what exists in China or Vietnam. Chinese-style reforms are quite rational from an economic point of view, but extremely dangerous from a political point of view. Such reforms will inevitably increase the awareness of the North Korean population about the outside world, and especially about South Korea, and this can undermine the regime. The article is written on the basis of reports of refugees from North Korea (both published and received during direct interviews), as well as publications of the periodical press, including small-circulation and specialized ones. Keywords: North Korea, Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), counter-reforms, refugees from the DPRK. Until the early 1990s. North Korea was a classic example of a centrally planned economy, and the main features of this system were even more pronounced in the DPRK than ... Read more