Today marks the third year since North Korean leader and Chairman of the National Defense Commission Kim Jong-il died and his son Kim Jong-un, first secretary of the Korean Workers' Party succeeded as the leader of North Korea. Three years ago, the world noted the possibility of the young leader bringing changes to North Korea. Chairman Kim Jong-il, who had exercised power since the 1970s, was the one responsible for establishing the current North Korean system. Therefore, his absence and the appearance of a young leader had the world holding on to a vague expectation that this could be an opportunity for change in North Korea. But now after three years of Kim Jong-un's rule, such expectations have clearly turned out to be in vain.

In particular, it has been three years of changes for the worse in terms of North Korea's foreign relations. Relations between North Korea and the U.S. were cut off with the launch of a long-range rocket in December 2012 and North Korea's third nuclear test in 2013 and remains disconnected to the present. Thus there has been no progress with North Korea's nuclear issue. North Korea's relations with China have also become distant, so much so that First Secretary Kim Jong-un has not once met with Chinese President Xi Jinping. Pyongyang has aggravated hostility and intensified conflicts with the South let alone engage in dialogue. Although there were attempts to seek a breakthrough in its relations with Japan and Russia, there has been no substantial progress. In March 2013, Kim Jong-un adopted a policy of pursuing both economic development and a nuclear weapons program, but as long as Kim continues to follow in his father's footsteps like this, it will be difficult for the hermit state to escape international isolation.

What's more, as time goes by, the international environment is shifting more and more towards a direction unfavorable to Kim Jong-un's regime. As the UN resolution on North Korea's human rights issue passed by the General Assembly symbolically shows, the international society is gradually increasing its pressure on the North concerning its human rights issue unlike during the Kim Jong-il era. Even from within North Korea, various signs of change are emerging despite the intentions of North Korean authorities. Irreversible changes such as marketization draw our attention. The market is replacing the state as a place which provides goods needed by North Korean residents. A sort of capitalist, the donju has appeared, and the number of cell phones has increased to 2.5 million units. The speed and breadth of outside information flowing into the hermit state is becoming faster and broader. The North cannot respond to such changes with Kim Jong-il's ways.

The North Korean government is partially absorbing such changes by increasing the autonomy of businesses and cooperatives, but it is still limited and the speed is also slow. Unless North Korea changes course and actively responds to the change, the need for change and the rigidity of the system are bound to clash. That would be no different from leaving North Korea's future in the hands of uncertainty. Kim Jong-un needs to take the time to reflect on the implications that the changes over the past three years have for the healthy development of North Korea and for a better life for the North Korean citizens.