NK won`t follow Chinese model of openness, reform

North Korea is not attempting to model itself after China in terms of openness and reform, but is promoting self-styled strategies for national reconstruction, the Internet edition of the Chosun Shinbo reported Friday. The newspaper is an organ of "Chochongnyon, the pro-Pyongyang Korean residents association in Japan.

What Kim Jong-Il, general secretary of the Workers` Party, saw during his unofficial visit to Shanghai last month will only serve as a rough guide in the development of North Korea`s future policy, it reported.

Citing as an example the development of the Rajin-Sunbong economic trade zone and Kaesong industrial complex, the paper said that these projects should not lead to the conclusion that the North will pursue a policy of openness and reform and reorganize its existing economic system.

The paper`s report contrasts with those of some Korean and Western media, which claimed that North Korea would likely change following Kim`s Shanghai visit.