Rason Special Economic Zone

[9] Since its creation, laws governing the zone's status have been amended six times, the most recent revision being approved by the Presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly on 3 December 2011.

[13] In August 2012, an international trade fair was held, offering foreign investors and journalists a look at the work-in-progress.

[17] When Jang Sung-taek was purged in late 2013, the accusations against him included the charge that he had "made no scruple of committing such act of treachery in May last as selling off the land of the Rason economic and trade zone to a foreign country.

"[18] From 1993 to 2012, there was a single law titled 'Law of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea on the Rason Economic and Trade Zone', which did not include specific details of the business environment, leaving foreign investors with many questions.

The first Rason SEZ Law launched in 1993 contained chapters of Fundamentals, Duties and Rights of Operation Committee, Guarantee of Economy Activities, Customs Duties, Currency and Finance, Guarantee and Preferential Treatment and Settlement of Disputes.

The basic framework was continued until 2011, when it made modifications on Development and Management of the Zone, Establishment of Enterprises, Economic and Trade Activities and Incentives and Preferential Treatment, providing more details of the environment for foreign-invested companies.

However it still did not cover all basically required details for foreign-investor companies, such as regulations of labor, tax, or financial management.

However from 2019 these possibilities have diminished, partly out of a concern of excessive foreign influence on North Korean society.