We are seeing swarms of South Korean Kias and Hyundais on the road lately but never a primitive North Korean Pyonghwa. No need to wonder why South Korea sells four million cars a year while North Korea produces only 40,000. It reminds me of the old differences between West German Mercedes and BMW and the famously low-quality East German Trabants.
The canny Germans solved their Trabant quality problem not with government cash but simply by tearing down the East German wall against competition. Competition and creative destruction cleared the playing field of bad cars almost overnight. Today, Trabants are prized only by collectors for their laughable, collective junkiness.
