Since Kim Jong-un's rise to power in 2011, reports point to growing economic markets, an emerging nouveau riche class, and an emphasis on modernization and development. The paper evaluates the shifting relationship between the state, society, and markets in an authoritarian context. Can there be a North Korean civil society? On the one hand, the growth of markets has presumably altered the relationship between the state and society, shifting power in favor of private market players while hollowing out the regime's legitimacy. On the other hand, markets are still beholden to the state. Thus, markets may actually empower rather than weaken the state as the latter may manage to co-opt the former.