Staggering under the load of bad policy decisions over decades, North Korea finally seems ready to take the plunge and make major changes in its archaic economic policy.
In doing so, it is jettisoning one of its most cherished state doctrines - juche, or self-reliance.
The readiness to accept foreign investment in a special economic zone, announced on Friday, signifies a substantial policy transformation in favour of opening, analysts say.
According to the official Central News Agency report on Friday, the northwestern city of Sinuiju, bordering on China along the banks of the Yalu River, has been designated a special economic zone.
It will be an autonomous enclave, under direct control of the central government in Pyongyang, meaning it also will have the additional status of being a special 'administrative' district encompassing Sinuiju and nearby towns and districts.
It is not the first time Pyongyang has tried to induce foreign help. In an earlier attempt, the special district of Rajin-Sonbong, on the northeastern tip of the Korean peninsula along the narrow corridors with Russia, was proclaimed fit for foreign investment.