It is clear that path dependence theory can provide a highly useful analytical framework for understanding why the new North Korean regime has failed to introduce the anticipated change and why old policies and ideologies persist, even though the regime evidently understands that the status quo cannot save the country and the regime itself altogether. Obviously, the status quo is closely associated with the longstanding binding forces of the old policies and ideologies on the present regime. Therefore, in order to understand why the policy inertia or status quo continues in North Korea despite the recent power transfer, it is necessary to examine the original political and ideological legacies that have determined and reinforced the particular path of the country’s political and socioeconomic development. Accordingly, the following section focuses on the three most powerful political and ideological legacies of the North Korean regime the monolithic system, Juche ideology, and the military first policy which still exert great influence upon the political process in North Korea.