It is a fact that even partial opening to the outside world poses a threat to the dictatorship. Still, Kim Jong-il has decided to take the risk for two years. If in two years there is a clear improvement, then he will decide whether to move up a step to Chinese-style reforms. Therefore, we won't know whether Kim Jong-il is heading towards genuine reform until two years have passed. For the present, he hasn't decided anything.
Lets see what happens in the next few years.
It will be extremely difficult to retain a dictatorship while continuing the more open foreign policy. North Korea will definitely need help. Help could come from South Korea, Japan or the United States. Realistically, now that George W. Bush has become the new U.S. president, the only country that might help North Korea could be Kim Dae-jung's South Korea. A Chinese businessman, who has been doing business with North Korea for a long while, states that there is no way North Korea will change in any serious way.