North Korean Economy Watch

Olympic torch ‘going to N Korea’
BBC
12/16/2007

North Korea will host a leg of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games torch relay, state media has reported.

The flame, which is due to pass through 22 cities in the four months before the Games, is expected to reach North Korean capital Pyongyang on 28 April.

Chinese and North Korean officials made the agreement in Pyongyang, said the official Korean Central News Agency.

A day earlier the torch is scheduled to pass through the South Korean capital of Seoul on its way north, say reports.

The torch, which will be lit at Olympia in Greece on 25 March, is due to cover five continents before the event begins on 8 August.

The planned 137,000-km (85,000-mile) relay route will include a trip to the top of Mount Everest.

The two Koreas have agreed to send a joint team of officials to the Beijing Olympics by train, as part of reconciliation efforts after their 1950-1953 civil war.

Coca-cola And Samsung Billboards to Appear in Pyongyang
Daily NK
Park Hyun Min
12/17/2007

Coca-cola and Samsung billboards, viewed by the North Korean regime as symbols of “American capitalism” and “Imperialistic culture,” will soon be visible in downtown Pyongyang just on April 28, 2008.

The China-based Huanqiu Times reported that the Beijing Organizing Committee of the 2008 Olympic Games (BOCOG), the Chosun (North Korea) Olympic Committee, and the Pyongyang People’s Committee signed an agreement to cooperate during the 2008 Olympic Torch Relay.

Samsung, Coca-cola, and Lenovo (a Chinese IT company), three of the main companies sponsoring the Beijing Olympics, will be allowed to advertise their products by cars when the Olympic Torch Relay passes through Pyongyang on April 28.

The three companies will be able to distribute pamphlets to North Korean citizens, but the extent of the content of these pamphlets will limited to the history of the respective companies’ sponsorship of the Olympic Games. Outdoor billboards will not be permitted along the relay path.

Additionally, with the exception of Shanghai-Volkswagen (the official car company of the 2008 Olympic Torch Relay), car companies will not be allowed to reveal their logos during the event.

The upcoming Torch Relay marks the first time in Olympic history that the Torch will pass through Pyongyang. Fifty-seven members of the Chosun Olympic Committee, six representatives from the three sponsorship companies, one member of the International Olympic Committee, and four Chinese diplomats will act as torchbearers in the event.

The relay will begin at the Tower of Juche Idea. Sights along the route will include the May Day Stadium, Kim Il Sung University, the Chosun-China Friendship Tower, the April 25 House of Culture, the National Liberation War Memorial Hall, Pot’ong Gate, the People’s Palace of Culture, the Pyongyang Gymnasium, Kim Il Sung Plaza, the Chollima Statue, the Arch of Triumph, and the Kim Il Sung Gymnasium. The total distance will be 20 kilometers.

The Pyongyang leg of the relay will begin after the South Korean leg is complete. The Torch will cross the DMZ by airplane and will be run through downtown Pyongyang from 2p.m. to 8 p.m. on the 28th of April.

From Wikipedia:

Kwangmyŏngsŏng (”Bright Light Star”) was an artificial satellite claimed to have been launched by North Korea in 1998. There is some doubt as to whether the satellite existed at all. Many North Korea observers believe the story of a satellite launch was invented to allay the international outrage that followed North Korea’s test-firing of a Taepodong-1 ballistic missile, which crossed over Japan before crashing into the Pacific Ocean. NORAD were unable to detect the satellite visually, by radar, or pick up its radio signals. It is thought that, if there had truly been an attempt to launch a satellite, the third stage failed to fire and it was placed into an orbit from which it decayed very quickly.

The official Korean Central News Agency announced on September 1, 1998, that the satellite had been launched at 3:07 UTC on August 31 from a launch site in Musudan-ri, Hwadae-gun, North Hamgyong Province by a Taepodong-1 rocket. This was followed by a video of the launch, images of the purported satellite, and an animation of the satellite in orbit. The photographs showed a satellite similar to the first Chinese satellite, Dong Fang Hong I, itself very similar to Telstar 1.

According to the North Korean media it completed its hundredth orbit on September 13, 1998, and was in an elliptical orbit with a perigee of 218.82 km and apogee of 6,978.2 km with a period of 165 minutes and 6 seconds. It was also reported to be transmitting the melody of “Song of General Kim Il-sung” and “Song of General Kim Jong-il” and the Morse signals “Juche Korea” at 27 MHz.

The satellite has since featured prominently in North Korean propaganda, such as the mass gymnastics.

Another source here, and YouTube.

The most authoritative map of North Korea on Google Earth
North Korea Uncovered: Version 6
Download it here

This map covers North Korea’s agriculture, aviation, cultural locations, manufacturing facilities, railroad, energy infrastructure, politics, sports venues, military establishments, religious facilities, leisure destinations, and national parks. It is continually expanding and undergoing revisions. This is the sixth version.

Additions to the newest version of North Korea Uncovered include: Alleged Syrian nuclear site (before and after bombing), Majon beach resort, electricity grid expansion, Runga Island in Pyongyang, Mt. Ryongak, Yongbyon historical fort walls, Suyang Fort walls and waterfall in Haeju, Kaechon-Lake Taesong water project, Paekma-Cholsan waterway, Yachts (3), and Hyesan Youth Copper Mine.

Disclaimer: I cannot vouch for the authenticity of many locations since I have not seen or been to them, but great efforts have been made to check for authenticity. These efforts include pouring over books, maps, conducting interviews, and keeping up with other peoples’ discoveries. In many cases, I have posted sources, though not for all. This is a thorough compilation of lots of material, but I will leave it up to the reader to make up their own minds as to what they see. I cannot catch everything and I welcome contributions.

Yonhap
10/30/2007

Police said Tuesday they have abolished rewards for those who turn in North Korean propaganda leaflets discovered in South Korean territory, as almost none have been found over the past few years amid thawing inter-Korean relations.

“In recent years, the number of North Korean leaflets that have been reported to us is close to zero,” said a spokesman for the National Police Agency, adding that the reward policy is already useless.

Leaflet dissemination was a key element of propaganda warfare between the archrival countries during the Cold War. The two Koreas, which are technically in a state of war, attempted to secretly distribute the leaflets in each other’s territory ever since the 1950-53 Korean War ended with an armistice.

However, the number plummeted in recent years amid a thaw in two-way ties, especially after the first summit between the leaders of the two Koreas in Pyongyang in 2000. South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun and North Korean leader Kim Jong-il held the second inter-Korean summit in the North Korean capital early this month.

The North attempted to disseminate millions of propaganda leaflets in the South every year until the 2000 summit.

The North Korean leaflets, often found in the countryside or on university campuses, were allegedly distributed by South Korean sympathizers or sent by balloon from the communist state.

The leaflets contained messages or pictures aimed at enticing South Koreans to defect to the North or criticizing the Seoul government.

Police had previously urged citizens to be aware of the leaflets in April and August, as strong northwestern winds enabled more balloons carrying the propaganda to reach the South.

Police used to grant medals to adults who collected a large number of the leaflets, while children were rewarded with new pencils and notebooks.

Version 5: Download it here (on Google Earth) 

This map covers North Korea’s agriculture, aviation, cultural locations, manufacturing facilities, railroad, energy infrastructure, politics, sports venues, military establishments, religious facilities, leisure destinations, and national parks. It is continually expanding and undergoing revisions. This is the fifth version.

Additions to the latest version of “North Korea Uncovered” include updates to new Google Earth overlays of Sinchon, UNESCO sites, Railroads, canals, and the DMZ, in addition to Kim Jong Suk college of eduation (Hyesan), a huge expansion of the electricity grid (with a little help from Martyn Williams) plus a few more parks, antiaircraft sites, dams, mines, canals, etc.

Disclaimer: I cannot vouch for the authenticity of many locations since I have not seen or been to them, but great efforts have been made to check for authenticity. These efforts include pouring over books, maps, conducting interviews, and keeping up with other peoples’ discoveries. In many cases, I have posted sources, though not for all. This is a thorough compilation of lots of material, but I will leave it up to the reader to make up their own minds as to what they see. I cannot catch everything and I welcome contributions.

I hope this map will increase interest in North Korea. There is still plenty more to learn, and I look forward to receiving your additions to this project.

Again, while trapsing through the jungle of YouTube videos on North Korea, I stumbled on this clip shown on Japanese television which was secretly recorded in a North Korean market.  Since my Japanese ranges from rusty to nonexistent, I do not know where it is.

What does this clip teach us?  That some North Koreans are becomming more sophisticated shoppers/ consumers–looking to the outside world to get a sense of what’s fashionable.  Chinese entrepreneurs are hard at work building brand loyalty for western companies that are not yet aiming for the DPRK market.  Chinese knockoffs of Nike, the North Face (mislabeled “the Nice Face”), and fake designer apparel are all on display.  I imagine no North Korean citizen expects to ever see these goods in the local Public Distribution Office. 

Japanese narration highlights (thanks, Tony):

• Are the North Koreans familiar with these western brands? Some are familiar and others are not so sophisticated.
• These items sell really fast.  You can buy a Rolex Watch (knock off) for 800 Yen (appx. $8 or appx 2,400 North Korean Won).
• The narrator contrasts lifestyles.  He compares shoppers that can afford these market goods with others in the same village who cannot.

Daily NK
Kim Song A
8/2/2007

“In order to transform North Korea, outside news has to enter.”

North Korea, through the North-South Korea Military working-level talks held on the 10th, proposed the cease of scattering of flyers by private organizations. This is the 16th time that North Korea has made such a request.

The North Korean authorities, through the North-South General Officers Talks held in 2004, protested that South Korean private organizations are scattering defamatory flyers, despite the fact that North and South Korea agreed to stop advertisement activities, broadcasting, or public announcements in the Military Demarcation Line region.

Related to this, Lee Min Bok, Christian Defectors Association’s representative, evaluated in a phone interview with DailyNK on the 26th, “The reason why North Korea is reacting sensitively is because many North Koreans are exposed to materials distributed by ‘leaflet balloons’ and are being influenced.”

Mr. Lee revealed his intention to continue to carry out this work, “All North Koreans, with the exception of Kim Jong Il, probably appreciate the information distribution even though they cannot outwardly express it. We will continue to carry out this work with the single-hearted purpose of relaying outside news.”

Lee, who entered South Korea in `95 via Russia and China after defecting from North Korea in `90 is well-known as “the first refugee from North Korea defined by UN.” Presently, he graduated from seminary in South Korea and is involved in spreading Christianity in North Korea.

Through the balloon, his strategy is to transform North Korea while disseminating outside news such as evangelism flyers to North Korea. The members of defector and missionary organizations sent 207 large-size balloons (as of July 18th) to North Korea this year alone.

A total of 597,816 leaflets were sent to North Korea through these balloons. Six radios and medicine such as aspirin were included as well. He who has been continuing this activity since 2002 emphasized that disseminating outside news was more important than any other work.

“In East Germany and the former Soviet Union, outside news caused the fall of Communism. East Germany’s last prime minister Lothar de Maiziere said at the time of Germany’s reunification, “West Germany tried to relay news of the outside world to East Germany. Russian-born North Korean expert, Professor Andrei Lankov said, “Soviet Union was toppled because of the radio.”

“As when Romanian citizens executed dictator Ceaucescu, the potential power of North Korean citizens will be great if North Korea collapses,” confirmed Lee of the enormous impact dissemination of flyers and radio broadcasting has had on North Korean citizens.

He said, “Failure to support or back such activity might actually ignore the latent energy of North Korean citizens. When I was in North Korea, I learned a lot from the flyers from South Korea. What I saw then is significantly helping me produce flyers to be distributed to North Korea now.”

He recalled his experience then and has produced flyers which are considerate of North Korean citizens by expressing terminology or inscriptions which may not be understood in a more North Korean way.

Regarding the content of the flyers, he explained, “It focuses on North Korean society’s devotion towards Kim Jong Il and helping them realize the areas of propagandistic lies about South Korea.”

He added, “I have lived in North Korean society, so I know what to capture to reveal the true nature of North Korea’s political power. From such intent, the defectors have to become owners of this work and must actively step forward.”

Sending one large-sized balloon to North Korea costs around 140 dollars. The cost adds up if the one counts the failed balloons due to the weak north wind. The support money from defector or missionary organizations and civilian organizations have been appropriated for this work.

Lee, who believes that a single flyer he sends can change the North Korean people, emphatically said, “There is no one who significantly recognizes our work, but in order to open and reform North Korea, I do not think there is any other way. Until North Korea democratizes and becomes reunified, I will continue this work.”

Since China’s star Olympic athletes have signed endorsement contracts with western sports apparel firms, their Chinese competitors have looked to the “Land of the Morning Calm” to help them cash in on the ‘08 Olympics (and beyond)…

Press release here (PDF): News_Release_Sponsorship_17Jan07.pdf

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Female Weightlifters, Spanish Basketball Stars, and Kim Jong-il
Slate
Jacob Leibenluft
7/25/2007

Chinese companies can’t compete with the world powers when it comes to locking up megastars. Olympic gold-medalist hurdler Liu Xiang, who will likely emerge as the biggest Chinese star of the Beijing games, has a deal with Nike. One of China’s leading sports-marketing consultants told me that every starter on the national basketball team has a deal with a foreign brand. Yi Jianlian, whom the Milwaukee Bucks selected with the sixth pick of the NBA draft, had a Nike contract by the time he was 16.

…

At the same time, Chinese shoe companies’ Billy Beane-like quest for hidden value has led to a few questionable decisions. Most sneaker companies would shy away from sponsoring the North Korean Olympic team. At the 2004 Summer Games in Athens, the DPRK won a grand total of five medals, none of them gold. Besides, the Hermit Kingdom doesn’t exactly conjure up the kind of brand associations most shoe companies are looking for. But Erke’s sponsorship of North Korea has a simple explanation. North Korea’s strongest sports include gymnastics, table tennis, and diving, all of which draw huge support and TV audiences in China.

Daily NK
Kim Young Jin
7/12/2007

The North Korean jangmadang’s (market) rice price has narrowly increased after the spring shortage season.

As a result of DailyNK’s investigation of price levels in Northern cities of North Korea at the end of June and beginning of July, the price of North Korean rice is 900 won per kilogram which has increased 80 won compared to its price at the end of March.

At the jangmadang in Shinuiju, North Pyongan, the price of rice, compared to three months ago, has been sold at a 120 won higher price at 980 won. North Korea’s spring shortage season is around March to May before the barley harvest, after the passage of spring.

The reason why the price of rice has shown a narrow upward tendency of 100 won domestically is that along with the effects of the spring shortage season, the nationwide “farm supporting combat” was implemented last May. During the farm supporting period, the jangmadang was closed out, so it became difficult to obtain rice.

Further, with the delay in South Korea’s support of 40,000 tons of rice to North Korea, the increase in the price of rice seems to have been fueled. The price of South Korean rice, compared to the end of March, increased over 150 won. South Korean rice was sold at the increased price of 1,100 in the Shinuiju region.

Along with the increase in the price of rice, the exchange rate seems to show a slight increase as well. In Hoiryeong, it increased by 50 won, compared to the end of March, according to the basis of 3,100 won per dollar. The Chinese Yuan was sold at a 390 won line, having increased 20 won.

Besides this, the staple of North Korea’s lower-class, corn, compared to the end of March, increased by approximately 80 won to 450 won per kilogram. With the rise in the price of rice, the demand for corn as a substitute ration seems to have increased as a result. Frozen pollack, which cost 4,000 won per one, went down to 3,500 won.

Chinese-made shoes, compared to March, is being sold for 7,000 won per pair, having decreased around 5,000 won. In addition, the price of Chinese industrial products as a whole is showing a decline.

Due to North Korean merchants who received goods through Korean-Chinese peddlers in the past going over to China themselves and obtaining goods through dumping, the drop in prices has been continuing.

Pork (2,300 won per kg) or cabbage (300 won per kg) and the price of other vegetables, compared to the end of March, declined by 200 won. In the case of fruits, the price of apples skyrocketed by 1,400 won from three months ago to 2,900 won per kilogram.

Also, among North Korean cigarettes, a product with the brand “Dog” recently surfaced. The price is the same as “Sunbong” at 1,000 won. The representative foreign brand “Craven (called ‘Cat’ in North Korea)” narrowly declined to 1,300 won.

Cost of DPRK grains up as lean season continues
Institute for Far Eastern Studies (IFES)
NK Brief No. 07-7-16-1
7/16/007

The results of a general survey of market prices in the northern region of North Korea carried out by the “Daily NK” show that grain prices continue to rise. The survey, taken from the end of June to the beginning of July, showed that the price per kilogram of domestic rice was 900 Won, 80 Won higher than at the end of March. Sinuiju market prices have risen 120 Won over the last three months, with rice now selling for 980 Won per kilogram.

The ‘lean season’ in North Korea runs from the spring and lasts 3 to 5 months into the summer until barley crops are ready for harvesting. The rise in rice costs by around 100 Won appears to be due to a combination of factors, one being the influence of the lean season, and another being the mobilization of city residents to farming communities to help with harvesting. During harvesting season, markets are closed as workers are sent to the fields, making it difficult to purchase rice. In addition, the decision by Seoul to delay delivery of 400 thousand tons of aid has further aggravated the situation. The price of South Korean rice in the North has also risen, up 150 Won since March in some areas, and up as much as 250 Won in Sinuiju, where a kilogram of ROK rice sells for 1,100.

The rising cost of rice is fueling demand for substitute grains, causing their prices to rise as well. Corn, a staple food for low-income DPRK families, has risen 80 Won since March, to now sell for 450 Won per kilogram. In addition to rising grain prices, currency exchange rates also appear to be on the rise. In the city of Hyeryung, one USD is worth 3,100 Won, 50 Won more than in March. The Chinese Yuan has risen 20 Won, and now trades for 390 Won.

On the other hand, the prices of some goods in the markets are falling. In particular, Chinese goods are becoming more available, thus lowering costs. Chinese shoes have fallen to 7,000 Won, 5,000 Won less than the price in March. Previously, goods were brought into the country only through Chinese-Korean cross-border traders, but now North Korean vendors have direct access to Chinese goods being ‘dumped’ in the North, causing their prices to continue to decline.

Daily NK
Yang Jung A
7/9/2007

A North Korean insider source said on the 5th that the North Korean government sold the fishery licenses of coastal waters at Chulsan, North Pyongan during the crab catching season between May and July for a moderate price.

Chinese marine traders who bought the fishery licenses from North Korea are large marine companies based on Donggang in Lianoning.

The ship-owners and fishermen of North Korea, due to a huge decline in fishes with the Chinese ships’ competitive entry into Chulsan’s offshore waters after receiving the North Korean government’s fishery licenses, are supposed to be going through a hard time.

The source said, “Recently, with the exclusion of the neighboring sea off the coast of Chulsan near the People’s Army’s marine head where the fish farms are located, the fishery licenses to the offshore of the Chulsan-Donggang (China) have been sold to Chinese businessmen. Tens of Chinese fishermen have bought the rights.”

The source said, “The organization in charge who has issued the fishery licenses is not the marine products association, but the No. 64 naval squadron in charge of the this region’s seashore boundary.

Donggang in Liaoning in China located in the mouth of Yalu River, is a small-size city across from Bidan Island.

He said, regarding the price of the fishery licenses, “A small boat is 1,000 Yuan (US$133) per day and a large boat which can accumulate over 100 ton is around 7,000 Yuan (US$ 922) in Chinese currency.”

He added, “The rumors say besides the costs of the licenses, a lot of money has been handed over to North Korea in the negotiations process.”

“Due to monopolizing of the Chinese fishing boats, North Korea’s ships anchored at decks of Donggang are barely seen. North Korean businessmen who have smuggled marine products using small-size boats are having a difficult time because they cannot go out to sea where the current is rough and a lot of gas is required.”

North Korea’s fishermen are saying they have no choice but to go out to the far sea, because they cannot go near the oceanic region operated by Chinese ships.

The source also said, “Chinese ships surreptitiously attacking North Korean ships in their permitted region and beating people have been occurring frequently.”

The Korea Martime Institute, in a report which was announced early this year, said, “The C
hinese government is promoting advancement of North Korea’s operations when the complaints of the country’s fishermen climaxed due to the reduction of ships in the Yungeun Sea and the decline in their income.”

On one hand, besides the oceanic operation rights, the situation is that China’s direct investment in North Korea’s resource development, such as the mining rights being handed over to China, is increasing.

China, instead of investing 70 hundred million Yuan at Musan Mine in 2005, is exercising its 50-year mining licenses to take 10bn tons of iron ore annually.