North Korean Economy Watch

NPR
Morning Edition
10/13/2006

When North Korea recently opened the door to foreign investment, cartoonist Guy Delisle became one of the few Westerners to witness current conditions in the capital city of Pyongyang. Delisle found himself in the city on a work visa for a French film animation company.

Delisle could only explore Pyongyang and its countryside if he was accompanied by his translator and a guide. Among the statues, portraits and propaganda of leaders Kim Il-Sung and his son Kim Jong-Il, Delisle observed the culture and lives of the few North Koreans he encountered. His musings on life in the regime form the basis of the graphic novel: Pyongyang: A Journey to North Korea.

Steve Inskeep speaks with Delisle about his work, his choice of coloring in his novel and what he really thinks is going on inside the heads of North Korean citizens.

There are two great audio clips, so click here to hear them.

Paul Tija
GPI Consultancy
October 10, 2006

IN PDF: IT_in_NKorea.pdf

Surprising business opportunities in Pyongyang

Dutch companies are increasingly conducting Information Technology projects in low-cost countries. Also known as offshore sourcing, this way of working means that labor-intensive activities, such as the programming of computer software, are being done abroad. Asia is the most popular software destination, and Indian IT firms are involved in large projects for Dutch enterprises such as ANB Amro Bank, KLM, Philips or Heineken. More recently, we notice a growth in the software collaboration with China.

As a Dutch IT consultant, I am specialized in offshore software development projects, and I regularly travel to India and China. Recently, I was invited for a study tour to an Asian country which I had never visited before: North Korea. I had my doubts whether to accept this invitation. After all, when we read about North Korea, it is mostly not about its software capabilities. The current focus of the press is on its nuclear activities and it is a country where the Cold War has not even ended, so I was not sure if such a visit would be useful. And finally, such a trip to a farshore country would at least take a week.

Nevertheless, I decided to visit this country. This decision was mainly based on what I had seen in China. I had already traveled to China five times this year, and the fast growth of China as a major IT destination was very clear to me. China is now the production factory of the world, but China’s software industry has emerged to become a global player in just 5 years. Several of the largest Indian IT service providers, including TCS, Infosys, Wipro and Satyam, have established their offices in China, taking advantage of the growing popularity of this country. However, I also noticed that some Chinese companies themselves are outsourcing IT work to neighboring North Korea. And since my profession is being an offshore consultant, I have no choice but to investigate these new trends in country selection, so I accepted the invitation to visit Pyongyang, the capital of North Korea. I happened to be the first Dutch consultant to research the North Korean IT-sector ever, and the one-week tour turned out to be extremely interesting. Quite surprisingly, the country offers interesting business opportunities for European companies.

Korea Computer Center
My study tour was organized by KCC (Korea Computer Center), the largest IT-company in the country. Established in 1990, it is state-owned and has more than one thousand employees. It is headquartered in Pyongyang and has regional branches in eleven cities. My accommodation has been arranged at the KCC campus, which comprises of several office buildings. It also has iown hostel, with a swimming pool, for foreign guests. These guests are mainly Asian (during my stay, there were Chinese delegations), so I had to get used to having rice for breakfast. In the evenings, the restaurant doubled as a karaoke bar, and some of the waitresses appeared to be talented singers. The campus is located in a rather attractive green area, and the butterflies flying around were the largest I had ever seen. It also has sporting grounds, and basketball was during my one-week visit the most popular game among KCC staff. An internal competition takes place during lunch hours.

Korea Computer Center is organized in different specialized business units. Before their representatives started with presentations, I received a tour through the premises. As is the case in India and China, the programmers at KCC also work in cubicles. KCC develops various software products, of which some are especially designed for the local market. Examples are a Korean version of Linux and translation software between Korean, Japanese, Chinese and English. They also produce software for Korean character and handwriting recognition and voice recognition. Other products are made for export, and North Korean games to be used on mobile phones are already quite popular in Japan. There are also games for PC’s, Nintendo and Playstation; their computer version of Go, an Asian chess game, has won the world championship for Go games for several years. The games department has a display showing all the trophies which were won during international competitions.

For several years, KCC is active as an offshore services provider and it works for clients in China, South Korea and Japan. For these markets, North Korea is a nearshore destination, and quite a few North Korean IT-staff do speak Chinese or Japanese. KCC also has branch offices in various Chinese cities, including Beijing and Dalian. It works for both foreign software product companies and end user firms, such as banks. For these clients, different types of applications have been developed, for example in the field of finance, security or Human Resources. Europe is a relatively new market for the North Koreans, and some of their products have been showed for the first time at the large international IT-exhibition CeBIT, in 2006 in Hannover, Germany.

The level of IT-expertise was high, with attention to quality through the use of ISO9001, CMMI and Six Sigma. KCC develops embedded software for the newest generation of digital television, for multimedia-players and for PDA’s (Personal Digital Assistants). Surprisingly, it also produces the software for the mobile phones of South Korean Samsung. I was shown innovative software which could recognize music by humming a few sounds. In less than a second, the melody was recognized from a database of more than 500 songs. Also applications for home use were developed, such as accessing the Internet by using a mobile phone to adjust the air conditioning. KCC also Photo: KCC campus in Pyongyang made software to recognize faces on photographs and video films. They gave me demonstrations of video-conferencing systems, and applications for distance learning. There was a separate medical department, which made software to be used by hospitals and doctors, such as systems to check the condition of heart and blood vessels.

Supply of IT-labor In countries such as The Netherlands, the enrollment in courses in Information Technology is not popular anymore among the youth, and a shortage of software engineers is expected. This situation is different in many offshore countries, where a career in IT is very ‘cool’. Also in North Korea, large numbers of students have an interest to study IT. I visited in Pyongyang the large Kim Chaek University of Technology, where there are much more applications, than available places. Although my visit took place during the summer holiday, there were still students around at the faculty of Informatics. In order to gain experience, they were conducting projects for foreign companies. I spoke with students who were programming computer games or were developing software for PDA’s. A large pool of technically qualified workforce is now available in North Korea. Some of the staff is taking courses abroad and foreign teachers (e.g. from India) are regularly invited to teach classes in Pyongyang.

Business Process Outsourcing
Some companies in Pyongyang are involved in activities in the field of BPO (Business Process Outsourcing), an areas which includes various kinds of administrative work. Because of the available knowledge of the Japanese language, the North Koreans are offering back-office services to western companies engaged in doing business with Japan.

In order to get an understanding of this type of work, I visited Dakor, which was established 10 years ago in cooperation with a Swiss firm. This joint venture is located at the opposite side of Pyongyang, across the Taedong river. It works for European research companies, and it receives from them scanned survey forms electronically on a daily basis. It processes these papers and returns the results within 48 hours to their clients. The company is also conducting data-entry work for international organizations such as the United Nations and the International Red Cross. Their data, which is stored on paper only, is being made available for use online. Dakor is also offering additional services, such as producing 2D and 3D designs for architectural firms, and it is also programming websites.

Animation
North Korea is already famous as a production location for high quality cartoons and animation. Staff of the American Walt Disney Corporation described the country as one of the most talented centers of animation in the world. The specialized state corporation SEK Studio has more than 1500 employees, and works for several European producers of children films. New companies are being founded as well, and I visited Tin Ming Alan CG Studio. This firm was set up in early 2006, and is located in a new office building in the outskirts of Pyongyang. Its main focus is in Computer Graphics and in 2D and 3D animation it uses the latest hardware and software, including Maja. Some of the staff of Tin Ming Alan speak Chinese and the company has a marketing office in China. They are hired by Chinese advertisement companies to make the animation for TV-commercials. It also works on animation to be included in computer games.  Several employees of this young company come from other animation studios and have more than ten years of experience in this field.

The North Korean IT sector seems to be dynamic, where new firms are being established, and where business units of larger organizations are being spun-off into new ventures. I visited the Gwang Myong IT Center, which is a spin-off from Korea Computer Center. It is specialized in network software and security, and it produces anti-virus, data encryption, data recovery, and fingerprint software. This firmis internationally active as well; it has an office in China and among its clients are financial institutions in Japan.

Issues of country selection
My study tour revealed that North Korea has specific advantages. The local tariffs are lower than in India or China, thus giving western firms the option of considerable cost reductions. The commitment of North Korean IT-firms is also high, and the country is therefore also an offshore option for especially smaller or medium sized western software companies. Outsourcing work to North Korea could also be used to foster innovation (e.g. developing better products or new applications). This country can be used for research as well (from Linux to parallel processing).  Based from my interaction with Korean managers and software engineers, I do not believe that the cultural differences are larger than with China or India. My communication with them, both formal and informal, was pleasant. Communicating with North Koreans is clearly less difficult than with Japanese.

The North Korean companies have experiences with a wide range of development platforms. They work with Assembler, Cobol, C, Visual Studio .Net, Visual C/C++, Visual Basic, Java, JBuilder, Powerbuilder, Delphi, Flash, XML, Ajax, PHP, Perl, Oracle, SQL Server, MySQL, etc. They can do development work for administrative applications, but also technical software, such as embedded software or PLC’s. North Korea is very advanced in areas such as animation and games, and I have seen a range of titles, including table tennis, chess, golf, or beach volley. The design of many of their applications was modern and according to the western taste.

Over the recent years, North Korea is opening up for foreign business. This process makes offshore sourcing easier, and even investing in an own software subsidiary or joint venture can be considered. This does not mean that North Korea is potential software destination for every user of offshore services. The country is a subject of international political tensions. In addition, a number of circumstances require specific attention, such as the command of the English Language.  As is the case with China, the North Korean IT staff are able to read english bu thtey do not speak it very well.  Another issue is the relative isolation of the country, and in order to arrange an invitation, a visa is required.  The limited number of direct flights is another disadvantage; one can only travel directly from Beijing or Moscow.  If projects will require a lot of communication or knowledge transfer, it might be recommended to do some parts of the work in China, by the Chinese branches of the North Korean companies. Executing a small pilot project is the best way to investigate the opportunities in more detail.

Conclusion
North Korea has a large number of skilled IT professionals, and it has a high level of IT expertise in various areas.  The country is evolving into a nearshore software destination for a growing number of clients from Japan, China and South Korea. An interesting example of their success is the work they are doing for South Korean giant Samsung, in the field of embedded software for mobile phones.

North Korean IT-companies are now also targeting the European market, and the low tariffs and the available skills are major advantages.  Smaller and medium sized software companies can consider this country as a potential offshore destination, and should research the opportunities for collaboration or investment in more detail. Taking part in a study tour, as I have done, is an excellent way to get more insight in the actual business opportunities of a country – not only in the case of North Korea but for all nearshore and farshore destinations.

Paul Tija is the founder of GPI Consultancy, an independent Dutch Consultancy firm in the in the field of offshore IT sourcing. E-mail: info@gpic.nl
GPI Consultancy, Postbus 26151, 3002 ED Rotterdam
Tel: +31-10-4254172 E-mail: info@gpic.nl http://www.gpic.nl

Joong Ang Daily:
9/26/2006
Lee Ho-jeong

Kim Moon-soo, Gyeonggi province governor, said yesterday that the provincial government is working on two projects in cooperation with North Korea.

Mr. Kim spoke at a press conference in Seoul entitled “Gyeonggi province opens the future of Korea.”

According to the Gyeonggi governor, the first project is called, “Gyeonggi-Pyongyang Rice Farming Project.” The site of the project is Danggok near Pyongyang, North Korea.

The project helps North Korean farmers advance their farming technology in crop harvesting by providing tractors and other advanced farming tools. In addition, the project provides humanitarian assistance such as health care and day care centers.

The second project is enhancing cooperation in the field of film animation.

“North Korean’s animation skills rank among the world’s best, but they lack infrastructure and technology,” Mr. Kim said. In the project, North Korean animators are teamed with South Korean animation film production companies to produce an animated film.

Mr. Kim said the cooperative effort will also contribute to improving humanitarian problems in North Korea.

The governor also said Gyeonggi province is taking steps to increase foreign investment in the region.

“My predecessor, Sohn Hak-kyu, has done a wonderful job drawing foreign investment that helps to illuminate Gyeonggi province,” Mr. Kim said.

The governor said that to draw more foreign investment, the provincial government has to strengthen incentives. For example, public servants who bring in foreign investment will receive a bonus of 200 million won ($211,860). And if a foreign private business is brought in, the bonus is 300 million won.

In addition, Mr. Kim said the Gyeonggi government will reduce the regulations and simplify rules.

The governor has appointed a Samsung Electronics official as the provincial government’s counselor on foreign investment and established a private counseling committee consisting of 20 private entrepreneurs.

The governor also stressed that the free trade agreement now being negotiated between Korea and the United States will be a huge help for foreign investment.

From the Korea Times:
Andrei Lankov
9/10/2006

Recently I was talking to a Westerner who has been working in Pyongyang for quite a long time. Describing the recent changes, he said: “Once upon a time, one had to come back from an overseas trip with a truckload of cigarettes. Now my North Korean colleagues want me to bring movies, especially tapes of South Korean TV dramas.’’

Indeed, North Korea is in the middle of a video revolution which is likely to have a deep impact on its future.

What killed Soviet-style socialism? In the final analysis, it was its innate economic inefficiency. The state is a bad entrepreneur, and the entire history of the 20th century testifies to this. The capitalist West outproduced and outperformed the communist East, whose countries were lagging behind in many regards, including living standards.

Thus, the communist governments had to enforce the strict control of information flows from overseas. There were manifold reasons to do so, but largely this was done exactly because the rulers did not want commoners to learn how vastly more prosperous were people of similar social standing in the supposedly “exploited’’ West.

But people learned about it eventually, and once it happened, the fate of state socialism was sealed.

In the USSR and other countries of once communist Eastern Europe, uncensored information was largely provided by a short-wave radio broadcast. The BBC, the Voice of America and Freedom Radio were especially popular. The USSR was a more liberal place than North Korea, so Soviet citizens could easily buy radio sets in shops.

As far as I know, Moscow never considered a ban on short-wave radio sets in peacetime-perhaps, because in a vast country such a measure would prevent a large part of population hearing the news. The government occasionally resorted to jamming, but it was not always efficient as it could only work around major cities.

In North Korea, where the radio sets are sold with pre-fixed tuning, their role is less prominent even if some North Koreans do listen to foreign broadcasts.

However, North Koreans found another way to access foreign media. If the Soviet Union was brought down by the short-wave radio, in North Korea the corresponding role is likely to be played by videotape.

As with many other great social changes, this one began with a minor technological revolution. DVD players have been around for quite a while, but around 2001 their prices went down dramatically. Northeast China was no exception. Local Chinese households began to purchase DVD players, and this made their old VCRs obsolete. The Chinese market was instantly flooded with very cheap used VCRs that could be had for $10 or $20.

Many of these machines were bought by smugglers who transported the goods across the porous border between North Korea and China. They were re-sold at a huge premium, but still cost but some $30 to $40.

This made VCRs affordable to a large number of North Korean households. In the 1990s, they would have to pay some $200 for a VCR-a prohibitive sum with the average monthly salary hovering around $5. A $35 VCR is within reach of many (perhaps, most) North Korean households, even if they have to save a lot to afford one.

Against the dull background of the official arts, the VCRs were a vehicle for accessing good entertainment. Needless to say, people do not buy these expensive machines to watch the “Star of Korea,’’ a lengthy biopic about the youth of the Great Leader! Since the only major producer of Korean language shows is South Korea, it is only natural that most programs come from Seoul via China. The South Korean soaps are a major hit.

In a sense, the much-talked “Hallyu’’ or “Korean Wave,’’ a craze for all things Korean across East Asia, is a part of North Korean life as well. Young North Koreans enthusiastically imitate the fashions and parrot the idioms they see in South Korean movies. And this does not bode well for the regime’s future.

Of course, the moviemakers did not deliberately pursue any political goals, and their plots involve the usual melodramatic stories of love, family relations and escapist adventure. They are not even produced with a North Korean audience in mind. But the movies reflect the life of South Korea, and this image is vastly different from what the official North Korean media say.

I do not think that the North Koreans take what they see in the movies at face value. They know that their own movies grossly exaggerate the living standards in their county, so they expect moviemakers from other countries, including South Korea, to do the same.

Thus, they hardly believe that in the South everybody can eat meat daily or that every Seoul household has a car. Such an improbable affluence is beyond their wildest dreams.

But there are things that cannot be faked _ like, say, the Seoul cityscape dotted with high-rise buildings and impressive bridges. It is gradually dawning on the North Koreans that the South is not exactly the land of hunger and destitution depicted in their propaganda.

It became cool to look Southern and behave like Southerners do. This is yet another sign of coming change, and I do not think that these changes are likely to be as smooth as many people in Seoul would like them to be.

From Daily NK:
Only Job in the World… North Korea, ‘Person Who Removes Fuses on Radios’
9/5/2006
Ha Tae Kyoung, Open Raido for North Korea

In order to stop the inflow of foreign information entering North Korea, irrespective of how a person obtained a radio, they must report ownership to the People’s Safety Agency (police). This radio is then locked onto North Korea’s official and only broadcasting channel. To fixate the channel the solder is completely removed. So to speak, the only radio station that North Koreans can legitimately listen to is this fixated broadcast.

The majority of the time, this radio station broadcasts songs about the leader and as a result is very boring. Even the TV like the radio is uninteresting as it is fixated on one channel and similarly broadcasts songs about the leader. However, this is not to say that there are many books in North Korea. A defector from Pyongyang once said that there are only 3 bookstores in Pyongyang. Even at these bookstores there are few books and of the few, the books are related to Kim Il Sung propaganda. Furthermore, tapes, movies and drama DVD’s are scarce. No wonder North Korean people find it difficult to spend their leisure times pleasantly.

Recently, the number of people listening to foreign radio programs during their leisure times has increased. Firstly, in order to listen to foreign radio programs the wires fixed onto the radio frequency must be removed. Thus experts are called to open the fuses and as a result, this job is becoming more and more popular. To remove the fuses it costs about North Korean 18,000won. This roughly converts to US$6~7. Taking into consideration that an official North Korean public servant earns about 2~3,000won ($0.67~1) a month, this is a substantial amount.

The reason that the fee is this expensive is not because of high technical skills that are involved in opening the fuses but because of the risk that leads to punishment. Lately in North Korea if a person is caught listening to foreign broadcasts, not only is the radio confiscated but the person is sentenced to 1~3months of forced labor. Compared to the past where people were sent to gulags, the punishment has eased dramatically. One of the reasons that punishment has eased is because of the increasing number of listeners to foreign radio.

Nonetheless the punishment for a person who opens fuses would undoubtedly be significantly greater than a person who listens to the radio. Hence the fee to remove the fuses continues to rise.

When will the day come where North Korea will be able to freely listen to foreign radio programs? Would change come during the time Kim Jong Il is in power? The more desirable condition would be where North Korean people can freely listen to foreign radio programs and the job of removing fuses vanishes. If this case is difficult to achieve in the near future, accordingly it would be better to anticipate North Korean authorities alleviating the punishment on people listening to foreign radio broadcasts. Then, at least the fee of removing fuses would substantially reduce.

From the Daily NK:

Pyongyang Residents Secretly Watch KBS 9pm News
“On the Second-Hand TVs Imported from Japan” 
By Kwon Jeong Hyun, Dandong of China
8/14/2006

It was found that Pyongyang residents in North Korea have secretly watched KBS 1 TV on high-fidelity receivers smuggled from China and TVs made in Japan.

The North Korean government has prohibited the North Korean people from watching South Korean TV programs. In order to prevent TV or radio waves from South Korea, it has done blanketing. Yet, it has been know that such control have not prevent the North Korean people from secretly watching KBS 1TV programs including 9pm News, and rather such trend has been spreading all over Pyongyang.

On the 30th last month, Kim Jin Ho(pseudonym, 42) staying in China to see his relatives said that, “Receivers smuggled through trucks from China are sold at 120 to 150 yuans (45,000 to 56,000 won of North Korea)at Jangmadangs “, adding “Quiet many people watch South Korean TV programs in Pyongyang”.

Kim told that, “Because of control of the government, people can not see soap dramas. They just usually watch 9pm news to know the trends of the world”, and “Family members and friends talk about them together”.

Kim said that receivers to receive the South Korean TV programs are 3m high and have two-edged looked like bones of fish. Kim said he is watching through the receivers only at night. The receivers are called ‘yagi receiver’, which are usually used as territory receivers. Given that the yagi receivers that have been used in the 70’s and 80’s are impossible for satellite broadcasting, people have received KBS program waves over the truce line.

Park Gi Chang(pseudonym, 34) from Pyongsung, South Pyongan province, said that, “Now if one does not know the trends of the outside world, he or she can not join the conversation” and “We can know about what the North Korean government did”. However, Park said that because of the strict control of the government, we have to be careful.”

Park said that, “I have watched KBS programs on a receiver purchased at Jangmadang after I saw my relatives seeing the programs in Pyongyang.”

Because North Korean TV standard is PAL(Phase Alternating Line) different from NTSC(National Television System Committee), we can not still see the South Korean program on the North Korean TVs. Seeing South Korean programs is possible only on the TVs made in Japan and China. Japanese TV standard is NTSC.

In addition, recently it was known that PAL and NTSC TVs are imported from China and Japan.

North Korean has imported TVs made in Hitachi, Japan since the 80’s in bulk. Some second-hand TVs had often been imported into North Korean, which were replaced by receivers only for North Korea.

A staff in charge of KBS broadcasting transmission said that, “No-person head end or transmission tops around the truce line area send electronic waves, which are possible to reach at Pyongyang”, and “it is surprising that we do not send electronic waves toward North Korea. But Pyongyang residents have received them”.

A researcher at a electronic waves research center under the Ministry of Information and Communication stated that, “Generally, waves sent towards Seoul reach at Cheonan or even Dangjin, the nearly southernmost part of S.Korea”, and “given the nature of waves, North Korea can not prevent the waves from South Korea”.

Kim Gi Hyuk, defector Producer of Free North Korea Broadcasting, said that, “I can remember that in Hoicheon, South Pyongan province, I watched a news announcing that Hwang Jang Yop came to South Korean as a political asylum, and saw a South Korean car advertisement through the receiver”, and “on the rainy day, the waves were better caught in the receivers”.

A staff of VideoLap, a video specialized company, said that, “If TVs’ standard is PAL, screens turn into black so we can not totally watch programs. However, sometimes the TVs work well”.

A government official briefly mentioned, “I heard that some North Korean people watch South Korean TV programs”.

The North Korean people have gotten world news on the broadcastings such as RFA or Korean Social education broadcasting. Furthermore, VCD and TV programs have been spreading. It has made the North Korean people free from informational isolation of the past.

From the Washington Post:

New North Korean movie is proletariat pleaser
By Jon Herskovitz
8/11/2006

The king of the summer movie box office is none other than North Korea’s Dear Leader Kim Jong-il, or at least that is what the communist state’s official media has been saying this week.

The biggest movie sensation of the season has been the film made under Kim’s wise leadership called “Diary of a Student Girl,” the North’s KCNA news agency said.

“(It) is screened before full houses in Pyongyang every day, evoking lively response from people of all walks of life,” it said.

Unlike the big movies from Hollywood this summer, there are no pirates, animated cars or mutants making a last stand in the North Korean movie billed as a “close companion of life.”

North Korea’s student girl works with her younger sister in pursuit of scientific endeavors. Through their work they overcome hardships, better understand their parents and are instilled with pride in the nation and its military-first policy.

Even before it was released, official media said it would be listed as a masterpiece.

Minister of Culture Kang Nung-su praised the film as “the fruit borne under the wise leadership of Kim Jong-il, a great master in art,” KCNA reported.

And audiences indeed loved it: “The viewers make up their mind to live as the heroines do, saying that they want to see the film again,” the official agency said.

North Korea has made numerous movies that are low on special effects but high in messages that support the state’s communist ideology.

Kim’s official biography says the man known as the “Dear Leader” is an accomplished director who has made several award-winning films.

Kim is also suspected of kidnapping a South Korean director and his actress wife in order to boost North Korean cinema. Those close to him say he has a collection of thousands of movies.

North Koreans do not have a lot of choice when it comes to entertainment. Their radios have to be set to the official state station and they can get thrown in jail for watching foreign movies or listening to Western music.

As for Kim himself, it was not certain if he has sat through the latest movie. According to official media, he has not been seen for several weeks following Pyongyang’s decision to defy international warnings and test-fire seven missiles on July 5.

Youtube has the video.

This is the most “traditional” sounding I have ever heard North Korean music.  Not one single accordian! shocking…

The 4th World Choir Games were held in Xiamen China from the 15th to the 26th of July, 2006.

I don’t know who won. 

From the Korea Times:

Wild Rocambole Band _ Tallae Umakdan in Korean _ an all-female band of six North Korean defectors will release their first album here this August. Most studied at music schools in North Korea, or performed with state-run troupes.

Included on the album is “Hong Kong Lady,’’ one of the most beloved trot songs in South Korea along with several songs they learned in North Korea.

Leader Han Ok-jung, 28, who escaped the North in June 1998 is good at singing and Chinese while dancer Heo Su-hyang, 22, who fled in 2001, is well-versed in apparatus gymnastics and singing.

Kang Yoo-eun from Pyongyang, and Lim Yoo-kyung from North Hamkyong Province, both 19, sing and play the accordion.

To protect their families who remain in the North, two of the members, who are now South Korean citizens, use false names.

From the Daily NK:

In North Korea, South Korean dramas are confidentially distributed through VCDs(‘Flat eggs’, as the Cds are known).  Previously, North Koreans were only allowed to watch films from the DPRK, China and USSR.  Posessing VCDs was also illegal.

According to Mr. Lee, a Chinese-North Korean who often visits Shinuiju, “Recently, Kim Jong Il has allowed North Koreans to see films only on the flat eggs(CDs) produced by Hana Electronic [the state-owned production monopoly]”. He added “Hana Electronics VCDs are all North Korean movies, Chinese movies featuring fighting with Japanese soldiers, and the Soviet Union movies”.

However, North Koreans are enthusiastic about South Korean dramas such as Love Song in Winter and Autumn Story and obsolete Western movies Rambo and ‘Bruce Lee’.

Mr. Lee said that “Recently South Korean dramas have been distributed widely, and because North Koreans see religious activities and adult materials through the flat eggs(CDs), the North Korean government dispatched an extensive censors group to crack down them”.

In North Korea, every kind of VCD was prohibited. However, realizing that North Koreans took pleasure in secretly watching the widely distributed VCDs, the North Korean government changed its policy and “partially” allowed its people to watch.

Mr. Lee said that, “These days, the punishment for [watching videos] has lightened, so watching VCDs except religious materials is just fined or orally warned”, adding, “The government does not take violators to political prison camps, but maybe Nodon Danryeondae (Labor facility), or Gyohwaso (long-term labor camp)”. Subsequently, he said that, “Because all officials of the National Security Agency and officials of the People’s Safety Agency see the dramas, the government can not unconditionally prevent from watching like the past”.

He said that, “Recently, the numbers of religious people have increased, and because of it, some people were caught watching religious films”, and “It is hard to survive in the religious cases”.

Meanwhile, shortwave radios are illegally traded at around 2,000 won($0.67) at Jangmadangs. Until 3 or 4 years ago, the government had carried out the reporting system about the illegal trades, but after the news that South Korea and the U.S sent radios, the trades at Jangmadangs were officially inhibited.

Now it was known that the small radios sold in secret are carried in through smuggling vessels generally in Jagangdo province, North Korea.  financial problems are resolved, a broker is introduced and guidance to an exile route is given.