The US has agreed to give North Korea 500,000 tonnes of food aid under a new deal that would allow monitors unprecedented access to oversee distribution in the Stalinist state.
Washington will supply 400,000 tonnes via the United Nation’s World Food Programme, while US non-governmental organisations will distribute another 100,000 tonnes, according to people familiar with the agreement. One US official told the Financial Times that President George W. Bush would approve the deal “within days”.
In order to ensure the food reaches ordinary North Koreans, Pyongyang has agreed to extensive monitoring, including random inspections that several observers said were “unprecedented”. It would also allow “port to mouth” inspections to reduce concerns that food would be siphoned off for the elites that support Kim Jong-il, the North Korean leader.
Pyongyang will also allow more monitors into North Korea than under previous food programmes, and will allow them to visit a greater number of areas.
North Korea will receive an initial shipment of 50,000 tonnes in early June. Once Mr Bush formally approves the deal, US experts will meet counterparts from North Korea, the WFP and NGOs to decide what kind of food is needed.
…And contrary to its previous report on 5/11/08 that South Korea was preparing to donate a nearly USD$10 million aid package to the DPRK, despite never being formally asked for it, Yohnap today reports that Seoul is doing no such thing. The trial balloon carrying the aid must have popped somewhere over the DMZ.
Read the full stories here:
US to send food to N Korea under new deal Financial Times
Demetri Sevastopulo
5/13/2008
Seoul set to approve 10 bln won in aid for N. Korea: official Yonhap
5/11/2008
Gov’t denies rice aid to be sent to N. Korea via int’l body Yonhap
Shim Sun-ah
5/13/2008
I am keeping a running list of official and civil responses here as they appear in the media.
1. The DPRK supposedly ended rations for mid-level cadres (party and state employees), though food can still be purchased in markets. Unless the government is hoarding its grain supplies, this probably has the effect of improving food distribution (transferring food stocks outside Pyongyang), though not to the satisfaction of those who were used to receiving it for “free.”
North Korea’s new envoy to the United Nations presented his credentials to U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon here Wednesday, along with envoys from several other nations, to officially begin his service, Ban’s office said.
Ambassador Sin Son-ho replaced Pak Gil-yon, who had been at his country’s U.N. mission since 2001. He served as deputy chief of the mission from 2000 to 2003.
Posted in Political economy, UN, USA | Comments Off on New N. Korean envoy starts work at U.N.
According to an article in the Associated Press today (reprinted in the Washington Post):
The U.S. has recently stepped back from its demand for a detailed declaration addressing North Korea’s alleged secret uranium enrichment program and nuclear cooperation with Syria; North Korea has denied those allegations. Washington now says it wants North Korea to simply acknowledge the concerns and set up a system to verify that the country does not conduct such activities in the future.
How can any uranium enrichment verification plan be implemented in the DPRK? One solution was proposed to me by Glyn Ford, a member of the European Parliament, when I met him in Beijing last March. His idea was this: Any uranium enrichment program would require a colossal amount of electricity delivered at a consistent voltage. So one way the west could monitor if such a program was taking place would be to keep tabs on the North Korean power grid for suspicious spikes in activity or to build voltage fluctuations into the power supply.
Read the full article here: US official to travel to NKorea
Associated Press (Printed in the Washington Post)
Foster Klug
5/6/2008
Exports to the U.S. of the North Korean liquor Pyongyang Soju have been halted due to a lack of interest from consumers, Radio Free Asia reported Tuesday. Tang Kap-jeung of importer Tang’s Liquor Wholesales in Flushing, New York, told RFA, “There was some interest at first because people were curious, but the poor taste led to dwindling orders and we stopped imports a year ago.”
Customers in the U.S. enjoy South Korean soju, which is smoother and odorless, and nine out of 10 people said the North Korean variety was not to their taste, he added.
He said the price tag of the North Korean liquor at US$3.75 a bottle due to special tariffs was another factor behind the poor sales.
Sales of Pyongyang Soju began in 2008 primarily in New York, New Jersey, Georgia, Maryland and California, RFA said. Export versions of the soju are also sold in China and Japan.
ORIGINAL POST: According to Yonhap, North Korean Soju has finally (again?) landed in New Jersey (h/t One Free Korea):
The first shipment of North Korean-made liquor to the United States has arrived in New York and will go on sale as soon as it clears customs, the importer said Wednesday.
Tang Gap-jeung, head of Tang’s Liquor Wholesale, which is in charge of U.S. distribution, told Yonhap that 1,660 boxes of Pyongyang Soju arrived Tuesday. Each box has 24 bottles of liquor made from corn, rice and glutinous rice flour. (Yonhap)
This is not the first time that someone has tried to import North Korean soju into the US (part 1 of the story here). Unfortunately, that effort came to an end when the entrepreneur who launched the venture was arrested for being an unregistered South Korean spy (again, h/t One Free Korea). The fate of the soju went unreported.
Mr. Tang is probably not importing the “adder soju” (with a dead snake in the bottle), which is absolutely vile, but worth the money just to keep in the liquor cabinet for show. Adder soju aside, North Korea can make some tasty liquor, so if you want to try something new this weekend, here is where you can pick some up (call first and make sure the shipment has cleared customs):
Tang’s Liquor Wholesale of NJ
530 Church St
Ridgefield, NJ 07657
(201) 313-8800
The full story can be read here:
N.K. liquor import arrives in New York Yonhap
4/23/2008
(UPDATE 2: 1/12/2009) Last of the children of the Japanese Red Army will return to Japan:
The 14-year-old son of one of the Japanese men who hijacked a Japan Airlines airplane and defected to North Korea in 1970 will travel to Japan next week, the last of the children of the hijackers to move to Japan from the country. A supporter of the hijackers’ family members left for Pyongyang on Saturday, where he will meet with the boy and accompany him to Japan via Beijing on Tuesday.
The boy is the son of Moriaki Wakabayashi, 61, who is on the international wanted list for hijacking the plane. The supporter left the Chinese capital after obtaining a special traveling permit from the Japanese Embassy for the boy, who was born in North Korea and does not have a Japanese passport. Family members of the nine hijackers began returning to Japan in 2001. Those remaining in North Korea will be the four of the nine hijackers still living in the country and two wives who are on the international wanted list for their alleged involvement in the kidnapping of Japanese nationals for North Korea. (Japan Today, 1/10/2009)
(UPDATE: 5 days after NKeconWatch posts the press release)
Asked in a telephone conversation whether the hijackers called for help from the European Parliament, Ford said, “The only help they seemed to want was to publicize their offer.”
Ford said the meeting was set up by his North Korean hosts when discussing barriers to the removal of North Korea from the U.S. list of state sponsors of terrorism.
He said he has informed the Japanese government of his meeting with the hijackers.
“This is an opportunity that I hope the Japanese government will take to move closer to normalize relations between Tokyo and Pyongyang,” Ford said.
Of the nine hijackers who sought asylum in the North, three have died and two who later returned to Japan were convicted.
Read the full article here:
EU lawmaker meets North fugitives Japan Times
4/15/2008
Press Release:
Monday 7 April 2008
Glyn Ford (Labour MEP for South West England), met in Pyongyang with Moriaki Wakabayashi and Takahiro Konishi two of the four remaining Japanese hijackers in North Korea. Moriaki Wakabayashi and Takahiro Konishi, who hijacked Japan Airlines Yodo Flight 351 from Tokyo to Fukuoka in 1970 declared that they are willing to return to Japan to face trial.
Following the meeting with the hijackers, Glyn Ford MEP, said: “All four hijackers are now willing to return to Japan. This offer is only conditional on the dropping of arrest warrants against three of them for possible complicity in the abductions of Japanese citizens to North Korea in the 1980s. Their return would mean that the last remaining obstacle to the US removing its terrorist state designation of North Korea would have been removed consequently allowing progress to be made towards a final settlement of the current nuclear crisis on the Korean Peninsula.”
He continued “This is an opportunity that I hope the Japanese government will take to move closer to normalise relations between Tokyo and Pyongyang. If US Army deserter and defector Robert Jenkins can return to Japan after only serving a token 30 days in jail I see no reason why the Japanese government should refuse to accept an offer that might well lead to the four remaining hijackers, all now in their late 50s and 60s, facing up to 12 years in prison.”
…does not sound like very easy job based on the most in-depth media coverage of their operations published in the Washington Post.
The story portrays the sad state of the DPRK’s medical facilities and shows just how much local doctors struggle to serve their patients. According to Eugene Bell Foundation Chairman Stephen Linton:
“I’ve seen doctors who tried to capture sunlight by reflecting it from a mirror,” [during surgery] he says.
By North Korean standards, [this] patient is fortunate. She’s been given a local anesthetic, which is rare in a country where surgeons routinely etherize patients, strap them down and try to finish the operation before they come to.
and
Like most hospitals and care centers in North Korea, the facility employs a direct-fluoroscopy machine, an X-ray device that irradiates the patient from behind while the doctor examines an image projected on a fluoroscopic plate of glass between them. “The negative is the doctor’s retina,” says Linton, who frequently admonishes physicians for submitting themselves to the machines’ potentially fatal doses of radiation. Most physicians in North Korea use them regularly, and suffer the consequences. The radiologist at Kosong, for example, has receding gums and low hemoglobin, common signs of radiation sickness. Three of his colleagues have died over the years — one from radiation overdose, another from cancer and a third from tuberculosis.
But the toll poor infrastructure takes on the provision of good health care is only exacerbated by the difficulties the DPRK bureaucracy puts in his way:
Of the 36 NGOs that began operations in North Korea as famine gutted the rural population in the mid-1990s, all but a handful have left in frustration. And Linton is particularly demanding: He insists on delivering his supplies personally, lest they be diverted to another facility or end up on the black market. When government officials balk, Linton refuses to resupply the site. So each of his two resupply visits annually is preceded by lengthy and sometimes rancorous negotiations.
“They say they want to save wear and tear on the vehicles, so they need to cut our sites by a third. Fine. I’ll cut theirs as well. Mary, I’ll need a red marker.”
Most of the cancellations involve small sanatoriums in rural areas — the very sites his donors are so keen to support. Linton suspects his hosts want to avoid those facilities because, relative to the urban care centers, their poor sanitation makes them legitimately hazardous. And the wear-and-tear issue isn’t just a red herring. Spending days crisscrossing the countryside on unpaved roads takes a huge toll on the delegation’s fleet of SUVs — vehicles that, between Linton’s visits, the ministry is allowed to use for its own purposes. In resource-starved North Korea, even government officials must barter to replace broken fan belts and transmissions. The last thing the bureaucrats want is to risk losing a precious automobile.
Linton is also apparently given a curfew when he is required to be back at this guest house in Pyongyang.
It seems Tuberculosis is running rampant at the moment:
South Korean sources suggest that tuberculosis has affected as much as 5 percent of North Korea’s population of 23 million. Linton estimates the Eugene Bell Foundation has treated up to 250,000 patients, 70 percent of whom might have otherwise died.
The U.S. State Department in March every year releases a country report on global terrorism and state sponsors of terrorism in the previous year. The U.S. had considered striking North Korea from the list of state sponsors of terrorism early this year. But North Korea has missed a deadline to make a full declaration of its nuclear programs and stockpiles, as agreed on in six-nation talks.
UPDATE 2 (2013-6-24): A documentary was made of the NY Phil’s visit to Pyongyang. You can watch both parts here:
Part I:
Part II:
UDATE 1 (2008-11-17): Suki Kim wrote about the experience in Harpers. Download the PDF here: harpers.pdf
ORIGINAL POST (2008-2-27): Its difficult to say anything about the NY Phil’s performance that has not already been reported on by numerous other forums, but I think I managed to put together enough interesting material to meet the high standards of North Korean Economy Watch readers:
Pyongyang and the Star Spangled Banner
This site claimed that the philharmonic’s performance would likely be the first time that the US national anthem was broadcast on North Korea’s airwaves. The Joong Ang Daily backs this claim up with a caveat:
The Unification Ministry of South Korea said the U.S. national anthem was played in Pyongyang in 2005 at an international boxing match. It is, however, the first time the Star Spangled Banner has been broadcast live across North Korea. (Joong Ang Daily)
The first public performance of the Star Spangled Banner in Pyongyang was in honor of US female boxer Yvonne Caples (official biography here). Here is how it was reported in KCNA:
DPRK Female Pro Boxer Choe Un Sun Wins World Championship
Pyongyang, June 28, 2005 (KCNA) — Female pro boxer Choe Un Sun of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea captured the championship title of the WBCF in the women’s light flyweight category (48.98 kg). Choe Un Sun settled the bout by a unanimous decision over Yvonne Caples of the United States.
The champion belt, trophy and certificate were awarded to Choe.
The match was held at the Ryugyong Jong Ju Yong Gymnasium in Pyongyang Tuesday.
In the interest of fair reporting, here is Ms. Caples’ side of the story:
…Yvonne traveled to Pyongyang, North Korea to be a part of the historic first professional boxing matches in North Korea to fight for the WBCF Jr. Flyweight World Title against North Korean Eun Soon Choi. During Yvonne’s bout the American National Anthem was played for the first time in North Korea. Yvonne knew that in order to get a decision she would probably have to get a knock out. Eun Soon Choi proved to be very strong and skillful. Fighting in front of 13,000 cheering North Koreans, Yvonne fought what she felt was the best fight of her career. Despite the intimidating crowd Yvonne felt relaxed and confident throughout the fight. “I fought the fight of my life and came on very strong in the last five rounds. Even though I felt I won the fight, I knew I wouldn’t get the decision. It is no joke fighting in an arena with 13,000 people cheering against you. I was so proud of myself for keeping my composure and fighting so hard in this fight. I do have to take my hat off to the North Korean fighters. I expected them to be strong and well-conditioned, but they were also very skillful fighters. I don’t think anyone would be able to go over there and completely dominate them or knock them out.”
Ms. Caples aside, the editor of this site sang the US national anthem on a bus full of tourists and north Korean guides traveling to Wonsan in August 2005. For the record, this counts as the second live, “public” performance of the Star Spangled Banner. The NY Philharmonic is only now taking the bronze.
Jazz also made its debut. According to Defector Kim Chol-woong:
[“An American in Paris”] is a masterpiece, a mixture of classical and jazz. I am amazed that they will play jazz, because the genre is strictly forbidden in North Korea.
[W]hat musicians are allowed to perform is strictly political. Jazz is forbidden because it is American music. Jazz is considered lewd and immoral. (Joong Ang Daily)
How many people heard the performance?
The theater holds 1500. According to the WSJ, there were a minimum of 150 foreigners likely in the audience (they flew in with the orchestra). Who knows if any of the small business, NGO, and diplomatic community residing in Pyongyang were able to attend. There was also a dress rehearsal for 1200 earlier in the day.
The Daily NK reports (Via the Japanese Mainichi) the the performance was not boradcast on radio, only on television. This means that relatively few people saw it since the penetration of radios is far more significant than television in the DPRK.
Addendum: Who attended? In the comment section below, “Gag Halfrunt” (clever handle) links to a list of VIP attnedees in KCNA.
Update: Today the New York Times reports that the North Korean government has agreed to broadcast the New York Philharmonic’s Pyongyang concert live on state television. Why is this interesting? First of all, this means that the US national anthem, and many other beautiful songs, will be played over North Korea’s airwaves–probably for the first time. Secondly, communist countries are typically very hesitant to broadcast anything live.
The concert will take place in Pyongyang’s East Theater, located in the Munsu district on the east side of the city.
One thing is for sure, Politics aside, the performance will certainly be more interesting than the concert South Korea’s Shinhwa and Baby V.O.X. put on in Pyongyang!
Original Post: 2/7/2008
Today the New York Times(link requires free registration) ran a story on who will be broadcasting the New York Philharmonic’s concert in Pyongyang…
The New York Philharmonic’s concert in North Korea on Feb. 26 will be broadcast that evening on [New York’s local PBS station] WNET, Channel 13, and distributed two days later on PBS, broadcast officials said Wednesday.
In an unusual arrangement, ABC News will cooperate with WNET, New York’s public television station, to produce the broadcast.
Because of the time difference, the concert will actually take place before dawn New York time on Feb. 26. A live broadcast will be made available for any takers by EuroArts Music International, which produces and distributes classical music programming and has the rights to the broadcast outside South Korea.
The most interesting part of the story, however:
One place where the broadcast is still uncertain is North Korea itself. Government officials there have not said whether the concert will be shown on local television, according to Eric Latzky, the Philharmonic’s spokesman.
Given North Korea’s deep isolation and the government’s tight control over its citizens, the broadcast issue is of crucial interest. Orchestra officials said they had pressed hard to have the concert shown on North Korean television, to ensure that it would be heard by more than just a small audience of dignitaries. The broadcast of any event from North Korea is rare.
You can read the stories here:
Concert in North Korea to Be Broadcast Live New York Times
Daniel Watkin
2/19/2008
PBS Will Broadcast Concert From North Korea New York Times
Daniel Wakin
2/7/2008
