North Korean Economy Watch

The most authoritative map of North Korea on Google Earth
North Korea Uncovered v.7
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 latest version of “North Korea Uncovered” include: A Korean War folder featuring overlays of US attacks on the Sui Ho Dam, Yalu Bridge, and Nakwon Munitians Plant (before/after), plus other locations such as the Hoeryong Revolutionary Site, Ponghwa Revolutionary Site, Taechon reactor (overlay), Pyongyang Railway Museum, Kwangmyong Salt Works, Woljong Temple, Sansong Revolutionary Site, Jongbansan Fort and park, Jangsan Cape, Yongbyon House of Culture, Chongsokjong, Lake Yonpung, Nortern Limit Line (NLL), Sinuiju Old Fort Walls, Pyongyang open air market, and confirmed Pyongyang Intranet nodes.

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.

Daily NK
Jung Kwon Ho
12/11/2007

Several sources in China have relayed that it is rumored North Korean authorities are planning to take extreme measures to prevent the sale of industrial products at the jangmadang (markets) next year.

One Chinese merchant, whom DailyNK met in Dandong, China on the 6th, said, “Rumors are circulating that a measure preventing all kinds of Industrial products from being sold in the jangmadang will be implemented next year, making Chinese merchants involved in trade between North Korea and China nervous.”

He informed that “In place of industrial products, only farm produce from the fields of homeowners will be allowed to sell in the jangmadang. Marine products that up to now have been selling in the jangmadang will only be made available at appointed marine shops, meat products at food shops, and industrial products at state operated stores.”

The Chinese source also maintained that, “There are quite a few overseas Chinese who, not knowing what will happen, have bought loads of industrial products with the idea that this might be their last chance, and they have brought them into the North.”

The North Korean authorities began unfolding a series of market regulations immediately following the Inter-Korea Summit in October. These included such policies as limiting the types of items for sale and imposing a minimum age limit on female merchants. However, limiting the sale of industrial products themselves, after having abolished permanent markets, can be seen as a means of returning to “agricultural markets,” where farmers traded only vegetables and a surplus of produce.

According to other Chinese merchants with whom DailyNK met in Dandong on the 3rd, “Under the name of the North Pyongan Party Committee in Shinuiju, a three-day meeting was held between the Secretaries of the Party and of the Army and enterprise managers, from November 20th to the 22nd.”

They informed that “The meeting was held to discuss whether to prohibit jangmadang operations and put people who have been trading in the market to work at enterprises or factories, since regular provisions will resume starting next year.”

The recent efforts to regulate the markets have been analyzed as means to revert the standard of societal regulation to that of the pre-90s by restoring the provision system and normalizing factory operations. However, such an extreme measure is likely to give rise to serious civilian opposition, so there are doubts as to whether or not it can be realized.

The North Korean civilians, before the mid-90s, relied on a complete provision system supplied by the State, which included the provision of goods such as soap, clothes and other necessities. However, after the food shortage, the national provision system completely collapsed. As a result, civilians began acquiring most necessities, goods and food items through the jangmadang.

However, agricultural markets, where miscellaneous cereals, vegetables and other agricultural items raised in home gardens were traded, existed around the time when North Korea’s provision system was in normal operation.

Following the execution of the “July 1st Economic Management Improvement Measure” of 2002, the North Korean government established general markets which brought simple agricultural markets out in the open in February 2003. Since then, individuals leasing stands from the city mercantile department have been able to sell all kinds of industrial products as well.

One source in Chongjin stated in a phone conversation on the 6th regarding the recent rumors, “If the sources are Chinese merchants, than the rumor is not likely groundless. A majority of citizens sustain their livelihoods through the jangmadang.”

He agreed that “It is highly feasible that measures to toughen the regulation of industrial products in the market will be executed.”

Daily NK
Han Young Jin
12/7/2007

In North Korea nowadays, individual-use PCs concentrated in Pyongyang and Chongjin, Shinuiju and other large-size cities have been gradually increasing. The trend has been rapidly increasing due to the propagation of computers by North Korean party organizations, the administrative committee office and middle schools.

The computerized citizen registration project by the North Korean village office was completed around the Local People’s Assembly representative elections last July.

A source from Shinuiju, North Pyungan said in a phone conversation with DailyNK on the 5th, “Provincial organizations and the village office are taking on computer-based projects. Large-city wealthy people are also acquiring computers left and right due to their children’s education.”

The new-rich class, who have made huge profits from recent trade with China, believe gradually that “The outer society cannot do anything without computers. Our children have to learn computers, too, to not get behind.”

A majority of computers provided to North Korea are Chinese and South Korean-made and have entered through official trade with North Korea, but a portion has been going through smuggling. South Korean computers, with the exception of Korean software, are permitted. North Korea uses North Korean word processors, such as “Dangun” and “Changduk.”

A portion of the upper-class use the new model computers smuggled from China, but a majority use secondhand Pentium IV-processor or below imported from China. In North Korea’s Shinuiju, a computer (Pentium II) which includes a used CTR monitor is 100~120 dollars and a computer which includes LCD monitor is 300 dollars. The offering price for a used laptop is around 300 dollars.

He said, “People cannot connect to the internet via computers, but can use most programs set up on computers. The resident registration computerization project has been completed and in Pyongyang, networks between libraries are in operation.”

North Korea is the single country in the world that is not connected to an internet cable network. North Korea, while being endowed with the national domain suffix, “kp”, does not operate a domain. People cannot use internet, but can use software programs set up on individual computers such as MS-Word, Excel, and Photoshop.

In North Korea, after 2000, the import of used and new computers from China, Japan, and South Korea through individuals and companies increased dramatically. Around 2001, around 2,000 Samsung, LG and TriGem Computer were provided to North Korea’s main colleges such as Kim Il Sung University and Kim Chaek University of Technology.

Mr. Kim said, “Chosun (North Korea) people prefer LCD monitors, not CTR monitors. Computers that have been coming in North Korea are mostly made in China and South Korean computers such as Samsung, LG, and TriGem Computer have been widely distributed as well.”

Electronic Publications Service using Domestic Network Possible

North Korea prohibits internet, so computer education mostly focused on program usage are taught in colleges and high schools. In schools for the gifted and college computer majors nationwide, a new generation of software developers is being nurtured.

Major organizations in the area of software development are Chosun (North Korea) Computer Center (KCC), Pyongyang Program Center, and the Academy of Sciences.

Since 2002, North Korea has created a network connecting the libraries of Grand People’s Study House, Kim Il Sung University, and Kim Chaek University of Technology. The network has been expanded throughout Pyongyang and the provinces. Currently, a few high officials in Pyongyang can use reportedly the Grand People’s Study House’s electronic publications service at home.

Daily NK
Kwon Jeong Hyun
11/28/2007

A source inside North Korea reported on the 26th of November that the country’s food distribution system did not operate properly and the regime strengthened its control over the market in the Pyongyang areas in the second half of November.

“Most residents of Pyongyang’s core districts such as Joong and Botongang district received their food rations. However, only a half of those who live in Moonsu-dong, Chungryu-dong and Soryong-dong of the Daedonggang district received their rations,” the source said.

“An announcement was displayed on a board in front of the Soryong- 2- dong distribution office in the Daedongdang district, stating, ‘Rice to be redistributed as soon as enough rice is secured,’” the source said. The source added that the crop distributed to the people was composed of 80 percent Annam rice and 20 percent corn, and many people complained about its poor quality.

The North’s food distribution system has worked out well in the west Pyongyang area such as Joongu, Botongang and Pyungcheon district. However, the regime has intermittently distributed food rations to residents in the east Pyongyang area such as Daedongang, Dongdaewon, and Sungyo district.

For instance, in August, no food was distributed in the east Pyongyang area. In September, only a half of residents in the area received food rations. In the following month, all received their food. In November, not all received their rations as in September.

When there is no food distribution, people have to procure rice by themselves in the market.

Unfortunately, that is not an easy task. Since the North Korean authorities have fixed the price of rice at 700 won/kg in the markets of Pyongyang, many merchants are not willing to bring out rice for sales. Instead, they clandestinely sell rice at 1,300 won/kg only to individuals with whom they are acquainted.

The price of rice went up to a high of 1,800 won/kg in the mid October, but now remains steady at 1,300 won/kg. As long as the regime tries to control the price of rice, few merchants would sell rice in the open market, thus contributing to a hike in prices.

In the mid November, corn was sold at 500 won/kg, pork at 3,000 won/kg, an egg at 200 won each, Chinese cabbage at 500 won/kg, and domestic cabbage at 300won/kg in the markets of Pyongyang. The rice of cabbage has rapidly dropped as the state released cabbage into the market because November is a season of preparing Kimchi for winter. Domestic cabbage was sold cheap due to its poor quality.

The regime continues to control the markets in Pyongyang. It prohibits all females under 48 years old from doing business in the market. In addition, merchants are not allowed to sell more than 15 items. The regime enforces its market regulatory measures by having organized groups of inspectors composed of young people and ordered them to regularly patrol markets.

The source said, “As the food situation is getting worse and the state is intensifying its control over the market, Pyongyang citizens begin to express a sense of disappointment with South Korean President Roh.” The source said, “After the inter-Korean summit meeting, many fostered the hope that President Roh would help solve food shortage problems and the regime would adopt reform policies. However, that did not happen. As the state tightens its control over the market, life has gotten tougher.”

“Some even went to so say that President Roh should not have come to the North,” said the source, echoing the uneasy sentiments among Pyongyang citizens.

Yonhap
11/14/2007

North Korea’s prime minister arrived here Wednesday to hold talks with his South Korean counterpart on implementing agreements reached at the second-ever inter-Korean summit last month.

In last month’s summit in Pyongyang, President Roh Moo-hyun and North Korean leader Kim Jong-il called for denuclearization of North Korea, the establishment of a permanent peace regime on the peninsula and a range of economic cooperation and rapprochement measures.

Kim Yong-il is the first North Korean premier to visit here in 15 years. The prime ministers of the Koreas held eight rounds of talks until 1992. Inter-Korean minister-level talks resumed in 2000 following the first-ever summit between the leaders of the Koreas earlier that year.

Premier aims to build North Korean economy with inter-Korean cooperation
Yonhap
11/14/2007

North Korea’s prime minister is expected to make inter-Korean economic projects a top priority in the prime ministerial talks this week, watchers forecast on Wednesday.

Kim Yong-il, North Korea’s top official in overall economic policy, was due to arrive in Seoul on Wednesday for three-day talks with South Korean Prime Minister Han Duck-soo.

The talks follow last month’s inter-Korean summit held in Pyongyang, as well as Kim’s trip earlier this month to Vietnam, Malaysia, Cambodia and Laos. Kim’s Southeast Asian trip was aimed at finding ways to boost North Korea’s failing economy through regional cooperation.

Kim replaced his predecessor, Pak Pong-ju, as prime minister earlier this year after spending most of his career in maritime affairs and transport.

The 63-year-old career administrator served nine years in the military beginning in 1961 and graduated from the Rajin University of Marine Transport, leading to his bureaucratic career as a rank-and-filer in the Ministry of Land and Marine Transport.

He became head of the ministry in 1994, a position he held until he was appointed as prime minister on April 11.

The premier was praised by the North Korean people in 2005 for successfully modernizing the Ryongnam Ship Repair Factory near the western port of Nampo.

Kim is also well-known for having forged maritime communications and transportation agreements with North Korea’s allies, including China, Pakistan and Syria.

Some South Korean experts say Kim’s background represents a shift in North Korea’s economic policy, suggesting a move from isolation to economic expansion in the international community, as well an emphasis on reform and technology.

Korea Times
11/14/2007

U.S. and North Korean officials will meet in New York early next week to reopen talks on addressing Pyongyang’s alleged illicit financial activities, sources here said Tuesday.

Daniel Glaser, assistant treasury secretary in charge of terrorism financing, will lead the U.S. delegation to the talks scheduled Monday to Tuesday, according to the sources. It was not yet clear who will represent North Korea at the meeting. Previous sessions were led by O Kwang-chol, president of the Foreign Trade Bank of Korea.

The meeting is the first since the two countries resolved a banking issue that for over a year delayed North Korean denuclearization negotiations. The U.S. Treasury in September 2005 sanctioned Banco Delta Asia (BDA), a Macanese bank, for abetting North Korea’s laundering of money acquired through smuggling, counterfeiting and arms proliferation. The bank froze all North Korea-related accounts, and Pyongyang boycotted the denuclearization talks in protest.

The issue was settled with the release of some $25 million in North Korean money at the BDA early this year.

Sources said next week’s meeting will address North Korea’s suspected illicit activities that led to the Treasury’s sanctions, including Pyongyang’s counterfeiting of American currency.

North Korea has been accused of producing and circulating fake$100 bills, known as “supernotes” because of their near-authenticity, and smuggling contraband goods.

Daily NK
Moon Sung Hwee
11/13/2007

Recent demand for small-sized TVs has been rapidly increasing in North Korea’s border regions, resulting in a huge price increases.

According to an inside North Korean source, the price of 12-inch (dubbed “chok” in North Korea) and 14-inch TVs, compared with prices this time last year, increased by 50 thousand to 100 thousand won (approx. USD15-30). Despite the increase, these small TVs are selling out, resulting in a supply shortage in stores located throughout the border regions.

Most 12-inch black and white TVs are Chinese-made. These TVs, which could have been purchased for a mere 150,000 won (approx. USD46) up until the end of last year, have recently sold for as much as 250,000 won.

The reason for the increase in the border region is that the state has strengthened inspections in these areas of those who watch Chinese TVs. The recent preference for small-size TVs comes from the fact that they are relatively easy to conceal.

A majority of border region civilians from North Pyongan to North Hamkyung Province can receive Chinese TV signals, thanks to the close distance. Among the channels able to be viewed is once broadcasted via Yanbian TV and South Korea’s China TV (www.openchina21.com). In accordance with a 2004 agreement between these two companies to promote broadcasting and cultural exchange, diverse South Korean dramas and movies as well as advertisements of South Korean products can be viewed.

The North Korean government collected remote controls to prevent the viewing of Chinese TV along the border region and implemented measures such as sealing the channels. Throughout the China-North Korea border region, inspections conducted by the No. 27 Bureau (under the Central Communications Office) are still very much underway.

The source said, “No. 27 Bureau agents come knocking at the door and turn on the TV at once to verify which channels have been viewed. Further, they inspect the state of sealed channels; if the seal has been damaged, the TV is confiscated.” When inspections take place, 30~50 sets are taken at a time, and in order to retrieve them, several thousand won in bribes is needed.”

However, in cases where these methods have failed to prevent the viewing of Chinese TV, technicians have entered homes and intercepted the circuits inside the TV, re-sealing the attached apparatus with high-strength adhesives. By doing so, the channels are forcibly fixed on Chosun Central TV broadcasting.

When the government carried out such invasive measures, the civilians put up a strong resistance, “Are they planning to just break TVs?” However, the government enforced the regulation of internal equipment, even when faced with civil rebellion.

The source said, “The apparatus inside televisions have been fixed so that people cannot watch Chinese TV channels, and inspections have been occurring randomly, so people have been watching and hiding small-size TVs in their homes.” This activity is reflected in the price increase.

One defector who has experience in selling used TVs in Rajin in North Hamkyung Province said, “Small-size TVs by which people could watch South Korean broadcasting were originally in high demand in South Pyongan, Kangwondo and South Hwanghae.” He said, “Since they cannot pass through customs, they are usually smuggled into and sold on the black market.”

The People’s Safety Agency handed down a decree stating that, “Those who pose a threat to the state and social system will be severely punished. Get rid of all kinds of places offering karaoke, movies, film subscriptions, PCs, and games.” It further emphasized the National Security Agency’s tightening of cell phone regulations along the border region.

Since last year, severe regulation of illegal films (foreign and South Korean DVDs and VCDs) has continually been enforced. Since this year, the North Korean government has gotten headaches from regulating the houses of civilians.

The North Korean government claims that the purpose of the regulations is “Destroying enemy maneuvers and directly impugn acts that pose a threat to society and the system.” North Korea’s opening and reform still seems far off.

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.

Daily NK
Moon Sung Hwee
11/1/2007

A source familiar with issues inside North Korea said on the 30th, “Most of the underground tunnel of Hyesan Youth Mine in Yangkang Province is now under water.” The source added, “Ever since Samsoo Hydroelectric Power Station started filling up the dam last year, the mine began to flood, and now it can not operate properly.”

Hyesan mine produces 80 percent of the country’s copper. North Korea expects that the mine could produce copper for the next forty years. Hebeisheng-Luanhe Industry in China once attempted to buy 51 percent shares of the Hyesan Youth Mine. However, this was unsuccessful due to opposition from North Korea’s second Economic Commission, which manages the military economy.

North Korea began the construction of Samsoo Hydroelectric Power Station in February of 2004, mobilizing thirty thousand troops of the so-called “Shock Brigade for the Propaganda of the Party Ideology” every year. Unfortunately, Samsoo Power Plant became the major cause of the flooding of Hyesan Mine.

If this mine is inundated with water, North Korea has to import huge amounts of copper. It was the Propaganda and Agitation Department that led the construction of Samsoo Power Plant, which generates 50,000 kilowatts of power and is now causing the flooding. It is absurd that North Korea is about to lose its principal copper mine because of Samsoo Power Plant, a facility that was primarily constructed for political purposes.

Jung You Sim (37, pseudonym), a defector from Hyesan who came to South Korea in July of this year, stated that “Hyesan Mine is almost abandoned. It takes about three years to fill up the Samsoo Dam with water. Even now, there is difficulty in pumping out the water leaked from the power plant. Once the dam is completely filled, the total volume of water will be 1,300 million cubic meters. By then, the water pressure will have made it impossible to pump out the water that has infiltrated the mine. North Korea must choose either Samsoo Power Plant or Hyesan Mine.”

Samsoo Power Plant was constructed in Jangan-ri of Hyesan, Yangkang Province; Hyesan Mine is located nearby in Masan-dong.

The construction of Samsoo Power Plant which began in February 2004 evoked a great deal of controversy from the beginning. The Guidance Department of the Party and the Ministry of Extractive Industries opposed the construction citing the high risk of flooding in the Hyesan Mine.

However, Jeong Ha Cheol, then Secretary of Propaganda and Agitation Department and Choi Choon Hwang, then vice director of the Central Committee of the Party pushed hard for the construction with the aim of boosting their political standing and succeeded in obtaining Kim Jong Il’s approval. It is almost certain that both men have been purged.

At that time, the Propaganda and Agitation Department reported that the water leakage could be prevented if the bottom of the power plant dam is pressed hard and cemented with mud about three meters deep. However, experts from France who inspected the area opposed the construction because the land itself was calcareous and unstable. The water leakage was inevitable.

First explored in the 1960s, Hyesan Mine produces 10,000 tons of copper concentrates annually. When Gapsan Dongjum Mine, explored during the Japanese colonial period, was finally depleted and closed in 1990, Hyesan Mine became the lifeline of the nation’s copper production. It flooded before in the mid 1990s but was restored shortly thereafter.

At that time, the mine flooded because the pumping device stopped operating due to the lack of electricity across the country. Although the workers at the mine did their best to pump the water, they could not stop the water flowing into the mine at a speed of 480㎥/hour. In January, 1997, Hyesan Mine flooded again, as did other mines throughout the country, and lost all mining facilities.

The workers faced insurmountable obstacles in trying to save the mine. This was because some workers at Hyesan mine had removed the copper from pumping devices and had smuggled it to China before the flood hit the country.

When the officials from the Ministry of Extractive Industries visited Hyesan Mine in 1999, they informed the local cadres that the mine’s copper production had become insufficient for the manufacture of military supplies, and as a result, copper would have to be imported from Chile.

Defectors coming from Yangkang Province said that when Kim Jong Il paid a visit to the mine in October, 1998 and received the report on the difficulties in the mine’s operation, he said, “We must save the mine at any cost. I will supply the money.” At once, the chief secretary of Yangkang Province and the Ministry of Extractive Industries took charge of restoring the mine and organized the recovery workforce.

Kim Jong Il provided the so-called “Revolutionary Fund” for the mine’s recovery. He sent $ 3.8 million in 1998 and $2.6 million in 2001, paid all in cash. In 1998 when a great number of people were starving to death, corn was available in China for $ 137 per ton. The amount of money spent on the mine’s recovery could have been used to purchase approximately 28,000 tons of corn. In those days, the local residents in Yangkang Province were made to listen to lectures about the ‘General’s Revolutionary Fund’ over and over.

Upon the order for recovery, residents in Masan 1-dong and 2-dong in Hyesan city were mobilized every weekend to dig out the dirt in the mine. By May 1, 2003, the locals had dug to a depth of 710 m. Later that year, the mine produced 1,500 tons of copper concentrates, and in 2004 it produced 3000 tons.

The local people made huge sacrifices to recover Hyesan mine, and the recovery cost about $ 7 million. However, it was all in vain. The mine is now again flooded due to the construction of Samsoo Power Plant. Hyesan defector Jung Yoon Sim said that Kim Jong Il later changed his tone when he visited Yangkang Province and heard about the recent flooding, saying “it was anticipated.”

Samsoo Power Plant can produce up to 50,000 kilowatts of power. However, about 60,000 kilowatts of power are needed to supply electricity to the apartment complexes constructed in 2003 in Samjiyun county of Yangkang Province.

After all was said and done, Kim Jong Il had mobilized 30,000 people for three and a half years and had them work 14 hours per day while providing a mere 580 grams of grain daily in an attempt to build a power plant that generates only 50,000 kilowatts. In doing so, he destroyed the nation’s leading copper production center.

President Roh praised such an incompetent and irresponsible man as “a charismatic leader who has a deep understanding about the affairs of the country and has faith in the system.”

Asia Times
Bertil Lintner
10/31/2007

North Korean Premier Kim Yong-il is scheduled to pay a four-day visit to Cambodia in early November, underscoring the curious close relationship between one of the world’s last communist dictatorships and one of Asia’s most ancient monarchies.

Kim Yong-il, who should not be confused with the North Korean supremo, “Dear Leader” Kim Jong-il or any of his relatives, will hold talks with Cambodia’s retired king Norodom Sihanouk, the Cambodian Foreign Ministry said in a statement posted on its website.

The North Korean premier will also hold “official talks” with his Cambodian counterpart Hun Sen, and “pay courtesy calls” on Senate president Chea Sim, and the president of the National Assembly, Heng Samrin, according to the statement.

Cambodia has long served as a link between North Korea and Southeast Asia and beyond, so it is plausible to assume that trade and related issues will be on the agenda. For years the two countries ran a joint shipping company, and before the China-led six party talks, Cambodia had offered to mediate over Pyongyang’s contentious nuclear program.

Kim Yong-il’s visit to Cambodia is not the first by a North Korean dignitary in recent years. Kim Yong-nam, president of North Korea’s rubber-stamp parliament, the Supreme People’s Assembly, also visited the country in 2001 at the invitation of Sihanouk, who had then not yet abdicated in favor of his son, Norodom Sihamoni, the current serving monarch.

Kim Yong-nam now functions as de facto head of state, as Kim Jong-il’s father, “Great Leader” Kim Il-sung was elevated to the position of “eternal president” before his death in 1994, making North Korea not a monarchy, but rather the world’s only necrocracy.

As incongruous as it may seem, Cambodia is North Korea’s oldest ally in Southeast Asia. It all began when Sihanouk met Kim Il-sung in 1961 at a Non-Aligned Movement meeting in Belgrade and a personal friendship developed between the two leaders. When Sihanouk was ousted in a coup in 1970, Kim Il-sung not only offered him sanctuary in North Korea but also had a new home built for him about an hour’s drive north of Pyongyang.

A battalion of North Korean troops worked full-time on it for almost a year, and when it was finished, only specially selected guards were allowed anywhere near the 60-room palatial residence. Overlooking the scenic Chhang Sou On Lake and surrounded by mountains, the Korean-style building even had its own indoor movie theater. Like the Great Leader’s son, Kim Jong-il, Sihanouk loves movies.

Sihanouk has both directed and acted in his own romantic feature movies and a few more were made in North Korea, with Cambodian actors strutting their stuff against the backdrop of Korea’s snow-capped mountains.

French wines and gourmet food were flown in via China, and Sihanouk and his entourage were treated as royals would have been in any country that respects monarchy – as North Korea evidently does.

By contrast, North Korea has maintained less cordial relations with neighboring communist Vietnam, which still exerts behind-the-scenes pressure on Cambodia. Kim Yong-il will nonetheless also visit Hanoi during his diplomatic tour of Southeast Asia.

Throughout the Vietnamese occupation of Cambodia, North Korea refused to recognize the regime that Hanoi installed in Phnom Penh in January 1979 – and that despite immense pressure at the time put on Pyongyang from Moscow. During a meeting between Kim Il-sung and Sihanouk seven years later on April 10, 1986, in Pyongyang, the Great Leader reassured the then prince that North Korea would continue to regard him as Cambodia’s legitimate head of state.

When Sihanouk returned to Phnom Penh in September 1993, after United Nations-led mediation to end Cambodia’s civil conflict, he arrived with 35 North Korean bodyguards, commanded by a general from Kim Il-sung’s presidential guards. They are still there, now guarding Sihanouk as well as the new king, Sihanomi, who is not as close to North Korea as his father, but has paid at least one visit to Pyongyang.

Sailing buddies
Sihanouk and the Cambodian royals showed their gratitude to the North Koreans when in the late 1990s they set up a privately-owned shipping registry, the Cambodia Shipping Corporation (CSC). The flag of convenience was used by the North Koreans, and it enjoyed royal protection as it was headed by Khek Vandy, the husband of Sihanouk’s eldest daughter, Boupha Devi.

CSC was also partly owned by a Phnom Penh-based North Korean diplomat and for a few years aggressively marketed itself as a cheap and efficient “flag of convenience” service for international shippers. A series of embarrassing maritime incidents, including the interception in June 2002 of a Cambodian-registered – though not North Korean owned – ship by the French navy, in a joint operation with US, Greek and Spanish authorities, of a massive haul of cocaine off the West African coast prompted Hun Sen’s government to cancel CSC’s concession and reportedly give it to a South Korean company, the Cosmos Group.

At the time, International Transport Federation general secretary David Cockroft told the Cambodia-based fortnightly newspaper the Phnom Penh Post that “they’ll need to be able to walk on water, because nothing short of a miracle will clean up the name of Cambodian shipping”. Indeed, little appeared to change, including North Korea’s use of Cambodia’s flag of convenience for controversial shipments.

In December 2002, a Cambodian-registered, North Korean-owned ship named So San was intercepted by Spanish marines, working on a US tip, in the Arabian Sea. It was found to be carrying 15 Scud-type missiles, 15 conventional warheads, 23 tanks of nitric acid rocket propellant and 85 drums of unidentified chemicals under a cargo of cement bags.

The destination of the weaponry was said to be Yemen, and following protests from both Yemen and North Korea – and intervention by the US, which apparently did not want to antagonize Yemen, a supposed ally in Washington’s “war on terror” – the ship was allowed to continue to Yemen. Later revelations indicated that the cargo was ultimately delivered to Libya, which caused considerable embarrassment in Washington.

Premier Kim Yong-il is likely to be quite familiar with the CSC, as he served as minister for land and marine transport from 1994 until the Supreme People’s Assembly appointed him to the premiership in April this year. But since the scandal-ridden CSC was reorganized five years ago, Cambodia’s economic importance to Pyongyang would appear to have waned, and North Korea’s only known activity in the country today is in the restaurant business, including eateries in Phnom Penh and Siem Reap.

Yet as a diplomatic link to the wider region, Cambodia is still important to North Korea. In April 2003, the Cambodian government, at the urging of Sihanouk, had plans to send an envoy to Pyongyang in a bid to persuade the North Korean leadership to be more flexible about talks on its nuclear program, which at that time had stalled.

The mission never materialized, but North Korea no doubt remembers that its trusted ally Cambodia tried first to mediate – and that Phnom Penh in future could still serve as a gateway for improved contacts with the outside world. It remains to be seen what message Kim Yong-il will bring to Phnom Penh, but it is reasonable to assume that his visit will, despite the official announcements, be confined merely to “courtesy calls” and royal audiences.

Bertil Lintner is a former correspondent with the Far Eastern Economic Review and the author of Great Leader, Dear Leader: Demystifying North Korea under the Kim Clan. He is currently a writer with Asia-Pacific Media Services.