North Korean Economy Watch

Version 5: Download it here (on Google Earth) 

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

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

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

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

The most authoritative, publicly available map of North Korea
Version 4: August 29, 2007

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 fourth version.

Additions to the latest version of “North Korea Uncovered” include the city of Manpo along the Chinese border, KEDO, Kumgang Resort expansion, Kaesong Industrial Zone, as well as a few more parks, antiaircraft sites, dams, mines, canals, etc. I have also added more links in the menu which will tell the viewer a bit about the locations themselves. I have also changed the color scheme to make the collage easier to view.

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

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

European Business Association
September 24-27, 2007

The European Business Association (EBA) in Pyongyang and DPRK Chamber of Commerce are orgaizing a booth for European business at the upcoming international trade fair in Pyongyang.  European companies are invited to make use of this opportunity to introduce their business to the North Korean market.

European companies interested in taking advantage of this opportunity are invited to visit the EBA website www.eba-pyongyang.org – please click through to membership for the statutes. The membership fee of 500 Euro will include the following services for companies who would not send their own representative to the trade fair:

• Poster display (maximum size DIN A2)
• Distribution of flyers (maximum size DIN A4)
  Feedback for Korean inquiries by e-mail: any contact request and any inquiry by a Korean company will be registered in a special format and will be supplied asap by   e-mail to your company.
• Photos documenting the participation of your company in the fair.

If a representative will take part, the joint European booth is of course open for him/her to be used during the fair and EBA will support and assist you actively in making contacts and business meetings with potential Korean partners. According to a special arrangement between the EBA Pyongyang and the DPRK Chamber of Commerce, the deadline for visa application has been extended for European businesses to August 20, 2007.

Learn more here

Download it to your Google Earth here! 
(substantial improvements over version 1)

Using numerous maps, articles, and interviews I have mapped out North Korea by “industry” (or topic) on Google Earth. This is the most authoritative map of North Korea that exists publicly today.

Agriculture, aviation, cultural, manufacturing, railroad, energy, politics, sports, military, religion, leisure, national parks…they are all here, and will captivate anyone interested in North Korea for hours.

Naturally, 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. 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 on the more “controversial” locations. In time, I hope to expand this further by adding canal and road networks.

I hope this post will launch a new interest in North Korea. There is still plenty more to learn, and I look forward to hearing about improvements that can be made.

KCNA
5/7/2007
The 10th Pyongyang Spring International Trade Fair will be held at the Three-Revolution Exhibition from May 14 to 17. 

Participating in it will be companies from the DPRK, China, Russia, Syria, the Netherlands, Germany, Bangladesh, Switzerland, Singapore, Australia, Italy, Indonesia, Pakistan, Poland and Taipei of China. 

Machine tools, electric and electronic equipment, vehicles, medicaments, daily necessities, foodstuffs and so forth are to be on display in the fair.

It is called the Pyongyang International Technology and Infrastructure Exhibition (PITIE).  I am not sure that is the most productive acronym, and it is not to be confused with the Pyongyang International Trade Fair

Korea Times
EU Promotes Pyongyang Trade Fair
Jan Jettel, Staff Reporter

Despite mounting international tensions surrounding North Korea’s nuclear arms program, preparations for an international trade fair in Pyongyang later this year have shifted into high gear.

The Pyongyang International Technology and Infrastructure Exhibition is scheduled from Oct, 31 to Nov. 3 in the Kimjongilia exhibition hall in Pyongyang. The exhibition is mainly for companies from the manufacturing sector.

The last exhibition in 2002 had 70 participating companies, representing 10 different countries. The project is heavily promoted by the European Union Chamber of Commerce in Korea (EUCCK).

“The objective of the EUCCK in participating in such an exhibition is to demonstrate to the local visitors that there is an alternative to cheap quality Chinese products,’’ said Jean-Jacques Grauhar, chairman of the EUCCK North Korea Committee, in a Korea Times interview.

Grauhar at the same time admitted the political delicacy of the exhibition. “Obviously the current nuclear crisis is not favorable for this exhibition. The U.S. is also exercising pressure on some European companies to limit their contacts with North Korea, in line with their strategy to isolate the country,’’ he said.

Europe, however, will not bend to U.S. pressure, according to Grauhar. “Twenty-three out of 25 EU member states have full-fledged diplomatic relations with North Korea, some of them even have embassies in Pyongyang. The EU’s engagement policy of North Korea still prevails, and this exhibition can be considered an important part of it.’’

Peter Bialas of Messe Munich International, the Germany-based company that organizes the fair, called the U.S. stance on North Korea “completely hypocritical. How can the U.S. demand a change in North Korea and at the same time block all interactions of North Korea with the outside world that might or might not bring about such change?’’ he asked.

Bialas and Grauhar agreed that while head offices of multinational companies have expressed their concerns about the exhibition, their branches in Korea do not feel disturbed by the crisis as they are more familiar with the whole policy environment on the Korean peninsula.

Bialas also said that German companies showed a particular interest in the exhibition because “experience in dealing with East Germany has shown them that companies can successfully do business with one another even if they operate in countries with different political systems. In the end it’s about business, not politics,’’ he added.

However, there will be no American companies taking part in the fair. ‘’There are no legal restrictions prohibiting American companies from visiting North Korea, however, given the current political climate with a missile on the launch pad, I don’t think US firms would be interested in visiting at this time.

“If North Korea were to remove the missile and return to the six-party talks and it appeared there would be some predictability in their actions, I believe there might be some interest. But at the present time, I am afraid I don’t see much hope,’’ said Tami Overby, president of AMCHAM, the American Chamber of Commerce in Korea.

Local businesses were also skeptical about the fair. “In principle, North Korea and particularly the Kaesong Complex would be very interesting for us, but the political climate is just too unstable at the moment for us to consider investment there,’’ said the CEO of a German multinational company in Seoul on condition of anonymity. He added that “the situation would probably be better if the U.S. stopped bullying North Korea and interfering on the Korean peninsula.’’

This comes at a time when the two Koreas are trying to improve relations. Recently, a group of ambassadors visited the Kaesong Industrial Complex in North Korea to attract investment in the project.

Earlier this month, the 12th round of Inter-Korean Economic Cooperation Promotion Committee met on Cheju Island to discuss South Korean economic aid to the North.