North Korean Economy Watch

Yonhap
12/28/2007

The total output of a South Korea-built industrial complex in North Korea’s border town of Kaesong totaled over US$180 million this year, shooting up 150 percent from a year ago, Seoul’s Unification Ministry said on Friday.

“The total production by businesses at the Kaesong industrial complex recorded an estimated $185 million this year, up about 150 percent from $74 million last year,” the ministry said in a press release.

Yonhap
Byun Duk-kun
12/19/2007

Lee Myung-bak, almost certain to be South Korea’s next president, will likely continue engaging North Korea through economic cooperation, but the extent should rely deeply on Pyongyang’s commitment to full denuclearization, unlike his predecessor who has often been under fire for granting unconditional aid to the North, analysts said Wednesday.

Closer ties with Washington will also be prioritized by the incoming administration of conservative Lee, who has criticized President Roh Moo-hyun for alienating the U.S. in dealing with the nuclear-armed communist North.

The entrepreneur-turned-politician says he can and will increase the communist nation’s per capita income to US$3,000 in 10 years, if Pyongyang completely abandons its nuclear ambitions.

“There will be no immediate changes to the country’s North Korea policy if the North continues to move down the path of denuclearization,” Kim Woo-sang, a political science professor at Seoul’s Yonsei University and a key advisor to the president-elect for security and foreign policy, said in an earlier interview with Yonhap News Agency.

Under a six-nation deal, North Korea has to disable its key nuclear facilities and disclose all its nuclear programs by the end of the year in return for economic and energy assistance and political benefits.

North Korea began disabling the Yongbyon complex early last month, but has yet to make a full declaration of its nuclear programs amid a five-year dispute between Pyongyang and Washington over the existence of a secret nuclear weapons program in the North.

The nuclear crisis erupted in late 2002 when the U.S. accused the North of running a uranium enrichment program. North Korea denies having any uranium program.

Seoul has regularly provided hundreds of thousands of tons of food and other humanitarian aid to the North since the historic inter-Korean summit between then President Kim Dae-jung and North Korean leader Kim Jong-il in 2000.

The Lee administration will continue to provide such assistance strictly based on humanitarian views, but economic cooperation between the divided Koreas will suffer significant reduction should the communist nation choose not to give up its nuclear weapons, Kim noted.

Further development or continuation of “ongoing economic cooperation projects, such as the Kaesong industrial complex, will be left to the market,” Kim said.

“The government will no longer try to encourage South Korean businesses to move into the industrial complex by providing subsidies and other benefits as it currently does, but will try to foster a better environment so the businesses and foreign investors will invest voluntarily,” he added.

At an October summit in Pyongyang, President Roh Moo-hyun and the North Korean leader agreed to launch various other reconciliatory projects, but Lee has said some of those projects will be subject to reconsideration.

Another visible change in policy towards North Korea will come in the way Seoul deals with the nuclear issue, the Yonsei professor said.

“Mr. Lee puts more weight on the six-nation denuclearization process than anything else, so the new administration will never try to take its own initiative or try to pressure China to convince North Korea to denuclearize,” he said.

While seeking more international cooperation in denuclearizing the North, Lee is expected to move closer to the United States, an ally Lee says has served as a capstone for Seoul’s security and economic development since the end of 1950-53 Korean War.

“The governments of Kim Dae-jung and Roh Moo-hyun neglected Korea’s relationship with the United States. China and Japan are important partners, but the next government will be moving in a different direction, focusing on Korea’s traditional relationship with Washington,” Lee had said in September.

The 65-year-old Lee has also noted his administration may try to push back the timing of taking back the wartime operational control of South Korean troops from the United States, which is currently scheduled to occur in 2012.

“As Mr. Lee has repeatedly said, there will be no renegotiation of the transfer of wartime operational control, but the scheduled timing of the transfer could become very sensitive depending on security conditions surrounding the Korean Peninsula in 2012,” said Kim.

Institute for Far Eastern Studies (IFES)
NK Brief No. 07-12-17-1
12/17/2007

North and South Korea are poised to allow Internet, telephone, and cellular services to be available in the Kaesong Industrial Complex (KIC) and at the Kumgang Mountain Tourist Resort beginning next year. The 7th Defense Ministerial Talks opened on December 12 at the ‘Peace House’ on the South Korean side of Panmunjum, and at the meeting, North and South Korea reached an agreement regarding communications, transportation, and customs.

According to the agreement, Pyongyang has given permission for the use of Internet landlines and cellular phones in the two largest inter-Korean cooperative projects. However, while the South Koreans pushed for the inclusion of “mobile phones” in the agreement, the North insisted on “wireless telephone communications”, suggesting that they hope to use dual-use wired telephones rather than mobile cellular phones.

In addition, under the agreement, North and South Korean rail and road traffic will be allowed to cross the border daily from 7:00am to 10pm, with the exception of Sundays and official holidays. Currently traffic in the area is limited to 7am~6pm in the summer, and 8am~5pm in the winter months.

The two sides also agreed to new procedures aimed at simplifying customs inspections and reducing delivery delays. From now on, the two sides will exchange lists of goods being moved, after which time any specific good that is flagged will be inspected. Currently, both sides are required to supply a list of goods to be pass through the area three days in advance, and every piece is individually inspected, complicating customs procedures.

The agreement was signed ROK Defense Minister Kim Jang-soo and Kim Il-chul, minister of the DPRK People’s Armed Forces, and went into effect on December 13. With this agreement, exchange and cooperation in the KIC and Kumgang Mountain resort are expected to even more actively grow.

Yonhap
12/16/2007

North Korea’s state-run airline is likely to be used to ferry South Korean tourists to the North’s Mount Paektu, a government official said Sunday.

The official, who declined to be identified, said Air Koryo planes may be used to carry tourists, owing to concerns about safety related to Samjiyeon Airport, about 30 kilometers southeast of the mountain.

He did not elaborate on the nature of safety concerns, but said it may be inappropriate for South Korean flag carriers like Korean Air and Asiana to use the airport.

Tours to the 2,744-meter-high mountain, held sacred by many Koreans, are the result of the summit meeting between South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun and North Korean leader Kim Jong-il in early October.

He added that flights would probably use Seoul’s Gimpo International Airport, fly over Gangwon Province, head out into the East Sea before turning north toward Mount Paektu, on the North Korea-Chinese border.

The official said Gimpo has been selected as it can easily handle greater numbers of people than provincial air terminals, and the high level of airport security that can be maintained.

Hyundai Asan, which is responsible for organizing tours to North Korea, said direct flights linking Gimpo and Mount Paektu should begin in May, 2008.

The company currently organizes tours to Mount Geumgang on the east coast, and the historic city of Kaesong just north of the demilitarized zone separating the two Koreas on the west coast.

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.

Korea Times
Jung Sung-ki
12/11/2007

The first regular freight service for over half a century began Tuesday operating across the heavily fortified border between South and North Korea.

The daily freight service is the first tangible result of an inter-Korean summit in October between President Roh Moo-hyun and North Korean leader Kim Jong-il. The two leaders agreed on a package of cross-border economic cooperation projects including the train operation.

The last regular rail operation was in 1951, a year after the three-year Korean War broke out.

The freight service, agreed upon at the inter-Korean prime ministers’ talks last month, will connect South Korea with the joint industrial complex in Gaeseong, in the North.

Earlier this month, the militaries of both Koreas signed a written security guarantee for the cross-border service at working-level talks in the truce village of Panmunjeom, clearing a major hurdle for the agreement.

The new service is expected to slash the cost of transporting products to and from the business complex, just north of the border, considered a major achievement of Seoul’s “sunshine” policy of engaging the North over the past decade.

Several South Korean firms are operating in the economic zone, dubbed a testing ground for mixing South Korean capitalism and technology with North Korea’s cheap labor.

Previously, trucks moved raw materials and finished goods back and forth across the border.

South Korean officials hope the cargo train service will lay the groundwork for a regular train service for passengers and the railway will be linked through North Korea to the Trans-China and Trans-Siberian railroads.

A 12-car train carrying curbstones and other construction materials left left South Korea’s Dorasan Station at 8:20 a.m. and arrived at North Korea’s Panmun Station 20 minutes later. A joint ceremony was held at the North Korean station around 11 a.m. with the attendance of some 180 officials from both Koreas.

The train returned to the South later in the day with goods including shoes, clothes and watches made at the industrial complex.

“We are reconnecting the last vein that has been severed for 56 years,” Lee Chul, president of the Korea Railroad, told reporters at Dorasan Station. “This looks like a humble start, but I hope this link will serve as a stepping stone for the inter-Korean railways to be connected to Europe through the Trans-Siberian railway.”

Lee also expressed hope that South and North Koreans could travel together vial rail to Beijing to cheer for next year’s Summer Olympics.

Trains will run daily on weekdays from Dorasan Station in Munsan to Panmun, carrying up to 10,000 tons of cargo on each run. The train service begins at 9 a.m. and returns from the North Korean station at 2 p.m. Trains are restricted to a maximum speed of 60 kilometers per hour when traversing the closely guarded frontier.

The original agreement was to connect a 25 kilometer section of track from Munsan to Bondgong in the North, next to the industrial complex, but the plan was modified because of the lack of loading facilities at Bongdong Station, according to Unification Ministry officials.

In May, two trains crossed the border on two reconnected tracks on the western and eastern sides of the peninsula in a one-off test run.

The two Koreas are technically still at war since the 1950-53 Korean War ended in a truce, not a peace treaty.

Korea Times
Ryu Jin
12/11/2007

Namkwang Engineering & Construction, a South Korean company which has recently been stepping up efforts for inter-Korean economic projects, plans to form a joint venture with a North Korean firm for construction works in the North and other countries.

Namkwang E&C CEO Lee Dong-chul told reporters Tuesday that his company, along with 516 Construction Company in the North, will seek to win construction orders in foreign countries including Angola as well as North Korean cities such as Gaeseong and Pyongyang.

“We signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) for joint projects with the North Korean firm late last month,’’ he said in a press meeting. “They could be operated in the form of a joint venture, depending on the final agreement to be signed early next year.’’

Lee added that Namkwang would largely provide capital and construction technologies to the proposed joint-venture company while the North Korean firm would supply labor.

Founded about 50 years ago, 516 Construction Company is the only construction firm in the North Korean border city of Gaeseong where an inter-Korean industrial complex is located. It has constructed apartments in the city with more than 3,000 workers.

“Currently, the firm is building a steel-frame factory in the Gaeseong Industrial Complex including reinforced concrete, tiles and plaster work under a contract with us,’’ Lee said. “Maybe we can take part in construction works in Angola and Libya jointly.’’

Namkwang, which recently got government approval for cross-border projects, has invested some 7.6 billion won ($8.23 million) since October to build the steel-frame factory which would be used for the second-phase construction of the Gaeseong Industrial Complex.

Lee said that his company would also redouble efforts to get more orders for overseas construction in such countries as Angola, Libya and Vietnam next year. Namkwang has received orders worth $1.1 billion along with NIEC, a joint venture in Angola, since 2005.

Established in 1947, Namkwang has carried out a lot of large-scale projects in South Korea and also advanced to foreign countries such as Saudi Arabia, Iraq and the Philippines for construction of buildings, roads, dams and harbors on the back of its unique technology.

Yonhap
12/8/2007

North Korean leader Kim Jong-il has given warm encouragement to local workers developing Mount Paektu, the highest point on the peninsula that will be opened to South Korean tourists next year, the North’s broadcaster said Saturday.

South and North Korea agreed to open a direct flight route between Seoul and the North’s Mount Paektu during their second summit in October. The inter-Korean tour, set to start in May, is organized by South Korea’s Hyundai Group.

Kim “expressed his gratitude to officials and workers who have wholeheartedly supported the development of the Mount Paektu area,” the Korean Central Broadcasting Station, monitored in Seoul, said, naming technicians, researchers and factory workers involved in the project.

Hyun Jeong-eun, chairwoman of the Hyundai Group, agreed with North Korea during her visit to Pyongyang in early November to start in May sightseeing tours of the North’s 2,744-meter mountain, located on its border with China. A group of South Korean government officials and researchers have conducted an on-site inspection.

Mount Paektu will be the third inter-Korean tourism project organized by Hyundai Asan, a unit of the Hyundai Group in charge of North Korea business. North Korea opened its border city of Kaesong to South Korean tourists early this week, following the launch of a tourism program to the North’s east coast mountain of Geumgang nine years ago.

The Mount Paektu and Kaesong tour projects are part of agreements South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun and North Korean leader Kim Jong-il reached during their summit that sought to boost economic cooperation and reduce tension.

Click on the image to see a larger picture. Google Earth Coordinates:   38.374935°, 127.103343°

As many readers know, I have been mapping out North Korea on Google Earth for some time.  I have found numerous propaganda slogans displayed on hills and mountainsides throughout the country, but this recent discovery is by far the best example.  I would like to see this carving from the ground, so if anyone has pictures, please send them to me.

Yonhap
12/5/2007

South and North Korea signed a security guarantee Wednesday for daily cross-border freight train service scheduled to start next week, the first substantial measure to follow up on agreements by the two countries’ leaders at their October summit, the Defense Ministry said.

The move came at a one-day meeting at the truce village of Panmunjom, which coincided with a separate meeting of deputy prime ministers of the divided nations here on boosting economic cooperation in line with the deal between South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun and his North Korean counterpart Kim Jong-il.

The cargo train will carry raw materials and manufactured goods between South Korea and the North Korean border city of Kaesong, where South Korea operates an industrial park for a number of its small labor-intensive plants.

The agreement calls for guaranteeing safe passage of the cargo rail service linking Munsan Station in the South to Bongdong Station, which serves as a gateway to the Kaesong industrial park, as agreed at the second inter-Korean defense ministerial talks.

“It will take effect at midnight on Dec. 11,” the ministry said at a briefing on the results of the talks. “The train will be allowed to run at a speed of 20-60km per hour. Train drivers and other crew will be banned from taking photos in the other side’s area.”

But the talks did not address the date for the next round of general-grade talks between the two sides or how to improve the operation of the Kaesong industrial complex, including ways to facilitate transportation, customs clearance and telecommunication services, according to the ministry.

The defense chiefs of the two Koreas agreed to support inter-Korean economic cooperation projects in their rare meeting last week in Pyongyang.

The two Koreas plan to run a cargo train every day on the reconnected rail line between Munsan and Bongdong starting on Tuesday. The 19.8-km route between the two border towns was severed during the 1950-53 Korean War.

The cargo service is expected to facilitate the movement of goods to and from the Kaesong industrial complex, a joint venture between the technology-savvy South and the labor-abundant North.