North Korean Economy Watch

Yonhap
6/10/2007

Products made in an inter-Korean industrial park in the first four months of the year were valued at US$48.1 million, about 24 percent of which, or $11.3 million worth of products, were exported, South Korea’s unification ministry said Sunday.

Last year’s comparable figure during the cited period was 18.4 percent, or $2.3 million, according to the ministry.

The industrial complex, located in the North Korean border city of Kaesong, is one of two flagship projects the South operates with the North in the spirit of reconciliation that developed following the historic inter-Korean summit in 2000.

Over 13,000 North Korean workers are currently employed by 22 South Korean companies there. They produce garments, utensils and other labor-intensive goods.

The biggest importer of Kaesong-made goods was the European Union (EU), followed by China, Russia and Australia.

The ministry did not give figures on how many goods made in the industrial park the countries imported.

Korea Times
Ryu Jin
6/7/2007

More than 1.5 million tourists have so far visited Mt. Geumgang in North Korea since the tour was launched about a decade ago, Hyundai Asan said Thursday.

Since the launch in November 1998, the accumulated number of tourists to Mt. Geumgang reached 500,000 in November 2002, 1 million in June 2005 and then 1.5 million in June this year, according to the South Korean operator of the inter-Korean tourism project.

Company officials hailed the latest achievement, which came just after the start of a new tour program to inner Mt. Geumgang, better known as “Naegeumgang’’ in Korean, early this month.

“We will hold a weekend concert this Saturday at the multi-purpose cultural center in the resort complex of Onjeong-ri,’’ a Hyndai Asan spokesman said. “Famous pop singers and bands, including Nam Jin, and rock band No Brain will be there.’’

As part of efforts to promote the Mt. Geumgang tour program, Hyundai Asan has held various cultural events in recent months including concerts and previews of films.

Mt. Geumgang, which has long held both aesthetic and spiritual allure for Koreans, can be divided into three parts: Naegeumgang (inner, western part), Oegeumgang (outer, eastern part) and Haegeumgang (seashore part).

Since the first tour to Oegeumgang in 1998, an increasing number of visitors have made the trip to the resort area. Most were South Koreans; fewer than 8,000 visitors came from 48 other countries.

But the inter-Korean tourism business has often been affected by the security situation on the Korean Peninsula. For example, it ran into difficulties when North Korea conducted a nuclear test in October last year.

Amid the heightened tension, the number of tourists plummeted to some 240,000 last year, putting a damper on Hyundai Asan’s target of securing more than 400,000 visitors annually.

On June 1, the company started a new tour program, which allows visitors to taste the elegance of the inner part of the 12,000-peak auspicious mountain. Hyundai Asan CEO Yoon Man-joon expressed his ambition during a pilot tour late last month where some 150 dignitaries and media took part.

“We set the target at 400,000 again this year. About 15 to 20 percent of the tourists are expected to visit Naegeumgang this year,’’ Yoon said. “I hope the launch of the Naegeumgang tour will give us an opportunity for a second leap toward successful Mt. Geumgang tour business.’’

Hyundai Asan officials said about 100,000 people have made the trip to the mountain by the end of May. They expect that the figure could reach the target as the high-demand season — from June to October — is approaching.

Each group for the two-night, three-day Naegeumgang tour will be made up of up to 150 visitors and the departure days are every Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

On the first day, the visitors would check in at the hotel and enjoy the North Korean acrobatics show and dine on unique North Korean food for supper. On the second day, they would explore the beauty of Naegeumgang, followed by a brief trip to Oegeumgang on the last day.

Yoon said the company would also try to revamp tour programs to draw more younger visitors as part of its new marketing strategy for the existing tour to the outer side of the mountain, Oegeumgang.

“We will continue to host various cultural events, including concerts and cinema previews, to meet expectations of customers in various age groups,’’ said a company spokesman. “These efforts will also help the company advance to two million visitors.’’

Korea Herald
Kim Yoon-mi
5/30/2007

Hyundai Asan, the South Korean operator of travel to Mount Geumgang in North Korea, is considering expanding its new program that would allow South Koreans to tour the inner side of the mountain, its CEO Yoon Man-joon said yesterday.

Hyundai Asan on Sunday and Monday ran two pilot tours to inner Mount Geumgang, which has been closed by North Korea despite the South Korean company’s eight-year-long request to open it to South Korean visitors.

The new tour course will be open to the general public from June 1.

“For now, the new course is open three times a week, on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. But depending on the tourists’ response, we could increase the visiting days. And this has already been agreed to with North Korean officials,” Yoon said during a press meeting at Pyohun Temple at inner Mount Geumgang on Monday.

Hyundai Asan’s tourism business met difficulties when North Korea conducted a nuclear test in October last year. With tension heightened on the Korean Peninsula, the number of tourists visiting Mount Geumgang plummeted, ruining Hyundai Asan’s target of securing 400,000 visitors a year. The number reached only 240,000 last year.

“We set the target at 400,000 again this year. About 15 to 20 percent of the tourists are expected to visit inner Geumgang this year. I hope by launching the inner Mount Geumgang tour, it give us a second leap toward successful Mount Geumgang tour business,” Yoon said.

The new tour includes a bus ride through North Korean villages for an hour and a half.

During the bus ride, North Korea people’s livelihoods, commercial buildings and schools will be visible to South Korean tourists.

“It must have been a big decision for North Korea to open up their ‘inner bedroom’ because you would do so to only those who are really close to you,” he said.

Regarding new marketing strategy for the existing tour to the outer side of Mount Geumgang, Yoon said the company will revamp tour programs to attract younger visitors.

Also, Hyundai Asan will add two tour sites called Munpil Peak and Beobgi Rock to the outer Mount Geumgang tour course as early as in June, he said.

The inner Mount Geumgang tour, once opened in June, will be operated from April to November with a price tag of 420,000 won ($450) for a three-day tour per person. The outer Geumgang tour currently costs 390,000 won per person.

“Just as inner and outer parts of Mount Geumgang meet to become one, I hope one day the two Koreas can become one,” said Hyundai Group chairwoman Hyun Jeong-eun, who also participated in the pilot tour on Monday.

AFP (Hat Tip DPRK Studies)
Simon Martin
5/23/2007

The managers of this capitalist enclave in communist North Korea are appealing for the world’s support, saying their experiment in free markets can pave the way for regional peace.

Diplomats who toured the Kaesong Industrial Complex Tuesday were urged to set aside worries over the North’s nuclear programme and to invest in the complex adjacent to the world’s last and heavily fortified Cold War frontier.

“I know you are concerned about the political situation on the peninsula but I strongly believe inter-Korean projects can help reduce tension,” Kim Chul-Soon told lunch guests of diplomats and reporters who toasted the project with North Korean “Wild Flower” wine to the strains of Mozart.

Kim is executive vice-president of Hyundai Asan, the South Korean firm which since 1998 has invested 1.2 billion dollars in Kaesong and in the North Korean tourist resort of Mount Kumgang on the east coast.

Work began at Kaesong in 2005 and the complex now has 22 factories with five more under construction. The workforce totals some 12,100 North Koreans, including construction workers, and 700 from the South.

Ambitious plans, strongly backed by the South Korean government, call for some 2,000 companies employing 350,000 people by 2020.

A management committee of the two sides touts Kaesong as “the hope for the future” of the two Koreas, which had almost no economic exchanges until a groundbreaking summit in 2000.

Committee chairman Kim Dong-Kun noted that Kaesong was one of the battlegrounds of the 1950-53 war which cemented the peninsula’s division.

“I am confident it will pave the way for peace and stability in the Korean peninsula and Northeast Asia but I realise this will only be through strong international support,” he told diplomats.

Visitors to Kaesong are greeted by a portrait of North Korea’s “Great Leader” Kim Il-Sung, who died in 1994, as they pass through the heavily fortified frontier zone.

But the fenced-off complex, funded almost entirely by the South, is otherwise a propaganda-free zone. North Korean officials refer to “South Korea” rather than the “south side,” as official media terms its neighbouring nation.

Pictures of North Korea’s Kim dynasty are not in evidence, apart from on lapel badges, and presentations praise the private sector.

Managers say they want to emulate Shenzhen, the special economic zone bordering Hong Kong which kick-started China’s economic boom. But unlike in Shenzhen, North Korean workers — described as diligent, well-educated and eager to learn — cannot spend their wages as they wish.

Companies pay the basic wage, 57 dollars and 50 cents a month for a 48-hour working week, to North Korean officials.

The officials, on average, return 15-20 percent to the worker in North Korean won and the remainder in the form of food and other essentials.

Given the North’s crumbling command economy and persistent food shortages, jobs at Kaesong are still apparently desirable.

“Because North and South Korea are working together, it feels great because unification will come sooner,” said one female worker at the ShinWon textile factory in a typical response.

Asked how much she earns, she told AFP through an interpreter that “we earn enough to make a living and keep our stomachs full.”

Kaesong’s supporters say it will narrow the huge economic gap between North and South but they seek foreign support. Apart from one Japan-invested joint venture, all factories at present are owned by South Korean companies which enjoy tax breaks to invest.

Six sites have been set aside for overseas firms in the first phase.

Goods are labelled “Made in Korea” and are covered by Seoul’s free trade deals with Southeast Asia. But the United States, which sealed an FTA with South Korea recently, agreed only to consider the Kaesong issue later.

The aim is also to revitalise South Korea’s small- and medium-size firms, especially textile companies which are struggling against competition from cheaper Chinese labour. Textiles account for almost half of Kaesong’s total production worth 115 million dollars since it opened.

Joong Ang Daily
5/22/2007

President Roh Moo-hyun said yesterday that his government will accelerate investment in North Korea’s Kaesong industrial park, regarding it as part of South Korea’s “unification expenses.”

“My government has not sped up the pace of its investment in the Kaesong industrial complex due to political risks. I now regret that,” the president said in an interview with the Maeil Economic Daily and its cable news affiliate MBN.

“Uncertainties surrounding investment in Kaesong will prove to be far less than expected, as the North Korean nuclear problem is certain to be settled through dialogue and confidence-building measures. Economic benefits from the Kaesong project are immeasurable.”

The president stressed that smooth operations of the industrial park will help South Korea’s external economic credibility and small businesses struggling with rising labor costs.

“The most important factor [involving Kaesong] is unification expenses. One of the surest ways to reduce the expense of unification is to make the Kaesong project successful. We have to expand our investment in Kaesong as soon as the North Korean nuclear problem is settled,” said Roh.

The industrial park is one of two flagship projects South Korea operates to promote reconciliation with North Korea, along with tours of the North’s scenic Mount Kumgang. Over 13,000 North Korean workers are now employed in Kaesong by 23 South Korean firms.

But opposition parties and other conservatives in the South are accusing the Roh government of having blindly offered excessive aid to the Kaesong complex and other inter-Korean cooperation projects.

Roh also reiterated his determination to pursue an FTA with China.

“A free trade deal with China is inevitable. But we’ll conclude it after completing the restructuring of our agricultural sector through the FTA with the U.S.”

Commenting on South Korea’s economic growth potential, Roh said the nation’s economic growth rate will soon rise again to the 7 percent level from under 5 percent due to positive effects from FTA deals and massive planned investments in the construction of new administrative, business and public corporation towns across the nation, which are estimated to reach 54 trillion won by 2010.

Reuters (Hat tip to DPRK Studies)
5/22/2007

The park is located in the North Korean border city of Kaesong about 70 km (45 miles) – (Reuters) – The Kaesong industrial complex in North Korea is set to grow by leaps and bounds in the next few years despite political problems in the wake of the communist state’s nuclear test last year, a South Korean executive said.

Here are some key facts about the Kaesong Industrial District:

LOGISTICS

The park is located in the North Korean border city of Kaesong about 70 km (45 miles) northwest of Seoul. A brand new highway runs through the Demilitarized Zone border taking workers from the South and finished products from the North.

Kaesong is the first cooperative manufacturing venture where South Korean firms use North Korean labour. It is run by Hyundai Asan, part of the Hyundai group, along with Korea Land Corp.

EMPLOYMENT

As of May 21, more than 14,000 North Koreans were employed at 23 South Korean factories producing items such as textiles, watches and cosmetic cases.

The minimum monthly wage is $50 for each employee as well as $7.50 for social insurance. The wages are paid to the North Korean state and not directly to workers.

CHARGES OF EXPLOITATION

In May 2006 Jay Lefkowitz, the top U.S. official for human rights in North Korea, raised concerns about possible worker exploitation at the complex. Lefkowitz said the well-intentioned project may simply end up providing funds that prop up the North Korean regime. South Korea rejects the criticism as biased.

DUTY-FREE EXPORT?

South Korea and the United States agreed to set up a joint committee to study allowing Kaesong products duty-free status in the U.S. market under a free trade deal struck in April. South Korea says future projects in the North will be entitled to the same privilege. Washington is less enthusiastic.

FUTURE PLANS

South Korea’s vision for the Kaesong project, which began in June 2003 with first batch of goods shipped to South Korea in 2004, includes more than half a million North Koreans employed by 2,000 firms and with hotels, golf courses and a “peace park”.

CNN (Hat tip to D”S”B)
Adam Levine
5/22/2007

Hiking on North Korea’s Mount Kumgang gives you the uneasy feeling that despite the majesty of the natural scenery, even nature cannot escape politics in one of the most closed-off countries in the world.

The four-hour walk to Kuryong Falls is the centerpiece of the Mount Kumgang resort in southeastern North Korea. The trail winds along a river with glistening pools of water and picturesque scenery all around.

But you never escape the country’s dictatorship — there is the propaganda carved into the mountainside and rocks by the North Koreans, and the Chinese before them. There are also the North Korean employees working as vendors and rescue workers on the trail. They are always in pairs, and always seem to be watching you.

Kumgang is a popular tourist destination for South Koreans, for whom the mountain holds spiritual allure, and it is one of the few places in North Korea that Americans can travel relatively easily.

Hyundai Asan, an offshoot of the Korean car company, built the resort. It paid the North Korean government US$1 billion for 50 years of exclusive rights to the region and other business interests in North Korea. It spent an additional US$400 million to build the five-hotel resort, which opened in 1998.

More than 1.5 million visitors have made the trip to Kumgang. Most visitors are South Koreans; less than 8,000 visitors are from 48 other countries. Hyundai Asan spokesman Dan Byun says a majority of the 8,000 are South Korean ex-patriots.

Despite the western style hotel accommodations, American money changing hands and duty free shop selling Johnny Walker and Marlboro cigarettes, you don’t forget that you are in North Korea.

Just getting there involves busing through the demilitarized zone, where we are constantly told “no pictures, no pictures” by our guide and informed that aside from the road we are on, the entire area is filled with land mines.

After going through North Korean immigration we are herded back on a bus and reminded again that we cannot take pictures until we get inside the resort.

The 4.5-mile trip moves through southern North Korea, which the guide says is all a military base. Soldiers appear ominously standing at attention along the road. Each carries a red flag, which, we are told, will be raised if any soldier sees one of us taking a picture. Tanks and what appear to be anti-aircraft weapons are hidden in bunkers in the hills overlooking the roads.

The actual resort area looks no different than any typical tourist destination with a welcome center, hotels, bus parking and retail stores. North Korean folk songs blare from overhead speakers in the parking lot. But surrounding it all is a fence to separate tourists from the North Korean village of On Jung Li.

A two-night, three-day tour can cost as much as US$490. There are five hotels to choose from including a beach-side hotel and floating hotel and one that used to be the vacation home of Kim Il Sung’s wife.

There are 11 restaurants, including a branch of a North Korean noodle restaurant that is an exact replica of its counterpart in Pyongyang. An 18-hole golf course is opening in the fall and there is a Korean acrobatics show that performs each night at the theater.

The government has gone to extremes to accommodate the resort, even tearing down a village and moving it and its inhabitants to make way for the welcome center and shop.

The company defends its $1 billion payment to the North Korean government as economic revitalization. Hyundai Asan built a railway and border station to allow trains to travel from Seoul, South Korea, into North Korea. After refusing to let the trains through for a long time, the North Korean government finally allowed the first train to cross the border last week.

Hyundai is also building a reunification center to allow families from both sides of the border to hold reunions when allowed.

Some North Koreans work at the resort as waiters, vendors, rescue teams and maintenance. Most wear a pin of their president on their lapel.

Most refused to be photographed, cryptically saying “no pictures while I am working.” All but a few will refuse to talk to you. The ones that did talk to us offer some glimpse into their thinking.

One rescue worker told us that the only reason President Bush has not invaded North Korea is because Bush is afraid of Kim Jung Il. A vendor told us that she likes Americans, but hates the American government.

The resort is surrounded by a fence, through which you can see villagers planting in the fields and walking down the roads. They are forbidden to come to the resort or talk to the tourists. Not that they appear to be trying.

Ashley Moore, from Oklahoma, remembers North Koreans ducking behind trees and plants.

“We weren’t allowed to speak to any of them,” Moore said.

Moore, and her boyfriend Zac Gambill took a trip to Mount Kumgang when they lived in South Korea last year.

She and Gambill went from being a bit frightened to be in North Korea to surprise about the unabashed consumerism at the resort.

“Seeing the commercialism at the resort was a real shock,” Moore said. But she never felt totally at ease.

“We got a sense of the North Korean government’s determination to convey a favorable image to the outside world and a small sense of what it feels like to be constantly under surveillance,” Moore observed.

Daily NK
Kim Yong Hu
5/17/2007

Companies in Kaesung Delegate Management over to North Korea

Most of the factories in Kaesung Complex are facing financial problems, a report on the “Situation on 22 factories in Kaesung Industrial Complex” revealed by the Forum for Inter-Korea Relations.

According to the report, most of the companies in Kaesung Complex are facing entrepreneurial difficulties due to restraints in contracts and inadequate resources.

The Forum for Inter-Korea Relations (co-representative Kim Kyu Chul) has been monitoring the South-North economic cooperation. The forum released a report on the 15th which revealed that two companies leasing areas in Kaesung, Moonchang Industry and SJ Tech were facing management difficulties and handed over the right of management to North Korea’s managers. The companies have invested a total of 9bn won.

The Forum bases its evidence on result provided by legal representatives for the 22 companies in Kaesung, collected over a period of 2 years and a North Korean document on the business circumstances in Kaesung to collect difficulties of South Korean managers.

Mr. Kim said, “We confirmed through representatives of two companies leasing areas in Kaesung Complex, Moonchang Industry and SJ Tech that problems were being experienced due to insufficient human resources and freedom of enterprise” and revealed, “Moreover, these companies are facing such severe management difficulties that they have apparently designated the right of management over to the North.”

Regarding this, Director of SJ Tech Lim Hwang Yong said in a conversation with the DailyNK on the 15th, “There is absolutely no evidence to the claim that the companies in Kaesung have handed their business permits over to the North,” strongly denying the act. Similarly, an affiliate of Moonchang Industry commented that the claim was groundless.

In addition, many companies such as Sonoko Cuisineware, Daehwa Fuel Pump, Bucheon Industrial Company made large investments in equipment to manufacture and produce goods, but then again some companies are known to have begun other production such as paper folding. In order to recover from the entrepreneurial ditch, another company has begun manufacturing shopping bags. The total amounts invested by these companies exceed around 17bn won (US$18.3mn).

Regarding this, an affiliate of Sonoko Cuisineware said, “We are merely using our pre-existing equipment to manufacture shopping bags.”

Furthermore, according to the document, a shoe manufacturer Peace Company is using it’s materials initially designed for shoes to produce slippers as it faces management problems during this time. It seems that Peace Company is not able to utilize 100% of its factory materials due to a lack of human resources. Meanwhile, Samduk Comapny has actually made a loss of $1.8mn as a result of 10 different claims made following its entry in Kaesung complex.

Other companies including TS Precision, JC Com, Solu Tech, Magic Micro, HOSAN A.C.E which based their manufacture on electrical parts are currently deliberating in producing other goods, as the goods were found to be below standard due to lack of training and skills by North Korean workers.

An affiliate of TS Precision said, “Our company asked that the workers have basic understanding of maths and English. But no matter how many times we teach the North Korean workers, they do not understand” and revealed, “Currently, only a third of the factory is in operation, while the other materials are being considered to manufacture other goods.”

Lee Hyun Suk of JC Com said, “It is true that the produced goods are of low quality. This is because North Korean workers lack skills as a result of inadequate training” and asserted, “It has been two months since we asked for workers but still we have not been provided with the workers demanded.”

However, he added, “In order to overcome this issue, we are training the North Korean workers ourselves” but refused to comment on whether other goods were being considered for manufacture.

Of all the businesses experiencing management difficulties, Artrang, Pyongan and Sonoko Cuisineware are known to be preparing factory leases.

Mr. Kim revealed, “Companies finding it difficult to increase production with the original factory equipment are known to be leasing areas to other companies.”

He added, “Not only is it illegal for businesses to manufacture goods other than the items listed in the initial contract, it is also illegal to lease the areas to other companies.”

In relation to this, an affiliate of Sonoko Cuisineware said, “Companies other than Sonoko Cuisineware are using the location but after receiving a permit from the Ministry of Unification” and remarked, “However, these companies have not leased the area to help recuperate mismanagement but are rather producing goods needed for our business.”

On the other hand, 7 other companies are showing a glimmer of hope as they conduct regular operations. These companies include Good People, Shinwon, Cotton Club, Taesung Industrial, Sunghwa Trading, Jeil Sangpum and Grubig International Co.

Mr. Kim said, “Though many outsiders perceive Kaesung Complex as a success, the truth of the matter is that most of the companies are experiencing hardships” and asserted, “Unless management, employment, personnel and freedom of contract increases, it is unclear whether these companies will or will not succeed.” 

There has been a plethroa of articles on the ROK/DPRK train crossing.  Here is a grab-bag of facts and sources:

Joong Ang Daily
5/15/2007
Unification Minister Lee Jae-joung expressed hope that regular inter-Korean rail services would transport workers to an industrial complex in the North’s city of Kaesong as well as serve as a mode of transportation for South Korean tourists at the Mount Kumgang resort.  However, North Korea has only agreed to one test run.

The sticking point was the number of passengers aboard the trains. South Korea stressed the need for an equal number of North Koreans, but North Korea declined the offer, citing unspecified reasons, ministry officials said. The two sides will exchange passenger lists via an inter-Korean economic office in Kaesong tomorrow.

The two Koreas are set to conduct test runs on a 27.3-kilometer (17-mile) line between Munsan Station and Kaesong Station in the western section, and on a 25.5-kilometer line between Jejin Station and Kumgang Station in the eastern section.

Rare experience aboard N. Korean train across the border
Yonhap
Sohn Suk-joo
5/17/2007

At the urging of North Korean conductors, 100 South Koreans and 50 North Koreans boarded a five-car train at 11:25 a.m. With no speaker system at Kumgangsan Station at the North’s scenic mountain along the east coast, conductors repeated “Please board the train” through a loudspeaker mounted upon a South Korean-made Hyundai Starex utility vehicle.

Painted green on the main body and the roof a faint gray, the facade of the train was far from modern. “The train looks like South Korea’s obsolete third-class train, but its ability is better than that,” said Lim Jong-il, a South Korean official at the Ministry of Construction and Transportation.

South Korean Construction Minister Lee Yong-sup, Kim Yong-sam, the North’s railway minister, and some 20 South and North Korean journalists crowded into the second car of the train. The smell of new paint assailed the nostrils upon ascending the steps, while a pair of portraits of Kim Il-sung and his son Kim Jong-il hung on the wall above the door.

The seating arrangement was face-to-face, and refreshments for passengers were set on a small table in front of the window — one lemon-lime soda, one strawberry juice, one bottled water, two apples and a pear. North Korean female attendants served a cup of ginseng tea for passengers later.

The upright, ivory-colored vinyl seats were a little bit uncomfortable and did not recline, but the cushions were softer than they appeared to be.

Outside the window, a uniformed North Korean conductor waved a red flag and goose-stepped past the train, which signaled the impending departure. A few North Korean security officers came inside to check the number of passengers and asked journalists jostling for position to sit down.   

At 11:27 a.m. a long whistle sounded, reminiscent of an old-time steam locomotive. The train spluttered back and forth several times and then slowly started forward. “North Korean trains usually whistle a lot,” a South Korean transportation official said. 

North Korean middle school students, who attended a ceremony, started to wave their hands, and South Korean passengers responded in kind. The train moved out of Kumgangsan Station at the speed of 10 kilometers per hour, and North Koreans working nearby just looked at the train without reacting in a friendly manner.

Some 50 meters away from the railway on the right side, a paved road appeared as the scenic Mount Geumgang faded from sight. Rice paddies were waiting for rice seedlings to be planted, but no peasant was seen working outside.

Unexpectedly, well wishers were South Korean tourists traveling to the Mount Geumgang resort in a convoy of eight buses. “At this time of the day tourist buses go to the resort,” a South Korean official said.

At 11:30 a.m. the stretch of hills and mountains continued, and the clouds moved quickly against the blue sky, cleansed from the previous day’s rain.

A few Toyota jeeps driven by soldiers, military jeeps and trucks drove parallel with the train and then fell behind. North Korean soldiers were stationed at the checkpoints of major intersections.

Then the track turned sharply, a rare occurrence on South Korean track. The sharp turns came again and again, and a woman peeked outside the window at a nearby village.

The overall atmosphere was friendly, a throwback to a picnic in the 1970s-80s on a slow, squeaking train. Hills and mountains passed by, and splendid pine trees of all kinds of shapes. After awhile the Nam River appeared on the right side of the train. At one village, some 10 residents came out and looked over the communal wall to watch the passing train.

At 11:50 a.m. the train passed Samilpo Station. The painted name on the station was very small, like Kumgangsan Station, and an oversized portrait of Kim Il-sung hung on the front of the station, along with pro-communist and cult propaganda slogans.

The train crossed the river on a bridge restored with steel plates provided by South Korea. Outside the window, North Korean tourist attractions such as Haegumgang and Samilpo were seen a little farther away.

At 11:50 a.m. some passengers pushed up the windows, and the unpolluted air coming through the open windows refreshed them. A group of 10 North Korean soldiers stood guarding a storage house of diesel engine trains built for the railway test run. There was no other train in sight.

The train slowed down at Kamho Station, where North Korean customs officials were stationed. It was 11:55 a.m.

Around 12:00 p.m. four customs officials and two conductors boarded each car of the train. One of them shouted, “We fervently welcome you who have become the first passengers of the train! Now we will start customs clearance procedures.”

Conductors checked the identities of the passengers and digital cameras. They asked a passenger to delete a photo of portraits of Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il that had been blurred from the shaking of the camera.

At 12:15 p.m. the conductors suddenly moved to the exit and disembarked. They must have gotten orders to let it pass, as the inspection took longer than expected. The train started to move again right away.

“Now you will see an outpost about 200 meters. It is the Military Demarcation Line,” said Kim Kyong-jung, chief of the inter-Korean railway team at the Ministry of Construction and Transportation.

A sharp whistle blew, and the train picked up speed, double its previous pace. The shaking was palpable, but not enough to affect the bottles on the small table. With the speed increasing, the frequency of the whistle’s call also increased.

In five minutes, the train passed the Northern Limit Line and went into the Demilitarized Zone. At 12:21 p.m., it passed the Military Demarcation Line to roars of applause. The train slowed a bit and the passengers became quiet, awaiting arrival.

At 12:25 p.m., a South Korean tourist observatory appeared, and some 200 tourists on the porch waved their hands eagerly, welcoming the North Korean train. Wide paved roads came into view and the train arrived at Jejin Station five minutes later. Amid the loud sound of a welcoming brass band and the cheering crowd, the train stopped at a South Korean station for the first time in more than half a century.

Trains cross inter-Korean border for first time in over 50 years
Yonhap
5/17/2007

A North Korean train traveling on reconnected track along the east coast of the Korean Peninsula on Thursday crossed the heavily armed border to return to its point of departure after a brief stay here.

At the same time, a South Korean train returned to the South in the west of the Korean Peninsula.

Earlier in the day, the two trains, one carrying 100 South Koreans and the other 50 North Koreans, crossed the Military Demarcation Line (MDL) dividing the two countries for the first time in more than half a century.

“It took more than half a century to cross this short, approximately 20-kilometer distance. We have to prevent anyone from blocking the railways. They were so hard to reconnect,” Kim Yong-sam, North Korea’s railway minister, said in a luncheon speech after arriving here.

In response, South Korean Construction Minister Lee Yong-sup hailed the test run of the cross-border railways, suggesting South and North Korea cooperate in promoting the mutual interest and prosperity of the Korean people.

At 11:30 a.m., Lee, who led the 100-member delegation to North Korea Thursday morning, boarded the North Korean train in Kumgangsan Station near the scenic Mount Geumgang resort for a test run on a 25.6-kilometer track in the eastern section of the peninsula.

At the same time, Kwon Ho-ung, chief councilor of the North Korean Cabinet, who had led the 50-member delegation to the South, boarded the South Korean train at Munsan Station in the western side of the peninsula on a restored 27.3-kilometer track, along with his South Korean counterpart, Lee Jae-joung.

Before the trains departed, South and North Korea held ceremonies to mark the historic event at Kumgangsan and Munsan stations, respectively.

“I hope it will contribute to forming a joint economic community and making balanced development on the Korean Peninsula. A new curtain of peace has been raised on the peninsula,” Lee said in a commemorative speech.

In his speech, Kwon said that North Korea will make every effort to make sure that the “train of unification” runs along a “track” of inter-Korean collaboration, with its emphasis on peace and understanding.

“Right at this moment, however, the challenge from divisive forces inside and outside is continuing. We should not waiver or be derailed from the track of national sovereignty and inter-Korean collaboration,” Kwon said.

The one-time test run came only after North Korea reluctantly agreed to provide military security arrangements last week. The tracks have been set to undergo tests since they were restored in 2003, while a set of parallel roads has been in use since 2005 for South Koreans traveling to the North.

In May 2006, North Korea abruptly called off the scheduled test runs, apparently under pressure from its hard-line military. The cancellation led to the mothballing of an economic accord in which North Korea would receive US$80 million worth of light industry raw materials from the South in return for its natural resources. North Korea’s subsequent missile and nuclear weapons tests further clouded hopes of implementing the agreement.

The reconnection of roads and train lines severed during the 1950-53 Korean War was one of the tangible inter-Korean rapprochement projects agreed upon following the historic summit between then South Korean President Kim Dae-jung and North Korean leader Kim Jong-il in 2000.

South Korea hopes to use the restored railways to help North Korean workers commute to a joint industrial complex in the North Korean border city of Kaesong as well as to transport South Korean tourists to the North’s scenic Mount Geumgang.

The Gyeongui (Seoul-Sinuiju) line cutting across the western section of the border was severed on June 12 in 1951, while the Donghae (East Coast) line crossing the eastern side was cut shortly after the outbreak of the Korean War.

South and North Korea used radio communication between Dorasan Station in the South and Panmun Station in the North for the western rail line, and between the South’s Jejin Station and the North’s Kamho Station for the eastern one. The stations are closest ones to the border on both sides.

In March, the two Koreas agreed to put humanitarian and economic inter-Korean projects back on track just days after North Korea promised to take the first steps toward its nuclear dismantlement in return for energy aid and other concessions from the other five members of the six-party talks.

South and North Korea are still technically at war, as the Korean War ended in an armistice, not a peace treaty.

Korean Train Crossing Seen as Sign of Progress
New York Times
Choe Sang-Hun
5/17/2007

[excerpts]

South Korea has long dreamed of building a trans-Korea railroad that would connect its train network to China and to the Trans-Siberian Railway in the former Soviet Union, creating a so-called Iron Silk Road.

North Korea blocks overland access to Asia, which makes South Koreans “feel as if we live in an island,” the South Korean transportation minister, Lee Yong Sup, said yesterday.

A trans-Korea railroad would offer a faster and cheaper way for South Korea to bring exports that are now shipped by sea to China and Europe. It would also provide a shortcut for Russian oil and other natural resources transported to South Korea. Such a rail system would save South Korea $34 to $50 a ton in shipping costs, said Lim Jae Kyung, a researcher at the Korea Transport Institute.

But before the dream of a trans-Korea rail system comes true, transportation analysts and government officials say, years of confidence-building talks and billions of dollars in investment in North Korea’s decrepit rail system will be needed.

Officials acknowledge that such a dream will not be made real until after North Korea gives up its nuclear weapons and improves its human rights record. Those moves would help build public support in South Korea for large investments across the border and would open the way for international development aid.

South Korean officials say a trans-Korea railroad would invigorate inter-Korean trade, which tripled from $430 million in 2000 to $1.35 billion last year.

It would also bring cash to North Korea, which could collect an estimated $150 million a year in transit fees from trains that pass through its territory, according to some estimates.

But it is unclear whether or when North Korea might agree to regular train service across the border.

Procuring international aid to renovate the rail network and letting trains from one of Asia’s most vibrant economies, carrying exports and tourists, rumble through its isolated territory could threaten the North Korean regime, analysts and others say.

The agreement came after South Korea promised to send North Korea 400,000 tons of rice, as well as $80 million worth of raw materials for shoes, soap and textiles.

South Korea has spent 544.5 billion won, or $589 million, on reconnecting the rail system, including 180 billion won in equipment, tracks and other material loaned to North Korea.

South Korean policy makers have called for patience in working toward reconciliation with the North. They have often been accused by conservative politicians and civic groups of giving in to North Korea’s strategy of extracting economic aid for every step toward reconciliation.

“This is a precious first step for a 1,000-mile journey,” Mr. Lee, the unification minister, said today.

South Korea has seen some tangible results in its overtures to the North in recent years.

The North Korean military cleared mines and moved some of its weapons to make room for the rail system and the Gaesong industrial complex. In addition, South Korean factory managers commute from Seoul to Gaesong using a road that was reconnected in 2004, and South Korean buses regularly take tourists to the Diamond Mountain resort in the North.

Joong Ang Daily
Lee Yang-soo and Brian Lee
5/16/2007

With an eye on future transportation infrastructure, both Russia and China are courting North Korea to get in on the development of Najin port, in the far north of the country near the Russian border.

A Foreign Ministry official said yesterday that Russian Railways President Vladimir Yakunin is scheduled to visit North Korea to discuss launching a project aimed at improving and repairing a railroad from Najin to Khasan, just across the border into Russia.

Yakunin told former Prime Minister Han Myeong-sook, who visited Russia last month, that President Vladimir Putin had great interest in the project and Russia was hoping for the active participation of South Korean companies, the official said. The railway official visited Seoul in July last year to discuss the project with South Korean companies. The issue was also discussed in March at a bilateral meeting with Russia on economic cooperation.

A government official said that Russia wants to use Najin port as a logistics hub, but is also intending to develop the port into a base for future development of oil and natural gas in Siberia. The ultimate goal would be to connect the trans-Siberian railway with an inter-Korean railway system.

Beijing also has its eye on the North Korean port, which it envisions as part of its grand design to build a transport network that stretches from the Indian Ocean to the North Pacific.

“Najin Port is near the Jilin area and China’s own ports in the area have already reached their full capacity,” a government official said yesterday.

Beijing has recently notified Pyongyang that it is willing to spend $1 billion to develop port facilities, build railroads connecting the port to China and improve existing infrastructure such as highways, the official said.

In a report published earlier this year, Cho Myung-chul, a researcher at the Korea Institute for International Economic Policy, predicted that China would use investments in the North’s ports and railroads to extend its own infrastructure for export and import purposes. China has made similar investments in Burma and Bangladesh, among others.