North Korean Economy Watch

Korean PMs ‘agree rail-link deal’
BBC
11/15/2007

A regular freight train service over the heavily-armed border between North and South Korea could start before the end of the year, officials say.

The deal, on the second day of talks between prime ministers from the two countries, marks the first agreed schedule for the train link.

The South has pushed for reliable transport links to supply the factories its firms run in the North.

It follows an agreement made last month at a summit of the countries’ leaders.

‘Shared understanding’

North Korean Prime Minister Kim Yong-il and his counterpart from the South, Han Duck-soo, are spending three days in discussions in the South’s capital, Seoul.

The South’s Unification Ministry spokesman, Kim Nam-shik, said the two sides were now trying to set a specific date for starting the rail service.

The 25km (16 mile) track runs from the heavily-guarded border to a joint industrial complex in the North’s city of Kaesong.

“Both sides shared an understanding that it would be meaningful in further vitalising the Kaesong industrial complex,” said the spokesman.

The meeting – the first at prime ministerial level for 15 years – follows October’s historic summit in Pyongyang between the two countries’ leaders.

Divided families

The summit between the North’s Kim Jong-il and the South’s President Roh Moo-hyun was only the second such meeting since the Korean peninsula was partitioned over half a century ago.

The two leaders signed an accord calling for greater peace and economic partnership, despite the two countries remaining technically at war with each other.

They also agreed in principle for the regular cargo rail service to be established.

The prime ministers are using their meeting to discuss more specific proposals.

One key issue is the establishment of a joint fishing area around the disputed western sea border – the scene of naval clashes in the past – and a new economic zone around the North Korean port of Haeju.

The South also hopes to increase the number of reunion meetings for families separated when the peninsula was split.

Prime ministerial meetings between the two Koreas were suspended in 1992 amid growing concern over Pyongyang’s nuclear ambitions.

Ministerial infidelity
Joong Ang Daily
11/16/2007
Lee Yang-soo

The prime minister of North Korea holds one of the top positions in the country’s hierarchy, officially fourth in political power.

Many believe, however, that the prime minister may actually be about 20th in actual influence, as there are plenty of hidden power elites in the political and army circles.

The post of prime minister in North Korea was created after the introduction of the state president in 1972. Since then, eight people have occupied the post. Among them, the person who impressed us the most was Yeon Hyung-muk, who held the job from 1988 to 1992.

The prime minister of North Korea faces tough and dangerous working conditions.

Kim Il Sung emphasized the significance of the post by insisting that the “prime minister is the general of the nation’s economy.” The prime minister, in turn, has often been made the scapegoat for the people’s discontent about the country’s struggling economy.

And to make a bad situation worse, the public economy always took a backseat to the military economy, which led to nuclear and missile development.

One after another, numerous ministers have stepped down in dishonor or suffered incurable illness.

After the dishonorable withdrawal of former Prime Minister Li Gun-mo (1986-1988), Li’s successor, Yeon Hyung-muk, was demoted after four years to the post of candidate member for the Political Bureau Presidium, or secretary of Jagangdo Provincial Party. In addition, Prime Minister Park Bong-ju was demoted last April to manager of a small-town company.

Since assuming the reins of government, Kim Jong-il has recruited people who know the economy well to the top posts.

However, he took a “military first” attitude whenever the cabinet, the Workers Party, and army were in discord over the issue of opening and reform.

In contrast, the president of the People’s Republic of China, Jiang Zemin, gave Zhu Rongji, premier of the state council, a carte blanche to decide every affair in public administration and the national economy.

For example, when rumors spread that the yuan would be further devalued, he consulted Zhu. At that time, Zhu’s nickname was “emperor of the Chinese economy.” China has shown great fidelity to the principle that the “prime minister is the general of the national economy.”

Come to think of it, South Korea has had 27 prime ministers since 1972, representing its own infidelity to the prime minister. Six of one, half a dozen of the other.

Koreas agree to open cargo railway, but key issues remain unresolved
Yonhap
Kim Hyun
11/15/2007

South and North Korea agreed Thursday to open a cross-border cargo railway by the end of this year — resuming the service halted more than half a century ago — as part of economic cooperation projects agreed upon in their leaders’ recent summit.

Seoul proposed Dec. 11 as the date to start the railway service through the demilitarized zone, a Unification Ministry official said on condition of anonymity. But North Korea’s response was not yet known.

The agreement to open a freight railway came on the second day of talks between South Korean Prime Minister Han Duck-soo and North Korean Premier Kim Yong-il in Seoul. The rare prime ministerial talks were aimed at devising concrete plans to implement wide-ranging accords reached between the leaders of the Koreas.

In their summit in early October, President Roh Moo-hyun and North Korean leader Kim Jong-il agreed on a slew of economic cooperation and peace projects. They also agreed that the agreements should be implemented through two follow-up talks — one between prime ministers and the other between defense ministers.

“There is a growing understanding between the sides for the start of the cargo rail service,” Kim Nam-shik, a spokesman for the Unification Ministry, told reporters. He said that the project “seemed highly possible,” even though more consultations are needed to secure a military guarantee by North Korea.

The 20-km cross-border route between South Korea’s Munsan and the North’s Bongdong will allow the mass transport of goods from a joint industrial complex in North Korea to the South, Seoul officials say.

The Koreas also agreed to set up a joint committee to create a peace zone in the disputed border area in the West Sea, part of key summit accords to reduce tension, the ministry spokesman said. Bloody skirmishes occurred in 1999 and 2002 near the disputed sea border, which North Korea does not acknowledge. The western sea border was unilaterally drawn by the U.S.-led United Nations Command at the end of the 1950-53 Korean War. Pyongyang has called for a new line to be drawn further south.

The peace project in the West Sea will likely include the creation of a joint fishing area in the western sea border area, and the establishment of an economic special zone in Haeju in southwestern North Korea, which will transform the naval base area into an economic stronghold.

The Koreas also made progress in social and cultural areas, the spokesman said, without elaborating on specifics.

But key issues remained unresolved.

The top item on North Korea’s agenda is South Korea’s heavy investment in the renovation of its antiquated railways and roads, said the Chosun Sinbo, published by ethnic Koreans in Japan.

The North Korean premier said in the talks that such South Korean support will help implement the summit accords “in a relatively short amount of time,” the paper said.

Pyongyang also expects Seoul’s money to develop shipbuilding facilities in the country, Seoul officials said.

South Korea is expected to seek North Korea’s support in improving the business environment in the Kaesong industrial complex, where communication facilities are poor and border customs inspections are highly restrictive.

The Kaesong complex, where scores of South Korean factories produce garments, shoes and other labor-intensive goods with North Korea’s cheap but skilled labor, emerged from agreements at the first-ever inter-Korean summit in Pyongyang in 2000. But business restrictions and political strains have limited its development.

Other issues include reunions of families separated since the 1950-53 Korean War, with South Korea pushing to regularize the sporadic events.

The two Koreas are expected to issue a joint statement wrapping up their three-day talks on Friday. To settle outstanding details, Seoul has proposed to hold follow-up economic talks between vice prime ministers in the second week of December, a Unification Ministry official said on condition of anonymity.

The Koreas held eight rounds of prime ministerial talks until 1992, when they signed an accord calling for an end to Cold War hostilities on the Korean Peninsula. But the talks were suspended afterward as relations soured over a dispute on North Korea’s nuclear weapons program.

This week’s talks, covering economic projects, will put aside thorny issues on military tension, which will be dealt with in defense ministers’ talks set for Nov. 27-29 in Pyongyang, Seoul officials said.

Unification Minister Lee Jae-joung said on the first day that this week’s talks were “a bit more flexible, a bit more amicable” than previous inter-Korean meetings.

South Korea expects that improved inter-Korean ties will facilitate progress in ongoing multilateral talks to persuade North Korea to abandon its nuclear ambitions.

The communist nation has shut down five key nuclear facilities under an aid-for-denuclearization accord signed in early October in talks involving the two Koreas, the U.S., Japan, China and Russia.

Pyongyang is also supposed to disable its key nuclear facilities at Yongbyon and submit a full list of its nuclear programs by the end of the year in return for the normalization of ties with the U.S. and Japan, as well as economic and energy assistance from the other parties involved.

N.K. asks for help in repairs to facilitate implementation of summit agreement: report
Yonhap
Byun Duk-kun
11/15/2007

North Korea has asked South Korea to help repair its dilapidated railways and roads so the agreements at the recent inter-Korean summit can be quickly implemented, a pro-Pyongyang newspaper published in Japan reported Thursday.

In a rare report from Seoul, the Chosun Shinbo said North Korean Prime Minister Kim Yong-il proposed the modernization of North Korea’s railway between the border town of Kaesong and the northwestern city of Shinuiju at his talks with South Korea’s Han Duck-soo.

Kim, 63, was also quoted as saying that projects to modernize railways and roads will enable the joint declaration from the inter-Korean summit to be implemented “in a relatively short amount of time.”

The North Korean arrived here Wednesday for three days of talks to follow up on the summit held in Pyongyang on Oct. 2-4.

At the summit, President Roh Moo-hyun and North Korean leader Kim Jong-il called for a quick expansion of economic cooperation and an end to military hostilities between the divided Koreas.

This week’s talks had been expected to focus on economic issues as separate talks between the defense ministers of the two countries are to be held in Pyongyang later this month.

Seoul is also calling for an early opening of cargo rail service between the North’s border town of Kaesong, where dozens of South Korean businesses are producing over US$1 million worth of goods each month, and its border town of Munsan.

Still, the Seoul government is placing more weight on the opening of other areas in the reclusive North to South Korean businesses as well as establishing a joint fishing area in the West Sea, where a maritime border dispute led to deadly clashes between the navies of the divided Koreas in 1999 and 2002. The Koreas technically remain at war as the 1950-53 Korean War ended with an armistice, not a peace treaty.

Seoul officials are also calling for easier access for South Korean businesses to the South Korea-funded industrial complex in Kaesong as well as the relaxing of customs and quarantine inspections at the border.

The North Korean premier said his country is ready to resolve the difficulties facing the South Korean businesses operating in Kaesong, according to the report.

“The North side believes what the leaders (of the two Koreas) agreed are not mere economic cooperation projects, but projects that will lead to the reconciliation, unification and prosperity of the nation,” the report said.

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.

Yonhap
11/7/2007

Bilateral trade between the two Koreas increased by 23 percent in the first 10 months of the year due mainly to an increase in shipments of goods produced at the South Korea-built industrial complex in the communist North, the Unification Ministry said Wednesday.

The two-way trade volume jumped to nearly US$1.44 billion in the January-October period, up from $1.16 billion from a year earlier, according to the ministry.

“The rise mainly comes from a 48 percent increase in the amount of goods shipped from Kaesong,” a ministry official said, adding trade in some other areas, such as minerals and fisheries, increased by nearly 50 percent year-on-year.

Exchanges in non-commercial areas, however, dropped by 18 percent, according to the ministry official.

Seoul hopes cross-border trade will continue to increase over the coming years as the sides are about to launch a second development plan to expand the Kaesong industrial complex, where about two dozen South Korean companies are currently employing some 10,000 North Korean workers.

The joint industrial complex is expected to house over 2,000 South Koreans businesses and employ as many as 500,000 North Koreans when it is fully developed by a target year of 2012.

President Roh Moo-hyun and North Korean leader Kim Jong-il have also agreed to develop the North’s western Haeju area as a special economic district in the second-ever inter-Korean summit held in the North Korean capital of Pyongyang early last month.

Yonhap
Lee Joon-seung
10/23/2007

A newly opened factory-apartment at the Kaesong Industrial Complex promises fresh possibilities for inter-Korean business cooperation, the developer of the facility said Tuesday.

The state-run Korea Industrial Complex Corp. (KICOX) said the dual-purpose manufacturing and residential facility is specifically designed for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) that are currently being phased out of South Korea due to the lack of workers and high labor costs.

At the formal opening ceremony of the factory-apartment, KICOX President Kim Chil-doo said, “The new facility provides an ideal business model for South Korea’s labor-intensive SMEs trying to stay afloat, and is an ideal means to start off business in North Korea.” About 300 people from South Korea were present at Tuesday’s opening in Kaesong, including lawmakers and Vice Industry Minister Oh Young-ho.

The 32 companies that will use the new facility are generally small clothing companies that were at the critical juncture of deciding whether to move to China and Southeast Asian countries, or close their businesses altogether. The factory-apartment provides an alternative means to continue making goods and is beneficial to all sides, the developer said.

By moving to Kaesong, the companies can stay in business by hiring workers for about US$60 a month, while 2,700 North Korean workers benefit from new jobs. In addition, the dual arrangement permits cheaper operating costs, a better working environment and allows companies to cooperate with each other for logistics support, said the developer.

The corporation, which runs 11 similar factory-apartments in South Korea, said the five-story building covers 27,880 square meters and was built in 14 months at the expense of 21.1 billion won (US$22.8 million). It is equipped with a storage area, a training center, a product display room, two dining halls, a store and fitness center. The new building is equipped with 71 dormitories for South Korean workers and various support staff.

The monthly rent in the factory-apartments is 4,500 won (US$4.9) per square meter, and there are six different floor arrangements available, ranging from 396 to 1983 square meters.

KICOX said that based on the projected success of the first factory-apartment, up to seven more will be built in Kaesong by 2010. It said 19,489 square meters of land were reserved in May 2007 for the project.

A second factory-apartment is being built the Kaesong Industrial District Management Committee (KIDMAC), and is scheduled for completion by late 2008.

Companies that have moved into the new factory-apartment, meanwhile, said they are satisfied with the proficiency of workers and cheap labor costs.

Ok Sung-seok, president of Nine Mode Co. and chairman of the corporate management committee at the KICOX factory, said Kaesong plants cost a third less to operate than similar plants in China. He added that his shirt-making company should turn a profit by next year.

“I ran a factory in Qingtao, China for four years, but the operating cost there is skyrocketing,” the businessman said. He said Nine Mode closed its Chinese factory and plans to downsize its operations in Seoul so it can concentrate on its efforts in Kaesong.

Ok said that depending on the type of business and size, four or five factories in the factory-apartments should turn a profit by the end of the year.

The Kaesong complex lies 60 kilometers northeast of Seoul, and is hailed as the crowning achievement of the historic 2000 inter-Korean summit. It has played a key role in expanding two-way economic exchange that stood at just $300 million in 1999 to $1.35 billion last year.

Construction of the industrial district began in June 2003, with 3.3 square kilometers of factory land have been built to house up to 450 firms. By 2012, 11.6 square kilometers of industrial park is to be laid down that can hold several thousand South Korean factories and hire over 200,000 North Korean workers.

There are at present about 13,000 North Korean workers employed by 57 South Korean firms in Kaesong that have churned out garments, watches, kitchen utensils, auto parts and other labor-intensive goods since 2004.

The complex just north of the demilitarized zone that separates the two Koreas has been in the spotlight after the second inter-Korean summit. South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun and North Korean leader Kim Jong-il agreed to build a region of peace and prosperity centered around Kaesong and the North Korean city of Haeju, 75 kilometers west of Kaesong.

“People at Kaesong expect progress to be made in such areas as communications and travel, which had previously been an obstacle to the development of the industrial district,” said a KIDMAC official. The prime ministers of the two sides are to meet in November to implement follow-up measures to the summit.

There is only one telephone line linking Kaesong with Seoul, while no mobile phones are allowed in the area. People and materials are also prevented from moving in and out of the complex.

Institute for Far Easter Studies
NK Brief No. 07-10-16-1

The Kaesong Industrial District Management Committee reported on October 10 that after two years and nine months of operation, the total value of goods manufactured in the Kaesong Industrial Complex (KIC) surpassed 200,000,000 USD. In 2005, production by companies in the KIC totaled 15,000,000 USD; in 2006, 74,000,000 USD; and in the first 9 months of 2007, 124,000,000 USD, for a total since 2005 until last September of 213,000,000 USD.

There are currently a total of 45 companies operating in the complex, employing 19,433 North Korean workers and 800 workers from South Korea, for a total of over twenty thousand employees. The Committee’s report further detailed that the production output of the North Korean workers averaged 1,275 USD per person during the first half of 2007, up 28 percent over last year’s per-capita output of 989 USD.

After overall production surpassed 100,000,000 USD at the end of last January, the 200,000,000 USD barrier was broken in only eight months. This expansion of production is a result of a stable business environment, the increase in the number of companies entering the complex and the number of North Korean workers employed, and overall productivity growth.

The 1,275 USD per-capita production output for the first half of the year shows a 28 percent increase over the 989 USD per-capita recorded in 2006, and 15 percent higher than the 1,108 USD per-capita average of the first two quarters of last year. Despite employment regulations calling for continually increasing numbers of workers, which tend to lower productivity statistics, overall North Korean workers’ average per-capita production numbers did not fall, and the increase shown is significant.

The increase in productivity is not unrelated to the level of education of the workers. Currently, the majority of workers in the KIC have at least a high-school education, and more than 20 percent have completed some form of technical college or higher. A technical training center scheduled for completion in October of this year will provide even more formal technical training for the workers, further increasing productivity.

Yonhap
Tony Chang
10/16/2007

More than 400 government and business officials from South and North Korea gathered Tuesday at an industrial complex in the North to celebrate the completion of the first-phase of development of the landmark reconciliation zone, organizers said.

The industrial park in Kaesong, a border town 60 kilometers northeast of Seoul, has been hailed as a major outcome of the historic 2000 inter-Korean summit and is being built in three stages with completion scheduled for 2012. Over 13,000 North Korean workers now employed in Kaesong earn some US$60.4 each a month working for South Korean firms producing garments, watches, utensils and other labor-intensive goods.

“The Kaesong complex is an achievement that shows that our people can do anything when they pull together,” Kim Jae-hyun, head of the Korea Land Corp. (KLC), said in a congratulatory speech during a ceremony held at the complex, according to the company.

KLC, South Korea’s state-run real-estate company, is responsible for selecting the companies that operate there.

Other dignitaries from Seoul included Unification Minister Lee Jae-joung and Hyun Jeong-eun, chairwoman of the Hyundai Group that is involved in various projects in the North. Some 100 North Koreans, of whom none were identified, were present at the ceremony, according to the KLC.

“The significance of the industrial park was highlighted once more during the recent inter-Korean summit, paving the way to further expand development (of the zone),” Lee said in his speech.

The first-phase construction of the park, which began in June 2003, covers 3.3 million square-meters. As of April, some 220 companies have signed up to move into the complex. Currently 57 firms operate in the zone.

Approximately 8.26 million square meters of land have been allotted for the second-stage of development. Construction of the second stage is expected to begin early next year. It is expected to be used for material-oriented and technology industries, such as synthetic fibers and electronics parts, according to the KLC.

In the second inter-Korean summit held early this month, South and North Korea agreed to make Haeju, a militarily sensitive town for North Korea roughly 75 kilometers west of Kaesong, a special economic zone, similar to the Kaesong complex.

Yonhap
10/10/2007

The Unification Ministry has dropped the words “reform and openness” to describe the South Korea-invested industrial park in the North’s border town of Kaesong from its Web site in an apparent bid not to provoke the North.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-il complained in the second-ever inter-Korean summit in Pyongyang last week that South Korea has been using the Kaesong industrial park as a scheme to force reform and openness in the communist North, whereas Pyongyang had gained little from the inter-Korean economic cooperation project.

President Roh Moo-hyun responded by saying in the North Korean capital that North Korea should not be described as a subject of reform and openness.

Joong Ang Daily
Limb Jae-un
10/8/2007

Days after both Koreas vowed to heighten cooperation, a lawmaker said yesterday in a report that the Kaesong Industrial Complex, the experimental site combining South Korean technology and North Korean labor, has been unprofitable so far.

In addition, the Ministry of Construction and Transportation said in a report yesterday that repairs to the airport on Mount Paektu will cost 280 billion won, or $304 million.

One of the agreements signed at the inter-Korean summit Thursday calls for allowing South Korean tourists to visit the scenic mountain on the Korea-China border.

“In terms of the runway length, Samjiyon Airport can accommodate large airplanes, such as a Boeing 747, but the condition of the airport is bad,” said an official of the construction ministry, who asked for anonymity. The airport, located on a plateau 1,000 meters, or 3,280 feet, above sea level, needs advanced navigation facilities, he said.

Despite the optimistic discussions during last week’s summit, inter-Korean economic cooperation has so far had dismal results, according to a report from Grand National Party Representative Lee Han-koo. Thirteen out of 16 companies operating at the Kaesong Industrial Complex are currently in the red, he said. Their debt is four times higher than their assets, he said. The combined assets of the 16 companies is only 4.5 billion won and their average annual sales is 790 million won.

“The biggest problem of the economic cooperation is that the relevant information has been held back from the public,” Lee said.

Meanwhile, a top European official said North Korea must go through serious reforms to become a viable investment destination for Europe.

North Korea is unattractive for Europe because “the conditions for investment are not safe enough and the regulatory environment is not predictable,” Guenter Verheugen, the EU Industry and Enterprise Commissioner, said in an interview with The Associated Press on Saturday.

Joong Ang Daily
Jo Dong-ho
10/9/2007

The summit meeting was quite successful. Some say it was because North Korea’s nuclear program was not on the agenda. Relinquishing its nuclear ambitions is the North’s card for normalizing ties with the United States and receiving rewards.

Costs cannot worry us either, because South Korea’s economy has grown so much that we can now pave a road even for a village on a remote mountain. If the size of government projects for culture cities or innovation cities were reduced, we would have trillions won, or billions more dollars, available.

As an economist, I would like to focus on roles of the government and the market discussed in the summit meeting. The ultimate question of economics can be summarized as how the market and the government will divide their roles to get maximum benefits out of limited resources.

The economics of past 200 years concludes that the best way is for the private sector to make independent decisions in economic activities and for the government to manage the rules so that those activities will be carried out fairly and smoothly. This can be likened to the relationship between players and referees in a sporting event.

The same principle applies to economic cooperation between South and North Korea.

Easing military tension, which will reduce the risk of investing in North Korea, is something that only the government can do. Repairing railways and roads is also the responsibility of the government. To improve transportation, communication and customs are the same. The private sector cannot do those jobs on its own.

However, building a shipyard or developing tourism on Mount Baekdu is for the private sector to carry out. But as these projects were agreed upon in the summit meeting, they must be carried out without feasibility studies. These projects were being discussed even before the summit meeting.

Private companies have been interested in them for years, but they have not made the decision to pursue them for many reasons, including low profits. Now the leaders of the two Koreas have made an agreement so these projects must be carried out. North Korea will probably make more unreasonable demands. The South Korean government will have to provide subsidies, and that will increase the burden on the South Korean people.

Some may find it disturbing that I criticize a few projects when there were many other good agreements reached. But these projects show the South Korean government’s basic view on economic cooperation with the North.

In fact, in all the projects agreed upon, there is a vague guideline for the division of roles between the government and the market. The same is true with the agreement to complete the first step of construction at the Kaesong Industrial Complex earlier than planned and to start the second step. The Hyundai Asan Corporation and the Korea Land Corporation are the ones doing the industrial park project, not the government.

These companies have their reasons for managing the industrial park project in its first stages. The government cannot and should not agree to implement the project at a faster speed. After North Korea tested its nuclear bomb, there was pressure to halt that project. Then the government said it could not intervene because it was led by the private sector. But the government has now agreed to complete it at an earlier date.

Some maintain that these agreements will improve inter-Korean relations so there is no use in dividing the government and the market. But it is more important that economic cooperation between South and North Korea improves properly than quickly. Let’s say the improvement of economic cooperation between South and North Korea is of the utmost value so the government can lead economic projects. But there must be good reasons for the government to intervene in the market.

The government has said until now that it supported economic co-operation with the North in an attempt to induce North Korea to open its doors and reform its economy. But that no longer sounds like enough. When providing assistance, the supporter must make sure that the party that receives assistance tries to stand on its own. But the president said we should not mention this in the summit meeting.

Six months ago, at an event for businessmen in the fisheries industry, the president said the government would provide support if need be, but what is most important is their own will and efforts.

One of President Roh’s strengths is that he is not afraid to say what he needs to say. That he could not say what he had to say to Kim Jong-il is what is most regrettable about the meeting.

Korea Times
Ryu Jin
10/8/2007

South Korean tourists might be able to visit Mt. Baekdu in North Korea from as early as April next year, as the top leaders from the two Koreas agreed to open a direct air route between Seoul and the auspicious mountain in their summit last week.

Hyundai Group is considering a comprehensive tour program that links Mt. Geumgang, Gaeseong City and Mt. Baekdu, even including Pyongyang, to attract more South Korean tourists, according to the company Monday.

Group Chairwoman Hyun Jeong-eun plans to visit the North Korean capital along with Hyundai Asan CEO Yoon Man-joon as early as this month for consultations of the cross-border businesses with North Koreans, a Hyundai Asan spokesman said.

“A variety of ideas are being considered for the new tour programs,’’ said the spokesman, who asked not to be named. “We cannot tell the exact time for the launch. But we are trying to get the new tour programs started as early as possible.’’

Mt. Baekdu, seated at the northern tip of the Korean Peninsula, has been a symbol of national spirit and unification along with Mt. Halla on South Korea’s southern resort island of Jeju. “From Baekdu to Halla’’ is how many people describe their fatherland.

Now on the borderline between North Korea and China, the auspicious mountain has been shared by the two states in modern times. Some 100,000 South Koreans visit what the Chinese people call “Mt. Changbai’’ every year from the Chinese side.

Industry sources expect that, once the direct tour route is developed, people could enjoy the grandiose scenery of the mountain, including the Cheongun Rocks and Baekdu Falls, which are said to be more spectacular than the Changbai Falls.

But travelers and experts say that a tour to the 2,744-meter mountain is possible only between May and September because of precarious weather conditions. On only a few days could the climbers clearly see Cheonji, a large caldera lake on top of the mountain.

“I hope that the tour program is launched as early as possible,’’ Hyun, who accompanied President Roh Moo-hyun to the summit in Pyongyang, told reporters on her way back home. “I heard that it is possible to climb the mountain in April.’’

Hyundai Asan, a Hyundai Group affiliate that operates various cross-border businesses, expects the direct air route to cut the travel time drastically from nine hours needed for trip via China to 1-2 hours, not to mention the reductions in travel expenses.

“Domestic travel agencies sell five-day tour programs to Mt. Baekdu, or Changbai, via China for prices from 800,000 won ($874) to two million won ($2,185),’’ a private tour agency said. “A direct tour would cut the travel expenses by almost half.’’

However, Hyundai Asan admitted that there are a number of tasks to be done before the launch of the direct tour program, including the establishment of infrastructure such as an airport, hotels and other facilities for travelers.

Billions of won would be required to develop the Samjiyeon Airport, the nearest airport from Mt. Baekdu, according to recent surveys.

Hyundai Asan will dispatch an on-site inspection team to the area next month to check the accommodation capacity and other necessary facilities. It has already given five billion won to North Korea for the arrangements of the airport.