North Korean Economy Watch

Yonhap
12/2/2007

The two Koreas have agreed on the daily schedule for a cross-border freight train that will resume service later this month for the first time in over 50 years, the South Korean Unification Ministry said on Sunday.

The prime ministers of South and North Korea met in Seoul last month and agreed to restart the railway service, which will traverse the heavily armed border, on Dec. 11. The train will run between the South’s Munsan station and the North’s Bongdong station as a follow-up to the October summit between their leaders in Pyongyang.

The ministry said a freight train will depart from Munsan at 9:00 a.m. each weekday and reach the North Korean border station of Panmun before returning to the South at 2:00 p.m.

The train, which will not operate during weekends, will extend its route to Bongdong once the construction of a cargo-handling facility there is completed, the ministry said. The Bongdong station serves as a gateway to an inter-Korean industrial park in Kaesong.

The soon-to-be-resumed service is expected to facilitate transportation of raw materials and manufactured goods between South Korea and the North’s Kaesong park, the ministry said.

The 19.8-km route between the two Koreas was severed in the midst of the 1950-53 Korean War and has since remained closed.

Yonhap
Nam Kwang-sik
12/2/2007

The first South Koreans to tie the knot in North Korea wed in a ceremony at Mount Geumgang, a scenic North Korean mountain frequented by South Korean tourists, tour company Hyundai Asan said on Sunday.

Choe Jeong-in, a 32-year-old employee of Hyundai Asan, and Cho Ah-ra, 24, who works for one of Hyundai Asan’s business partners, married in a ceremony at a Mount Geumgang hotel on Saturday, three years after they first met while working at the North Korean resort.

Korea Times
Yoon Won-sup
11/16/2007

The prime ministers of the two Koreas have agreed to set up Internet, wire and mobile phone services including mobile phones in the Gaeseong Industrial Complex in North Korea.

They also agreed to allow free movement of people and vehicles of the South in the complex starting next month in order to expand inter-Korean economic cooperation.

The agreement was made between Prime Minister Han Duck-soo and his North Korean counterpart Kim Yong-il Friday.

The rare talks between the prime ministers, the first in 15 years, went smoothly.

The North Korean delegates were very favorable to suggestions made during the three-day talks in Seoul, according to sources.

Particularly, Han and Kim took a stroll together in the morning and toasted each other with soju at dinner, Thursday, boasting of their friendship.

President Roh Moo-hyun hosted a lunch for the delegations, Friday, and thanked them for reaching an agreement. The North Korean delegates returned to Pyonyang by plane afterwards.

The two prime ministers issued a joint statement after the talks, which were aimed to follow up agreements reached at the second inter-Korean summit held in Pyongyang from Oct. 2-4.

They agreed to create a committee for a special zone of peace and cooperation in the West Sea coastal area under which five subcommittees will be set up to deal with an economic zone in Haeju, North Korea; the common use of Haeju port and the southern part of the Han River estuary in South Korea; the safe passage of private ships near Haeju; and a common fishing area in the West Sea.

The first committee meeting, chaired by a minister-level official, will be held in Gaeseong next month.

They also agreed to have a premier-level meeting and vice premier-level economic cooperation committee’s meeting every six months, one in Pyongyang in the first half of 2008 and the other in Seoul.

A cross-border freight and cargo railway linking Munsan in the South and Bongdong in the North will start operation from Dec. 11.

Working-level talks will be held in Gaeseong for two days from Tuesday to finalize the agreement on the cross-border train service, according to the statement.

As part of reconciliation measures, South Korea will help North Korea repair the Gaeseong-Sinuiju railway and Gaeseong-Pyongyang highway in 2008.

Han and Kim agreed to start the construction of shipyards in Anbyeon and Nampo next year.

For family members displaced since the 1950-53 Korean War, the two Koreas will allow exchanges of video calls starting next year and complete the construction of a family reunion center at Mount Geumgang next month.

A series of talks will be held next month to discuss the launch of a tourism program to Mount Baekdu, as well as the use of the North’s Pyongyang-Shinuiju railway to transport a joint supporters group from the two Koreas to the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.

“The agreement is the first step toward enhancing inter-Korean relations through the virtuous circle of peace and economy,” Unification Minister Lee Jae-joung said.

Lee said the joint statement contained implementation measures for the summit accords, except the military measures that guarantee the cooperative plans.

Apparently mindful of the importance of these, he added: “The coming inter-Korean defense ministers’ talks will deal with the implementation.” The military talks are slated for Nov. 27-29 in Pyongyang.

Korea Times
Ryu Jin
11/16/2007

The Mt. Geumgang tour business marks its ninth anniversary this Sunday. Hyundai Asan, the South Korean operator of the tour project to the resort mountain across the border in North Korea, says that it sees a more prosperous business for its 10th year.

Hyundai Asan is set to hold a ceremony to celebrate the anniversary, which comes after encouraging news such as the agreement with the North to open the 1,638-meter Biro-bong, the highest peak of the auspicious mountain, early next year.

According to the firm, a total of 1.72 million people have so far visited the “caged” area of the tightly controlled Stalinist nation over the past nine years since Nov. 18, 1998, when the cruise ship “Geumgang” arrived at the site for the first time.

A land route was opened through the heavily militarized border in 2003, terminating the cost-heavy sea travel from 2004 onwards. And North Korea opened more and more sites including “Naegeumgang” (the inner, western part of the mountain).

A company spokesman expects that the number of Mt. Geumgang travelers this year, which has already exceeded 300,000 as of October, to reach above 350,000 by the end of the year, a new record.

Hyundai Asan’s successful business, despite some political uncertainties in recent years, is largely due to its endeavors to diversify tours in the limited area of the 530-square kilometer mountain.

The Naegaumgang Tour, launched last June, added more prospects for South Korean climbers who until then could only enjoy “Oegeumgang” (the outer part of the mountain) and “Haegeumgang” (the seashore).

Beside, cultural events such as concerts as well as visits to hot springs and restaurants with unique Northern cuisine, an 18-hole golf course and a duty-free shop that opened in the resort area recently, will provide visitors with additional pleasures.

However, some experts point out that there remains much to be done in order for the Mt. Geumgang tourism business, which still remains largely a symbol of inter-Korean reconciliation, to be reborn as a more lucrative business.

The complicated processes of immigration control in addition to the long journey of 4-5 hours to the eastern coastal area are among major problems that should be addressed, along with the insufficient infrastructure such as hotel accommodation.

“We plan to expand facilities in the tourism zone further, as more visitors will come to the mountain when Biro-bong is opened next year,” the company spokesman said. “In particular, we will also pay attention to more safety measures.”

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.

Daily NK
Moon Sung Hwee
11/9/2007

The conservative wing in South Korea purported that the opening of the direct Seoul-Baekdu air route would not lead to reforms and open-door policies of North Korea as proved in the case of Geumkang Mountain sightseeing. Hyundai Asan Co. and Korean Asia-Pacific Peace Committee of North Korea have just made a contract for the direct airline staring May next year.

Individuals who travel Mt. Geumkang by land will pass Yuongwoong Middle School, and Onjeong-ri and Yangji village on both sides of the road, all of which are walled off from tourists. Even in Geumkang Mountain, many places are enclosed with iron railings and armed soldiers are guarding them.

Many defectors originally from the Mt. Baekdu areas say that the locals have relatively ease access to the mountain, and so the sightseeing tour of Baekdu Mountain would bring considerable impact on the locals.

The sightseeing tour of Mt. Baekdu passes through Lake Cheonji and Yimyungsoo Waterfall, both of which are popular visiting places for many locals, and Samjiyeon ski resort is located in nearby villages.

Furthermore, every year hundreds of thousands pay a visit to many revolutionary sites in Mount Baekdu. When the tour begins in May next year, the locals and visitors would inevitably run into South Korean tourists. Many people wonder what the North Korean authorities would do about the contact before tourism begins.

According to the Hyundai Asan Co., tourists will fly a direct airline to Samjiyeon Airport and stay at either Sobacksu Visitor’s Hall or Begaebong Hotel. Then, they will visit Sobaeksu Forest, Yimyungsoo Waterfall, Mangchun Peak, Jangkoon Peak and Cheonji Lake.

Tourists must pass through the downtown of Samjiyeon in order to get to Mount Baekdu from Samjiyeon Airport. Unlike Onjong-ri located nearby Geumkang Mountain, it is difficult to close off many places in the Baekdu Mountain areas especially those densely populated villages around Yimyungsoo Waterfall and Samjiyeon ski resort.

In July, 2005, Hyundai Corporation had also once made a contract with North Korea for the development of the Baekdu Mountain areas for tourism. But it was not successful back then because North Korea had a conflict with the Hyundai over economic cooperation and so grew reluctant to cooperate with the corporation as the day for a pilot sightseeing to Mt. Baekdu approached. Moreover, It was difficult for the North Korean authorities to ignore the fact that hundreds of thousands of people make a field trip to many revolutionary sites in the Mt. Backdu areas every year.

The Mt. Baekdu areas have many national treasures such as Mt. Baekdu Billet publicized as Kim Jong Il’s birthplace, the so-called “slogan tree” (referring to those cherished trees which are inscribed with anti-Japanese slogans and the eulogy for Kim Il Sung, and supposedly carved by Kim Il Sung’s soldiers during his anti-Japanese struggle), and many other historical sites and monuments. In fact, Mr. Baekdu is considered sacred and lies at the center of “Su-Ryeong Absolutism” (the idolization of the late Kim Il Sung). The North Korean authorities use the national treasures in Mt. Baekdu to mystify Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il.

The itinerary of North Korean people who make a field trip to Mt. Baekdu for two nights and three days is planned as follows. First, they arrive to Samjiyeon Pond by train, and visit Kim Jong Il’s birthplace and Samjiyeon Monument. Next day, they go to Lake Cheonji. On the last day, they pay a visit to the first slogan tree at Gunchang Billet and Begaebong Billet, and Yimyongsoo Waterfall. The problem is that the itinerary of North Korean field trippers is the same as that of South Korean tourists.

Therefore, it is not clear yet whether the North Korean authorities would really open the tourist route in the Mt. Baekdu areas for South Koreas as scheduled in May next year.

It seems that the North Korean authorities allowed the development of Mt. Baekdu because they now have the knowledge and skill to manage tourism business from years of experience of operating Geumkang Mountain tourism business. In addition, the North Korean authorities might have figured out that tourism business normally does not directly lead to reforms and open-door policies.

It is impossible for the North Korean authorities to relocate all residents in the Mt. Baekdu areas. Therefore, they will likely relocate those who have “bad family background” among the residents. (North Korea is highly stratified by class based on family background.) Moreover, the authorities will likely build a block wall designed to keep the residents from encountering South Korean tourists, and construct a new road for tourists.

However, if the itinerary of North Koreans overlaps with that of South Korean tourists, two groups will inevitably have an encounter with each other. Even if North Korean field trippers go on foot and South Koreans travel by bus, two groups will confront each other at tourist attractions such as Samjiyeon Pond, Samjiyeon Monument, Begaebong Peek, Gunchang, and Lake Cheonji.

The North Korean authorities may have North Koreans make a field trip to Mt. Baekdu between November and April during which Samjiyeon Airport has to be closed due to ice on the runaways, and therefore the sightseeing trip is unavailable.

In other words, Mt. Baekdu will be available for half a year for North Korean field trippers and for the rest half for South Korean tourists. However, that is not likely to be a solution since it is difficult to make a trip to Mt. Baekdu during winter due to bad weather conditions. Indeed, the authorities have been restricting the field trip to Mr. Baekdu during the winter period.

A defector from Yangkang Province said, “The authorities may build a new road for tourists or change the tourism schedule.” The defector added, “Once the tour begins, North Korean field trippers will take more interest in South Korean tourists than the legendary struggle for revolution by Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il.”

Asia Times
11/9/2007

[excerpt]
North Korea said this week it will allow a South Korean business group to start sightseeing tours of a scenic mountain on its border with China next year, as agreed at a recent inter-Korean summit of leaders.

Pyongyang’s contract with the Hyundai Group will enable South Koreans to visit the 2,744-meter-high Mt Paektu by direct flight. Currently, South Koreans can only visit the Chinese side of the mountain.

“Both sides agreed to start the tour of noted places on Mt Paektu from May of 2008,” the (North) Korean Central News Agency (KCNA)said of the contract signed between Hyundai Group chairwoman Hyun Jeong-eun and Choe Sung-chol, vice chairman of the Asia-Pacific Peace Committee, a North Korean state organization handling inter-Korean affairs.

Hyun, back from a five-day trip to North Korea, met reporters in Seoul and confirmed the contract. “Under the agreement, Hyundai Group will have exclusive rights to operate the tourism business to Mt Paektu for 50 years,” Hyun said, disclosing that she also met with the North’s top leader, Kim Jong-il, during her stay in the communist country.

The sightseeing tour of the tallest mountain on the Korean Peninsula expands Hyundai’s business with North Korea, which currently includes a cross-border tour of Mt Kumgang on the North’s east coast. More than 1 million South Koreans have visited the mountain since the tours started in 1998.

Most Koreans regard Mt Paektu as a holy area where their mythical leader, Tangun, descended from heaven and established a kingdom. North Korea claims that its current leader, Kim Jong-il, was also born there 65 years ago, an event heralded by the appearance of a double rainbow over the mountain and a new star in the heavens. (However, former Soviet Union records show he was born in Siberia, in 1941, where his father, Kim Il-sung, commanded the 1st Battalion of the Soviet 88th Brigade, made up of Chinese and Korean exiles.)

North Korea also claims that the mountain was a base for the independence movement against Japan’s colonial rule of Korea led by the communist nation’s founder, Kim Il-sung, in the early part of the 20th century.

Hyundai has been at the vanguard of business with North Korea since its founder, Chung Ju-yung, crossed the heavily armed demilitarized zone with truckloads of cattle in 1997. Hyundai’s business in North Korea also includes the Kaesong industrial complex, where about two dozen garment and other labor-intensive South Korean firms operate with the labor of more than 15,000 North Korean workers. The project started as a result of the first-ever inter-Korean summit in 2000.

Establishing tourism to Mt Paektu was a lifelong dream of Chung Ju-yung, who died in 2001. Chung handed over the group’s North Korean business arm to his fifth son, Mong-hun, who committed suicide in 2003 amid suspicions that the group was involved in the government’s secret transmittance of huge sums of money to Pyongyang in return for the 2000 summit. His wife, Hyun, immediately took charge of the business.

“My trip to the North was very productive,” Hyun said. “Details of the Mt Paektu business will be discussed at the working level.”

Speaking about her meeting with the North Korean leader, she said “I met him for the first time in two years. He asked about my daughter and we talked a lot about personal things.” Hyun said she is happy to realize her father-in-law’s dream.

In addition, the North’s Asia-Pacific Peace Committee decided to grant Hyundai Group the right to conduct tours of the Kaesong area. “Both sides agreed to start the tour of historic sites and scenic places in the Kaesong area from early December 2007,” the KCNA reported.

Meanwhile, the South Korean government, together with the Hyundai Group, plans to survey Mt Paektu this month to prepare for the start of tours next year, industry sources said. “The preliminary survey by government officials and Hyundai will thoroughly check Mt. Paektu,” said an official from Hyundai.

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.

Korea Herald
11/7/2007

Beginning in April next year, South Korean tourists will be able to climb Birobong, the highest peak of Mount Geumgang in North Korea, Hyundai Asan officials said yesterday.

According to the South Korean tour operator in North Korea, Hyundai Asan officials will meet North Korean officials later this month to discuss the specifics.

Company officials said that the Birobong course will be an extension of the current Naegeumgang course, which allows tourists to go hiking on the inner part of the mountain. This course opened in June of this year.

The popularity of this course has shot up since Hyundai Asan lifted the number of maximum visitors from 150 per week to 150 per day, company officials said.

Birobong is 1,638 meters high; the mountain itself is 40 kilometers wide, east to west, and 60 kilometers long, north to south.