North Korean Economy Watch

Tania Branigan visited Pyongyang for The Guardian and wrote a long article on North Korean culture.  Most of the information is familiar to long-time DPRK watchers, though there were a few nuggets of information I had not heard before.  I have posted these below:

But who knew that The Da Vinci Code was a hit in this strictly controlled city? That Céline Dion is a karaoke favourite? Or that the mass performances are not only a tribute to the leadership and motherland, but the way that many young people find partners?

…

Few foreigners see this city at all. Around 2,000 western tourists visited last year, plus perhaps 10 times as many Chinese visitors. The expatriate population, excluding Chinese and Russian diplomats, and including children, stands at 150.

…

There are certainly signs of change here: Air Koryo has new planes and three gleaming airport buses to ferry passengers from runway to terminal. Last week a vast new theatre opened, as did an apartment complex, although it may be destined for officials. The 105-storey Ryugyong hotel – more than two decades in construction – is finally glass-sheathed and due to open in 2012. That year will mark the 100th birthday of the country’s founder, Kim Il-sung. But it is hard to see how it can achieve its pledge to become “a great, powerful and prosperous nation” by then – even given the Stakhanovite industrial efforts lauded in its newspapers.

…

Pyongyang is lucky: no one is plump, but nor is there noticeable emaciation. Dr Andrei Lankov, associate professor at Kookmin University in Seoul, says the official income in Pyongyang is around 3,000 won a month, but many have ways of making money on the side and – unlike other North Koreans – its residents receive subsistence food rations. Most top those up at markets that are legal though never formally acknowledged (officials insist that “everything is public”). At the turn of the year, the government embarked on currency reforms to eradicate an increasingly independent group of “kiosk capitalists”. But wiping out hard-won savings caused highly unusual public discontent and even, reportedly, unrest.

You can read the full article here:
The cultural life of North Korea
The Guardian
Tania Branigan
10/15/2010

Here is the report (in Korean) on the KFI web page.   Here is that page translated with Google Translate.

The report was also carried in the English language media. 

According to Reuters:

The cost of reunifying the two Koreas, split since shortly after World War Two, would tot up to about 3,500 trillion won ($3 trillion), the Federation of Korean Industries said on Tuesday.

Not one of 20 economists surveyed by the federation expected reunification in the next five years but almost half said it would happen in 10 to 20 years.

Nearly half also said the largest cost associated with reunification would be in efforts to cut the wealth gap between the wealthy South and the impoverished North.

“The costs to minimize the gap between South and North Korea over the long-term are expected to be greater than the initial cost of reunification,” the federation said in its report.

South Koreans earn an average about $19,230 a year while North Koreans earned about $1,065 in 2008, according to South Korea’s Unification Ministry.

Concerns about the costs prompted South Korean President Lee Myung-bak to propose a “reunification tax” last month.

“In the short term the shock to the Korean economy will be great but in the long-term reunification will be positive,” the survey said.

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

Yonhap also covered the report:

Most of the experts also said the divided Koreas will likely be reunified within the next 30 years, according to the survey conducted by the Federation of Korean Industries (FKI), the largest business lobby in South Korea.

The questions raised by the FKI came after President Lee Myung-bak proposed introducing a new “unification tax,” which he said will help lessen the financial burden of reuniting with the communist North.

Of the 20 experts surveyed, 63.1 percent said the reunification of the two Koreas will cost more than that of Germany, about $3 trillion. The amount includes the initial costs of stabilizing the nation following a reunification, but also the costs of eradicating any economic and social disparities between the two Koreas.

Half of the respondents said the country needed to begin discussing ways to pay such enormous costs of reunification, while 20 percent said such discussions must begin immediately.

“It also showed every respondent saw the need for such discussions as no one answered such discussions were unnecessary,” FKI said in a press release.

None of the respondents said the reunification will take place within the next five years, but 95 percent, or 19 out of the people surveyed, said the two Koreas will likely be unified before 2040.

They all agreed the unification with North Korea will be a great burden on the South Korean economy in its near future, but a great opportunity in the long term.

Here are links to previous posts on this topic.

Read the full stories here:
The cost of reunifying Korea? About $3 trillion
Reuters
9/14/2010

Experts say Korean unification will cost over US$3 trillion
Yonhap
9/14/2010

According ot the Daily NK:

An official in the Ministry of Unification has revealed that the government is planning to allow an increase in the number of South Korean nationals permitted to overnight within the Kaesong Industrial Complex.

The new standard will allow a 50% increase in South Koreans staying in the Complex, from the current 600 to a maximum of 900, with the new limits set to take effect after the “Chuseok” harvest festival later this month.

Explaining the plan, the official said, “While the restrictions on residing personnel have been in place, fatigue has accumulated and problems have constantly occurred with companies having a great many production and quality errors,” adding, “So we can expect the government to select this course of expanding the number of residing personnel to between 800 and 900 this week.”

“Especially, maintaining production quality during the period of high demand starting in September with the current staffing levels would be difficult,” the official went on, “so companies have requested an increase in staffing levels, and the government has been considering the companies difficulties and requests.”

However, the official stressed that the move doesn’t mean the government is softening its stance in terms of post-Cheonan sanctions measures, saying, “The May 24th Measures will stay in place, and restrictions on new business investment and new investment in existing businesses will continue.”

At the time of the May 24th Measure, the number of personnel permitted to overnight in the Complex was fixed at 550 from its original limit of 1,000, though the real average was only around 500. However, the limit was increased to around 590 in July based, the Ministry of Unification announced at the time, on the “stances of the corporations and (the government’s) experience of running the complex.”

Read the full story here:
Government Plans Kaesong Personnel Change
Daily NK
Chris GReen
9/14/2010

Institute for Far Eastern Studies (IFES)
NK Brief No. 10-09-07-1
9/7/2010

Construction on a day-care center for the children of North Korean workers in the Kaesong Industrial Complex (KIC) has been completed, and the center was opened on September 1. The ROK Ministry of Unification released a statement announcing that “a child-care center has been built with the aim of providing care for the children of North Korean female laborers in the KIC and to improve productivity of the industries in the complex.” With the opening of the new center, more than 300 additional children can be cared for, along with the more than 200 children that are currently attending day-care in the complex.

Ground broke on the new facility, with over 3,100 square meters of floorspace, on September 24, 2009, and it took over a year to complete. The real estate was provided by the North, with the South-North Cooperation Fund providing 900 million won for the build. The Kaesong Industrial District Management Committee has turned over the management of the center to the North, and factories in the complex pay approximately fifteen dollars per child per month to send employees’ children to day-care.

In addition, the Kaesong Industrial District Management Committee and the North Korean Central Special Zone Development Guidance General Bureau agreed on August 5 to raise the minimum wage of North Korean workers in the complex by five percent, from 57.881 USD/month to 60.775 USD/month. The raise took effect on August 1 and will need to be reevaluated before July 31, 2011.

Along with the five percent raise in the minimum wage, South Korean companies will gain more control over the hiring process. North and South Korean authorities agreed to strengthen adherence to existing regulations, both on hiring and assigning workers to various positions. Previously, North Korean labor representatives could control work assignments for North Korean workers, but that will be falling under the authority of managers of each business.

According to the guidelines regulating the KIC, North Korean workers will receive a raise of no more than five percent per year, and they have received a five percent raise each year since 2007. North and South have now agreed to continue raises at a rate palatable to businesses in the complex, and to allow South Korean businesses more control over employees.

Story 2: The Inauspicious Life of Pilots
Daily NK
Yoo Gwan Hee
8/20/2010

…In North Korea, pilots receive top class treatment alongside submariners and the missile corps. They live above the law in many ways. For instance, if a pilot murders someone in society and then returns to their unit, M.P.s cannot arrest them.

While the top choice of middle school graduates is to work in the No.5 Department of the Central Committee of the Party, that which oversees every aspect of Kim Jong Il’s life, pilot is a popular second choice. The primary condition for selection is family background.

Until the 1980s, offspring of normal workers could be selected if they had a good academic record and enough physical strength. However, any person whose family had committed a political crime was excluded. Also, if a family member had sided with South Korea or went missing during the Korean War, they would be excluded, too.

Until this period, the occupation of pilot was deemed to be a dangerous job and children of the elite did not consider it as a career. However, as the economic crisis began in the 1990s, this view changed. Many of the children of elite officials now choose to become pilots.

Currently, pilots still receive ‘special treatment’ in North Korea; however, it is not particularly special any more. Compared to Party officials, who make money in business, the feeling of deprivation which pilots feel has increased a lot.

Pilots are still bound to the state for their living, while the elite increase their wealth and authority through foreign currency earning and market business.

Until the early 1990s, “No. 4 supplies,” which are given to pilots, were free and extras were sold to their families if necessary. Also, since North Korea was worried about the pilots’ mental states, they took care of family issues and distributed supplies to their families once a month.

Even during “The March of Tribulation” in the mid-1990s, normal food distribution was given to families of pilots. However, as the atmosphere in society changed, their stress is increasing. Children of pilots are becoming a target in schools; teachers demand much of pilots’ children first.

Air Force Units receive a relatively good coal supply, however, since the absolute quantity is still lacking, they need to prepare firewood on their own, too. Until the early 1990s, if one or two packs of cigarette, soybean oil, and beer were given to workers on a farm in the surrounding area or a forest ranger, firewood might come in return. However, the times have changed.

Wives of pilots also have to enter the battle. Wives sell distributed supplies to wholesalers or sell them directly in farming villages in the surrounding area.

However, even in the situation where a lot of workers receive not even a single grain of rice from the nation, the supply for pilots is still special. However, since pilots do not have the authority to use it for business and bribery like other officials; their practical standard of living is not very different from a person who sells home appliances in the market.

The biggest stress which North Korean pilots feel is their concern for their old age. Currently in North Korean society, the treatment you receive in active duty and that of the retired are very different.

Until the 1990s, North Korea praised pilots as a “treasure of the nation” and promised them lifelong care. But after 2000, the retired were completely abandoned. The national pension is worth less than a price of one kilogram of corn.

Usually in other countries, the rising generation has more discontent toward the government compared to the mature group, but in North Korea it is the opposite and this is the reason for the phenomenon. When retired, they need to farm or do business in the market, but retirees are short of market experience and strength. Current pilots, observing the lives of their former comrades, cannot feel comfortable about it.

Now we are in an era where even a pilot receiving “top” level treatment from North Korea attempts an escape, and this is not surprising anymore.

Story 1: Pilot Privileges Fade into History
Daily NK
Yoo Gwan Hee
8/11/2009

…[S]pecial employees, such as air force pilots or submarine captains, belong to a class which is treated as the most exceptional in North Korea (notwithstanding officials or members of elite organizations). Before the start of the 21st century, pilots enjoyed considerable privileges. The North Korean state paid special attention to cultivating pilots, showering them with preferential treatment. Goods provided to pilots and their family members were entirely free and a separate compensation-based ration system applied to the whole group.

So, in the North, the closest thing to a “summer vacation” as enjoyed by the people of the free world would inevitably be the “recreation” of pilots. In North Korea, pilots and their family members were permitted vacation once a year and once every two years, respectively. Submarine captains were entitled to similar terms.

Some of the recreation centers used by pilots and their families include the “Galma Recreation Center” in Wonsan, the “Sokhu Recreation Center” in South Hamkyung Province, and the “Jooeul Recreation Center,” among others. All are located near the ocean, and are unparalleled in terms of scenery. In the case of the Galma Recreation Center, there are two buildings housing bedrooms for the visitors standing side-by-side in a shady area, while a separate dining hall and indoor gymnasium can also be found.

Usually, three to four singles and four to five married households from one unit (regiment level) could use the recreation center at any one time.

Single and family rooms are separate. In the former, there are four single beds and in the latter, two double beds. According to regulations, only two children per family are permitted; those who need to bring three or four children have to work out an arrangement with the management office.

In the centers, there is no designated work, but meals and sleeping times must be strictly kept. Breakfast begins at 7:30 A.M., lunch at 12:30 P.M. and dinner at 6 P.M.; naps can only be taken between 2 and 4 P.M. Bedtime is fixed at 10 P.M. Guests have to strictly adhere to these times.

Besides these restrictions, the visitors have the freedom to spend time as they want. Some people play Chinese chess (janggi) and others cards while the rest may choose to head for the beach.

The menus for the week are displayed next to the windows from which the food is served. Soup and bowls of rice are distributed per person and up to four side dishes are distributed to each table (a table consists of two groups).

Until the early 1990s, the most popular food among those served at the recreation centers was bread made in the former Soviet Union. Every morning, a Russian bread called “Khleb,” on which butter or powdered sugar could be put, was provided. The fruit which was given to each person at lunchtime was also popular with the visitors.

The period of recreation enjoyed by pilots was usually 20 days. However, some families, rather than using up all of their days, left the recreation centers in a hurry to visit parents or relatives in their hometowns. Usually, an additional 15 days of vacation was added unto the 20 recreation days, during which many people take trips to their hometowns.

Some diligent wives would continue to work even while in the centers. Surrounding the Galma Recreation Center, located on the shore of the East Sea, or the Sokhu Recreation Center are heaps of seaweed which are washed ashore with the tides. The wives, after washing the seaweed in the ocean water, dried it on the seashore.

Two or three 50-kg bags are barely sufficient for that much dried seaweed. Wives sent these to their in-laws or families with satisfaction.

However, such extravagant levels of recreation for pilots began to disappear in the mid-1990s with the March of Tribulation. Now, even when the state issues recreation permits, people tend to take off for hometowns, not to recreation centers.

Further, with the decline in the national esteem of pilots in recent years and due to the fact that the items which are provided as rations tend to be sold in the markets for additional income, the luxurious lives of the special class are becoming less impressive all the time. Recently, some pilots have even been selling their cigarette rations (one month’s worth) in the jangmadang.

Corruption also afflicts pilots to no small extent. Schools request additional money and products from the children of pilots, due to the popular image of affluence they command.

The sense of deprivation among pilots and family members, who are supposedly among the most revered people in North Korea, has been growing. Their status has indeed decreased over the years; one cannot ignore the fact that the standard of living of private merchants or foreign currency earners has now outpaced that of pilots, who are dangerously dependent on rations for their survival.

According to the Korea Times:

Approximately 20,000 North Korean defectors are living in South Korea nowadays. Frankly, this number is not particularly large: in comparison some 689,000 East Germans defected to East Germany between 1961-1989, and the number of defectors/refugees from other Communist countries was also counted in the hundreds of thousands.

North Korean refugees are very dissimilar from the refugees from Eastern Europe who crossed over to the western borders in large numbers during the Cold War.

Until the mid-1990s escape from North Korea was almost impossible, but things changed when North Koreans began to move to China which became the major stopover for nearly all refugees. Now the community of illegal North Korean refugees in China is estimated to be around 30,000-40,000. These people are usually members of the underprivileged social groups who once lived in areas of North Korea which are close to the border with China.

People of the borderland areas began to cross over to China in large numbers in the mid-1990s (an illegal crossing is not difficult since the border rivers are not broad, and also freeze in winter). In the first stage those people were fleeing starvation, but from around 2000, most of them have been attracted by jobs available in China. For most people these jobs would not appear lucrative: in that part of China a construction worker can earn a wage of $80-$90 a month (free accommodation provided), while a humble waitress is usually paid some $50 a month. However, the average salary in North Korea is now about $2-$3 a month, so this income is extremely attractive to poor North Korean farmers.

Of course, crossing to China and working there illegally is not risk-free. Chinese employers might be cheating, refugees are hunted by the Chinese police and if found extradited back to North Korea.

Nonetheless nowadays the punishment of extradited refugees tends be lenient ― by the cannibalistic standards of the North Korean regime, that is. If an extradited refugee can handle a few days of intense beatings and moderate torture without confessing that he or she did something politically dangerous in China ― like contacting Christian missionaries, South Koreans or foreigners ― chances are that the refugee will get away with just a few months of imprisonment.

This situation determines the composition of the refugee community in China. The typical North Korean refugee in China is a middle-aged woman (women outnumber men roughly three to one since it is easier for them to leave the village and reach the border). She has spent all her life working at a farm in a remote North Korean village. At best she might be a primary school teacher or a low level clerk in the local administration. Of course there are elite refugees, but those constitute a small minority.

Most of these people would like to move to South Korea if they are given the opportunity. Such a move is impossible for the vast majority. Contrary to the official rhetoric, South Korean government agencies in China are not excessively eager to help the run-of-the-mill defector (those few who have intelligence or political value might be a different matter).

Nowadays defection is, above all, business, controlled by defection specialists known as “brokers’. If they are paid a fee which currently fluctuates around $2000-$3000 per head but in some special cases might go higher, they can move a person from borderland areas to a third country where they would go to a South Korean consulate or embassy (usually, in Thailand or Mongolia). In third countries (but not in China) South Korean diplomats issue defectors with provisional travel documents and a ticket to Seoul.

The money which is necessary to pay for the broker’s service comes from different channels. In most cases, the sum is provided by a family member who has already reached Seoul. Acquiring this money independently is well beyond the means of the average North Korean refugee in China.

Upon arrival defectors go through a few weeks of debriefing by the South Korean intelligence agencies (admittedly, most of them don’t have much of interest to tell the South Korean authorities). This is followed by three months of readjustment training at Hanawon, a special reeducation facility for refugees. There the new arrivals are briefly lectured on the wonders of liberal democracy as well as provided with somewhat more useful knowledge about foodstuffs available in South Korean shops and the way to pay for a subway ticket in Seoul. Then they are provided with a modest accommodation (heavily subsidized by the government) and some stipend for the initial expenses (the sum varies, but the rough average is around $10,000 per person).

From that moment on, the North Korean refugee starts his or her life in the South. And, as one can easily predict, this life is usually quite difficult. Seoul is a tough place for a former North Korean housewife.

Read the full story here:
Lives of N. Korean defectors
Korea Times
Andrei Lankov
8/15/2010

According to Yonhap:

South Korea has agreed to raise the minimum monthly wage for North Korean workers by 5 percent at the two countries’ joint factory park in the communist state, an official said Friday.

The latest increase, which was agreed to Thursday and will be effective over the next year, is in line with the 5 percent annual hike in the preceding three years, Unification Ministry spokesman Chun Hae-sung said in a briefing, adding the minimum wage for North Korean workers now stands at US$60.775.

North Korea has demanded wage hikes for its workers in the border town of Kaesong since early this year. About 120 South Korean firms operate there, employing 44,000 North Korean workers to mainly produce labor-intensive goods. The estate has been considered the last remaining symbol of reconciliation between the sides that remain technically at war.

“Our companies agreed to allow the increase, and we have also agreed it would be appropriate to increase the minimum wage by 5 percent, after hearing opinions from the firms,” Chun said.

Under an agreement with North Korea, South Korea may increase the minimum wage by up to 5 percent each year. The new raise will be effective for one year starting Aug. 1, Chun said.

The increase comes as tension simmers between the two countries, which fought the 1950-53 Korean War that ended in a truce that has never been replaced by a peace treaty.

…South Korea has halved the number of its nationals staying in Kaesong due to safety concerns since May, when it warned it would not tolerate any North Korean threat or harm to them.

The Kaesong complex began operating in 2004 after being agreed upon by the leaders of the Koreas in a summit four years earlier. The companies there have expressed concerns that the erosion in inter-Korean relations was affecting their businesses, calling for eased regulations on their operations.

Yonhap does not mention that nearly all of the wages paid to Kaesong workers are deposited with the North Korean government.

UPDATE via the Daily NK:

In addition to the wage rise, the spokesman also announced measures to combat a concern of the companies in the Complex; that of autonomy over staffing decisions.

“Every company contains North Korean workers’ representatives, and these representatives have tended to mastermind changes to work team arrangements as they saw fit,” the spokesman explained.

However, he went on, “We have added measures so that, in future, workers’ representatives will not be involved in this area, and workers will be organized according to the independent judgment of the companies.”

So it appears that the DPRK did not simply win a unilateral pay increase.  South Korean firms apparently gained some managerial control as well.

Read the full story here:
S. Korea agrees to pay raise for N. Korean workers at joint complex
Yonhap
Sam Kim
8/6/2010

According to the Choson Ilbo:

Despite increasing tensions between the two Koreas since the North sank the South Korean Navy corvette Cheonan in March, Pyongyang looks unlikely to close the joint Kaesong Industrial Complex, chiefly because it is a source of much-needed hard currency.

The salaries of some 40,000 North Korean workers there are not paid to them but to the regime, which keeps most of the money, making the industrial park a lifeline amid crippling international sanctions.

There have been fears that the North could take the South Koreans who work in Kaesong hostage, as it has already done once. “North Korea built the Kaesong Industrial Complex because it can earn cash and take a large number of people hostage if it wants,” said a former intelligence officer who defected to the South.

Kaesong has no other industry and is unsuited for farming because of military facilities, so if the industrial park is shut down, the 40,000 workers face starvation.

The monthly income of some US$4 million is no small sum. When the State Security Department picked the industrial park’s core manpower, it simply relocated Kaesong residents and brought in workers screened under strict standards from Pyongyang and other cities. Now they have got used to their positions, closure of the industrial estate could make them a headache for the North’s security forces.

A senior North Korean defector said the State Security Department “is now in trouble because the workers are now kindly disposed to the South Korean firms operating there.” Most of them are aware that they get only $2 or $3 out of every $60 their employers pay for each of them. Despite that, many North Korean workers are eager to go to the Kaesong complex, since most North Korean firms have stopped paying wages amid the economic malaise, but at Kaesong workers are at least still paid and they get perks that are worth even more.

Any North Korean workers who contact South Korean businesspeople or meet with them privately, however briefly, can be subject to security investigations or labeled political dissents. Hundreds are said to have already suffered this fate. “If the North shuts the industrial park first, the workers will get very restive,” said a defector from Pyongyang. Nor would it help the regime to take South Korean staff hostage as that would only expose its immorality and thus provoke even severer criticism, he added.

However, the North is building a huge industrial estate in the Rajin-Sonbong economic zone that could replace the Kaesong industrial park. A Korean Chinese businessman who recently visited Rajin said, “Hotels and industrial lots are under construction and roads are being widened, and the locals have either been driven out of the city or housed in temporary quarters.” But it is rare to meet foreigners there, he added. The North Korean authorities are wooing foreign investments through their overseas missions, but even Chinese businesspeople say it would be crazy to invest in North Korea now.

Attempts to attract Chinese tourists to make up for revenue lost from suspended South Korean group tourism to the Mt. Kumgang resort are also failing. The North is now inviting the Chinese veterans of the Korean War. But one Chinese tourist said visitors “are treated like criminals and not even allowed to take pictures.” A Chinese businessman commented, “North Korea is proposing to do something with China that it can’t even accomplish with South Koreans, but no one here believes it.”

Read the full story here:
Why N.Korea Won’t Shut the Kaesong Industrial Complex
Choson Ilbo
7/31/2010

According to the Daily NK:

There have been grievances reported amongst residents of provincial areas that are part of North Korea’s renovation efforts to become a “strong and prosperous state” by 2012.

North Korean authorities announced a plan last September to reconstruct old houses in regional cities. However, a lack of construction materials and electricity has pushed back the start date. After the currency redenomination last November, rumors amongst residents suggest that construction could end before a single plough dug into the ground.

Construction efforts were revitalized in April this year as authorities set specific targets for city construction teams and state owned enterprises to build large residential buildings holding ten to thirty households. October 10 was set as the deadline before which all construction was to be complete, the same day as the founding date of the Chosun Worker’s Party.

However without sufficient resources, including labor, it remains to be seen whether the project will finish. Furthermore, large and small accidents have raised some concerns amongst local populace.

On July 12 a three-story brick building at Sariwon, North Hwanghae Province, collapsed in the middle of construction. Seven workers were injured by the accident. A source cited the mixing of excessively brackish sand with cement was the reason behind the collapse.

North Korea is currently suffering from a lack of cement. Not only is supply from the authorities non-existent but following the construction of 100,000 houses in Pyongyang, the market no longer has any consistent supply. With prices rising, cement is being smuggled from regional construction sites and sold in markets. This is one another key reason for the shoddy construction.

A source stated that, “Construction workers pretend to work,” because there is no payroll to even feed them. This creates serious obstacles for workers, forcefully mobilized for construction, who cannot provide for their families.

The source added, “In a situation where selling on the jangmadang is a prerequisite to earning a living, you can only suffer losses if you are chosen to work on construction sites.”

Accidents arising from a lack of safety precautions are also a concern. A source said, “Many people that are brought to work become ill due to dust particles. When this is ignored, they end up coughing blood and taken to hospital.” With a chronic scarcity of medicine there is no cure for those suffering from respiratory illnesses.

Basic safety is also not being met due to lose security at construction sites leading to a passer-by being struck by a falling brick and injured.

Local residents have voiced their discontent regarding prolonged construction projects due to their relocation to neighboring households since April. At the time, North Korean authorities had promised to assign new houses to both the residents who were forced to move and the neighbors who had accommodated them but with no end of construction in sight, tensions between families are rising to the point where the People’s Safety Ministry has to intervene. The winter season will only add to the collective anxiety.

To make matters worse, residents living near construction sites must pay money for project support. Members of the people’s unit must always have 100 to 500 won on hand for project funding.

Local residents are increasingly worn out by the construction that has spanned for over twelve months, since last year’s 150-day Battle. Their suffering has increased due to the unsuccessful nationwide economic and social plan, implemented from April to September of last year by North Korean authorities to revive the failing and chaotic economy.

Read the full story here:
Residents Anxious of Accidents on Construction Sites
Daily NK
Park In Ho
7/29/2010

According to Yonhap:

Ten North Korean workers presumably died and about 40 others were injured last week when two buses carrying them collided with each other at the communist state’s border industrial complex joint run by South Korean firms, officials here said Wednesday.

The collision took place Friday evening at an intersection at the Kaesong industrial park where about 120 South Korean firms employ 42,000 North Koreans to produce labor-intensive goods.

Citing South Korean witnesses, police in the South Korean border city of Paju said that a commuter bus hit another on the side amid heavy rains but no South Koreans were aboard the buses.

“The case was reported by South Korean workers traveling to and from the Kaesong complex,” a police official said, declining to be identified. “The exact number of casualties and how the accident happened have not been ascertained.”

An official at the Unification Ministry, which handles inter-Korean matters, said North Korean authorities blockaded the area after the collision, making it difficult to determine casualties.

“The North would not let us know about the accident,” he said, also declining to be identified.

The factory park is the last remaining symbol of reconciliation between the two Koreas, which remain technically at war after the 1950-53 Korean War ended in a truce rather than a peace treaty.

Its fate has increasingly hung in the balance this year as tensions rise along the inter-Korean border over the deadly March 26 sinking of a South Korean warship off the west coast.

Read the full story here:
10 N. Koreans presumed killed in bus collision at joint factory park with S. Korea
Yonhap
7/7/2010