North Korean Economy Watch

I am unable to find an article about this in either Rodong Sinmun or KCNA, but according to Yonhap:

North Korea completed construction of a brand new brewery in Haeju city that has up-to-date production facilities, the communist country’s leading newspaper said Thursday.

The Rodong Sinmun, an organ of the ruling Workers’ Party of Korea, said the brewery has fermentation, filtering, cold storage and bottling facilities that will allow it to produce alcoholic beverages to benefit people.

It said trial runs have been successfully carried out and efforts are currently underway to secure production materials to make beer.

The latest report comes after microbreweries in the communist country such as Taedonggang Craft Brewery and Yanggakdo Hotel Microbrewery have received acclaim by some for making the best beverages on the Korean Peninsula and in Northeast Asia. The secret behind the taste, experts have said, lies with North Korea using less rice and corn to make its beverages compared to South Korean manufacturers.

Such quality products have even spurred visits by foreigners who want to taste the beer.

The paper, meanwhile, did not give exact details on the size of the new brewery other than to say it covered several thousand square meters.

Read the full story here:
N. Korea sets up modern brewery in Haeju
Yonhap
2013-9-19

UPDATE 1 (2013-8-27): Chinese auto manufacturer announces plans for Rason plant. According to Yonhap:

A major Chinese automaker has expressed its intention to invest in a project to build a car manufacturing factory in North Korea, the North’s media said Tuesday.

FAW Group Corp., a Chinese state-owned automotive manufacturing firm, signed a letter of intent last week with North Korea’s Rason regional government to invest in the construction of the factory, the North’s Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported.

The agreement is a preliminary step to conclude an official deal for the investment.

The deal was made during the third round of the exhibition for international goods held in the North Korean city last week, according to the KCNA.

The impoverished communist country designated Rason, located on its northeastern tip, as a special economic zone and has been actively seeking an overseas investment in the region.

During the exhibition, China’s Heilongjiang regional committee on trade promotion and Rason’s economic committee signed an agreement to boost cooperation. Heilongjiang province is located in the northeastern part of China.

Stressing Chinese firms’ investment in the Rason region, an unidentified official from the Chinese body vowed “to transport goods from its region to Shanghai via Rason ports,” according to the report.

ORIGINAL POST (2013-8-21): According to KCNA:

3rd Rason Int’l Trade Exhibition under Way

Pyongyang, August 21 (KCNA) — The 3rd Rason International Trade Exhibition is going on in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

The exhibition in the Rason Economic and Trade Zone bordering China and Russia is attended by more than 120 entities from countries and regions, including the DPRK, China, Russia, Germany, the U.S., and Japan.

On display at the exhibition are some 78 000 items of exhibits in 410 kinds, covering machinery, steel, electrical, electronic and chemical products, foodstuffs, medicines, building materials, vehicles and sundries.

In this regard, KCNA met Hwang Chol Nam, vice-chairman of the Rason City People’s Committee.

Hwang said:

The Rason City has laid definite institutional guarantee and legal foundations for jointly developing the economic and trade zone and has made a big stride in building infrastructure, paving a way for foreign businesses to smoothly carry on production and trade in the zone.

During the days of the exhibition, foreign businessmen will witness the situation of the developing zone.

Ho Myong Ho, director of the Rason Exhibition Corporation, told KCNA that the current exhibition is the biggest in scale and he believes that it will serve as an occasion for making the trade in the zone gain momentum.

The exhibition will run until August 23.

The Rason Economic and Trade Zone is a special economic zone in the DPRK, where preferential treatment is available.

The zone has developed into a hub for transit transport, trade and investment and financial and tourism service.

2013-8-20 evening news coverage of the opening ceremony can be seen here.

Dr. Bernhard Seliger posted the application form for the trade fair:

Previous posts on the Rason International Trade Fair can be found here.

The Bank of Korea has published its estimated aggregate data on the North Korean Economy for 2012.

You can download the report in English here.

You can download the report in Korean here.

It has been cataloged with previous reports (and many others) on my DPRK economic statistics page.

Here is what Reuters analysis of the data:

North Korea’s economy expanded for a second successive year in 2012, South Korea’s central bank said on Friday, bolstering the claims of new leader Kim Jong-un to be pursuing economic growth alongside strengthening the country’s nuclear deterrence.

The economy of the reclusive and impoverished nation grew 1.3 percent in 2012 as nearly all sectors saw improvement compared to a 0.8 percent annual growth the year before, said the Bank of Korea, one of the few sources of estimates about the economic performance of the North, which does not publish data.

Agriculture, farming and fisheries rose 3.9 percent last year in North Korea on the back of expanded use of fertiliser and an increase in pig and chicken farms, according to the Bank of Korea data, compared to a 5.3 percent growth in 2011.

Livestock farming rose 12.3 percent on an annual basis.

North Korean industrial output and manufacturing both expanded for the first time since 2008 after shrinking for three straight years, rising 1.3 percent and 1.6 percent respectively in 2012 compared to a year ago.

Despite the rise in output, North Korea remains one of the poorest countries on earth and its economy is around a thirtieth the size of industrial powerhouse South Korea.

…

The Bank of Korea data showed that North Korea’s total trade was worth $6.81 billion in 2012, with exports up an annual 3.3 percent, mostly on the back of chemical products and animal products. Imports were up 10.2 percent.

Trade with South Korea, which the Bank of Korea exempts from North Korea’s trade statistics, was worth $1.97 billion dollars last year, up 15 percent from a year ago. Almost all of that trade comes from the closed Kaesong industrial park.

Here is coverage by the Institute for Far Eastern Studies (IFES):

The Bank of (South) Korea released a report on the economic growth estimation of North Korea in 2012. North Korean economy recorded positive growth for two consecutive years. Per capita gross national income (GNI) rose by 2.7 percent to 1,371,000 KPW against the previous year. However, the gap between the South and North has not narrowed.

Last year, North Korea’s gross domestic product (GDP) growth was estimated to be 1.3 percent. This is the highest level since the financial crisis of 2008 when it surpassed the South Korean economic growth and reached the 3.1 percent growth.

Agricultural production improvement as well as international aid in heavy oil in 2008 permitted the North Korean economy to rebound brieflybut it began to decline resulting in minus growth in 2009 (-0.9 percent), 2010 (-0.5 percent), and 2011 (0.8 percent).

Agriculture, forestry and fishery industries last year made robust growth as well as manufacturing, engendering the boost in the economy. The construction of the Huichon Power Station was completed last year and it is considered to have attributed to the improvement in the power situation.

In terms of industries that accounted for the growth, agriculture, forestry and fishery made up about 23.4 percent of the nominal GDP, recording a production increase by 3.9 percent. Production of livestock such as swine and poultry husbandry rose by 12.3 percent and rice and corn production also increased due to improved fertilizer supply.

Production in manufacturing (21.9 percent of North Korean GDP) made a 1.6 percent increase. The rate of manufacturing production increased by 2.6 percent in 2008 but began to decline from 2009 at -3.0 percent; 2010, -0.3 percent; and 2011, -3.0 percent.

Production improved in food, tobacco and light industries by 4.7 percent, and heavy chemical industries rose by 0.2 percent. Mining (14 percent of GDP) also rose by 0.8 percent due to improvement in coal production. Electricity, gas and water supply (3.5 percent of GDP) also increased by 1.6 percent from the expansion of hydroelectric and thermal power generation. Service industry (29.4 percent of GDP) rose by 0.1 percent. Government services dropped by 0.2 percent but transportation and communication, wholesale and retail, food and lodging services increased by 2.0 and 2.2 percent, respectively. However, construction (7.8 percent of GDP) fell by 1.6 percent due to the decrease in the civil construction such as road works.

Last year, North Korea’s gross national income (nominal GNI) was estimated to be 33.5 trillion KPW. Compared to South Korea’s 1.28 quadrillion KRW, this is a ratio of about 1 to 38.2. By dividing the GNI by North Korean population, per capita gross national income is calculated to be 1,371,000 KRW. Compared to South Korea’s (25,589,000 KRW) it is 1 to 18.7. This is comparable to the figures recorded in 2011 (1 to 18.6).

North Korea’s foreign trade volume (based on only import and export excluding the inter-Korean trade) increased 7.1 percent to 6.81 billion USD. North Korea’s exports (2.88 billion USD) increased by 3.3 percent, mainly in chemical products (38.0 percent) and animal products (23.6 percent). As for imports (3.93 billion USD), textiles (17.6 percent) and transport equipment (6.2 percent) increased by 10.2 percent.

Last year, the size of trade between North-South Korea rose by 15.7 percent over the previous year at 1.97 billion USD. Import and export to and from the Kaesong Industrial Complex accounted for 99.5 percent of the total amount. North Korea’s export increased 12.1 percent — mainly machinery (28.2 percent) and electrical and electronic equipment (16.1 percent) — and imports to South Korea increased by 17.5 percent — electrical and electronic products (25.8 percent) and textiles (12.8 percent).

Here is additional coverage in the Wall Street Journal‘s Korea Real Time, Bloomberg, Straits Times, Foreign Policy.

Read the full stories here:
North Korea posts 2nd successive year of growth-Bank of Korea
Reuters
Christine Kim
2013-7-12

Institute for Far Eastern Studies (IFES)
2013-5-30

North Korea currently under robust international sanctions has put on extensive advertising campaign for the recent International Product Exhibition [Spring International Trade Fair] held in Pyongyang.

A week has passed since the 16th Pyongyang International Spring Product Exhibition (May 13-16), but the Choson Sinbo, the bulletin of the Japan-based Chosen Soren, continues to run daily articles on the products displayed in the exhibition.

The products displayed at the Pyongyang International Spring Product Exhibition, which is North Korea’s largest trade exhibition, provided a peak at the country’s current industrial trends. Moreover, this year’s exhibition introduced a number of products which are used in the daily lives of North Koreans.

The (North) Korean United Trading Company exhibited over fifty categories of products including colored metal products and a variety of lubricants and ball bearings. Groups including the Sungri Economic Trade Alliance, the State of the Art Technology Development and Exchange Center, the (North) Korean Hard Glass Company, the Pyongjin Bicycle Joint Venture Company, etc. entered products which contribute to improving the lives of North Koreans. The Chosun Sinbo introduced various new products displayed at the exhibition, including shoes was introduced which treats athlete’s foot and dissipates odors with substances such as nano silver as well as complex lactic acid products and other pharmaceutical products made at the Pyongchon Koryo Pharmaceutical Factory.

North Korea also focused on advertisement for automobiles and electronics. Pyonghwa Motors introduced over 30 new models at the exhibition, with the increase in demand. It also boasted that the new models were equipped with lower fuel consumption, reduced by two-thirds.

North Korean media also praised computer products introduced by the (North) Korean Computer Center for its rise in popularity and international competitiveness. The Ryongak Computation Information and Technology Exchange Center introduced a new tablet PC which it dubbed the ‘Yongheung.’ It was reported that buyers welcomed the site for portable profile projectors which had TVs for viewing and allowed for comfortable exhibition of mass media materials.

To overcome the current international sanctions imposed on North Korea, the exhibition is likely to be intended to increase its economic cooperation with the outside world. On May 22, the Chosun Sinbo reported that despite the United States-led economic sanctions on North Korea, many foreign enterprises participated in the exhibition in the hopes of expanding trade with North Korea. It highlighted that the Rason Comet Trade Corporation which is located in China and North Korea’s joint Rason Special Economic District, participated this year for the first time in the Pyongyang International Spring Merchandise Exhibition. The article explained that the Rason Comet Trade Corporation is exporting clothing including t-shirts and athletic wear to Indonesia, Thailand, China, etc. Pyonghwa Motors which exhibited 36 varieties of cars, passenger vans, and buses at the outdoor exhibition center, benefited from meetings with several foreign companies as well as North Korean trade and economic agencies.

The 16th annual Pyongyang Spring Product Exhibition was held from the 13th to 16th of this month and companies from North Korea, Germany, Malaysia, Mongolia, Switzerland, Singapore, Australia, Italia, Indonesia, China, Poland, and Taiwan participated at the event with various products including machineries, electronics, light industry, foods, medical, and chemicals.

Institute for Far Eastern Studies (IFES)
2013-5-3

On April 22, for the first time since Premier Pak Pong Ju took office as the new Premier of the DPRK Cabinet, North Korea held an extended cabinet plenary meeting. Cabinet members discussed a variety of topics including the economy, enhancing nuclear capability for military purposes, advancing the party line, the results of the National Light Industry Convention, the first quarter assessment of the People’s Economic Development Plan, and adjustments to be made to the People’s Economic Development Plan during the second quarter.

The meeting has spurred interest in what economic breakthroughs will be made under Premier Pak’s direction. While this was only the first extended meeting held since Premier Pak became premier, there appeared to be no fundamental changes in the party line. The results from the last Politburo extended meeting regarding the National Light Industry Convention and the advancement of the party line in the areas of economics and the nuclear program were mirrored in the cabinet meeting. At the meeting, cabinet members emphasized groundbreaking measures that would contribute to improving the lives of the North Korean people.

At the Light Industry Convention, Kim Jong Un ordered for the normalization of operations of factories that produce consumer goods. As Pak was the official in charge, it is likely that he demanded for specific plans to stabilize production.

At the extended cabinet meeting, measures in response to the international sanctions against the country were also discussed. The KCNA reported the results of the meeting: “Foreign economic business must be strengthened to destroy the blockade of the US imperialists and their followers and put forth tasks and measures to explore favorable conditions to become an economic powerhouse.”

In order to avoid the sanctions of the international community, North Korea must continue foreign trade with China and other countries, as covertly as possible.

With respect to the contents of the meeting, Minju Choson, the state-run North Korean government newspaper, reported that “specific plans were discussed to expand the fuel production and restart Yongbyon GMR (graphite moderated reactor), and educational programs for nuclear experts.” In addition, plans for the development of practical and communications satellite were established and reaffirmed in order to continue the launch of long-range ballistic missiles.

North Korea’s long-range missiles, restart of the Yongbyon nuclear facility, and uranium exploration are under the control of the Second Economic Commission, military defense (military economy affairs), not the Cabinet. The Second Economic Committeeis the central coordinating body of the DPRK’s military-defense industry. Yet, the cabinet declared its decision to continue nuclear and missile launches at the cabinet meeting. This would suggest that the cabinet is supportive of Kim Jong Un’s “byungjin line,” or policy of pushing forwarding economic construction and the building of a nuclear force.

Expectations that cabinet reform would be mentioned did not come to fruition. There is a probability that Premier Pak is preparing to implement in earnest the ‘6-28 Economic Management Improvement Policy’ which has been in the works internally since last year.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, since delivering the New Year’s Address last January, has promoted Premier Pak as the leader most qualified to execute plans to make North Korea an economic power. However, it is unclear whether Premier Pak will be able to meet such a challenge given the limited reforms in progress and the deterioration of the external situation. On the other hand, Premier Pak chose a cooperative farm for his first site visit which suggests that the North Korean cabinet may concentrate on agricultural sector this year.

According to KCNA (2013-4-10):

A production upsurge was witnessed in various fields of the economy in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea during the first three months this year.

The quarterly coal output quota was hit at 101 percent nationwide. Coal production increased sharply at the Kaechon, Tokchon and Kangdong area coal-mining complexes.

The Kim Chaek Iron and Steel Complex, a giant steel maker, finished the quarterly pig production plan at 105 percent.

The Taean Heavy Machine Complex, a major generator producer, topped the plan for March by 30 percent.

The same is true for other machinery makers, including Rakwon and Ryongsong Machine complexes.

A production upswing was also seen in the timber industry, with its quarterly plan topped at 100.5 percent.

In particular, forestry stations under the Jagang Provincial Forestry Management Bureau made fresh innovations in logging.

Institute for Far Eastern Studies (IFES)
2013-3-29

On March 18, Kim Jong-un opened North Korea’s first national light industry convention in ten years, calling for efforts to be focused on the development of light industry. The hosting of this national meeting of light industry workers is somewhat atypical behavior for the leadership, as this event was held amidst military exercises aimed at demonstrating North Korea’s combat readiness.

In his speech, Kim Jong-un pointed out a number of issues which are currently affecting North Korea’s light industry sector including supply shortages, low quality, a high level of dependence on overseas suppliers of raw and other materials, workers’ ‘defeatism’, and a preference for imported goods.

He also emphasized the need for economic improvement through the development of light industry, promoting the production of consumer goods for the public, and modernization of the light industry sector on a scientific basis. In touching on these areas, Kim reiterated points made in his New Year’s address earlier this year.

Kim Jong-un’s itemization of the issues negatively impacting the light industry sector is receiving particular attention. During the Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il eras, progress reports tended to exaggerate positive results, with positive assessments of current performance and rosy projects for the future. Comparatively, Kim Jong-un’s unfiltered account of the state of the light industry sector in North Korea seems somewhat unconventional when juxtaposed against the propaganda of past regimes.

In Kim Jong-un’s words, “in the struggle to enhance livelihoods and to build an economically powerful country, the light industry and agriculture sectors must adopt the course of combining their fire power to deliver a decisive strike.” He further said, “Despite the current precarious situation, light industry, as this year’s first priority for economic development, will quickly solve the issues affecting livelihoods. Through the light industry, we will demonstrate the superiority of the socialist system and our ability to maintain livelihoods. This will be done in the name of advancing the great revolutionary event of national unification.”

Kim Jong-un indicated that the greatest issues facing North Korean light industry today are supply shortages and low quality. “Currently at light industrial factories, we are unable to accomplish the teachings left by Kim Jung-il. Whether exhibiting a new product or sample or displaying products in a store we must mass produce items and return them to the people.”

He continued, “The culture- and lifestyle-related demands of our people are rising by the day. No matter how many consumer goods are produced, if they are not of a quality high enough to meet the demands of the people using them, they are useless. We must produce consumer goods favored by the people and that receive good reviews. We must produce goods impeccable in the global marketplace.”

Kim Jong-un also pointed out that “high dependence on imports of raw materials and construction materials was another serious problem currently facing the light industry sector.” He said that “in order to realize domestic production of raw and other materials, the chemical industry must play a major role.” Kim claimed that “an economic business network must be established among factories and enterprises in the chemical industry” and that “a variety of chemical products composed of high quality textiles and plastics must be produced.”

“Currently, the most significant problem is that our workers do not feel responsible for the failures of their work sector and work units. Instead they have succumbed to defeatism and no longer put forth their greatest effort.” Kim added that “a preference for imports among workers stands as an obstacle to development of light industry.” He went on to say that “we must do away with the tendency to buy from other countries which have different facilities and the tendency to bring in foreign currency while claiming that we must import because our factories are modernizing.”

Since the 2003 ‘National Light Industry Sector Workers’ Conference’ which ran from March 23-24, North Korea has not held a national meeting of local light industry workers.

According to Yonhap:

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un called for concentrated efforts to build up the country’s light industrial sector that has direct bearing on the lives of everyday people, state media reported Tuesday.

The (North) Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) monitored in Seoul said Kim stressed the importance of the sector in a speech given at the national meeting of light industrial workers held on Monday in Pyongyang.

“Kim Jong-un in his speech said that the light industrial front along with the agricultural front are the main fronts on which efforts should be focused in the drive for building an economic power and improving the people’s living standards,” the official news wire service reported.

It also said that Kim pointed out that light industry is the main target for the concentration of the country’s resources, even under heightened tensions surrounding the Korean Peninsula, the media report said.

…

The KCNA said Kim emphasized the goal of the country is to prevent a new war from breaking out on the Korean Peninsula and to strive for economic growth under peaceful circumstances to highlight the superiority of Pyongyang’s socialist system and hasten eventual unification of the two Koreas.

The news report said the leader pointed out that there is a pressing need to locally produce materials and parts for the light industrial sector and ordered the development of the chemical sector and build-up of regional manufacturing capabilities.

“It is necessary to make the most effective use of existing production potential to radically increase the production of consumer goods and push forward with the modernization of light industry, and make it the world’s standard,” the leader told people gathered at the meeting.

Kim, moreover, called for creating up-to-date managerial and corporate strategies, and doing away with the inflexible attitudes of workers and managers in the light industry field.

North Korea watchers in Seoul said the North Korean leader’s latest remarks on light industry mirrors what he said in the New Year’s address on Jan. 1. The light industry gathering is the first to be held in 10 years. The last time such a gathering was held was in late March 2003.

Chang Yong-seok, senior researcher at the Institute for Peace and Unification Studies at Seoul National University, said the emphasis on light industry at a time when Pyongyang has placed the country in battle mode is a sign that the North does not want to ignore the economy or its impact on the people.

Others such as Yang Moo-jin, political science professor at the University of North Korean Studies, claimed that the KCNA report and the sudden holding of the meeting may be a sign that Pyongyang wants to end the current confrontational stance with the outside world and focus on its economy.

“This may be an indirect message (of reconciliation) sent to South Korea, the United States and China,” the expert said.

Reflecting this view, an official at the unification ministry, who declined to be identified, said Kim’s interest in light industry may be due to the lack of progress made so far, and the need to invite foreign capital to get various commercial projects moving.

“The North can’t do this by itself so it may be seeking outside cooperation,” he said.

KCNA commentary here and here. Rodong Sinmun has coverage here.

NK Leadership Watch has some more information here.

Daily NK has coverage of the speech here.

The Daily NK also reports that light industrial production has been hampered by recent military mobilizations:

The mobilization of factory workers for military training exercises is having a considerable effect on economic activity in North Korea, Daily NK has learned. In particular, much light industrial production capacity has already been idle for around a month.

A source from Chongjin in North Hamkyung Province told Daily NK on the 18th, “The only factory work teams that are operational right now are those making stuff for the military; almost everyone else has been mobilized for the military exercises. Since other teams are not producing anything, workers in them are not being given food, not even for just a few meals each, and this is making life even harder for them and their families.”

In North Korea, most factories and enterprises are so-called ‘self-sustaining’ entities, in practice meaning that they are sustained through the selling of goods to wholesalers or directly in the ’jangmadang’ (state-sanctioned market). Income from sales is used to finance the purchase of additional production inputs. There are some differences across regions and types of enterprise, but on average enterprises are permitted to allocate around 30% of production to this purpose.

The source went on, “For example, all the staff in Chongjin Shoe Factory have been mobilized apart from the ones doing military footwear, and the workers in that section are also having a hard time because they have not been mobilized precisely in order to make excessive amounts of that product,” before explaining, “Normally that work team would produce its quota of military footwear and then turn to civilian production and sustain itself by selling the output, but for the last month all they’ve been doing is making military goods.”

In North Korea, it is not only ‘military factories’ that produce military goods; rather, every factory has a work team dedicated to the production of one military item or another. According to the source, for a month there has been no production on other lines, while only the military lines are operational.

“In the case of Chongjin Wood Processing Factory, they’ve been producing nothing but ammunition boxes for a month, where they were previously accustomed to producing chairs, wardrobes, and cupboards for storing bedding,” the source said. “The workers had been living reasonably well, but right now they are complaining about how tough it is.”

In the case of Kimchaek Iron and Steel Complex, one of the largest industrial entities in the region, among many tens of work teams only the personnel required for weapons production are still working; the remaining thousands of workers have been mobilized for military training.

The source noted, “Workers in any and all enterprises are used to receiving a share of production with which to maintain themselves and their families, but right now, with having to spend days in the mountains or down in underground tunnels, their hardships are being significantly exacerbated.” There is a trickle down effect in the wider economy, he added, saying, “The problems extend down to traders, who are accustomed to getting the factory distribution to sell.”

Read the full article here:
N. Korean leader calls for concentrated efforts to build up light industry
Yonhap
2013-3-19

By Michael Rank

China has signed its first offshore processing agreement with North Korea, under which four companies in the border city of Hunchun will export textiles which will be made up into shirts in the DPRK, a Chinese website reports.

Under the two-year agreement from January 2013, the textiles will be made up into 8,000 shirts, the report said, adding that the companies will be relieved of some export and import taxes. It gave no further details.

The report said the deal reflected low labour costs in North Korea as well as severe labour shortages in Hunchun, where there is a deficit of 3,500 workers. It said it was the first such agreement not just for Jilin province but for China as a whole, and had the approval of customs headquarters in Beijing.

According to Yonhap:

Production at the Kaesong Industrial Complex grew 17.5 percent last year from a year earlier as South Korean firms employed more North Korean workers, which raised output, Seoul’s Unification Ministry said Thursday.

The total output by the 123 South Korean firms operating in the inter-Korean economic project zone is estimated to have reached US$470 million during the one year period, according to data released by the ministry handling inter-Korean affairs.

The total number of North Korean workers employed at the industrial park in the North Korean border city of Kaesong, rose to 53,507 as of the end of 2012, up from 49,866 a year earlier, according to the data.

You can read the full story here:
Output from Kaesong complex jumps 17.5 pct on-year in 2012
Yonhap
2013-1-10