North Korean Economy Watch

The Joongang Ilbo reports some recent statistics from, the Kaesong Industrial Zone and some trade statistics between the two Koreas and China.

Inter-Korean and China trade (Joongang Ilbo):

Exactly two years ago, on May 24, 2010, in the aftermath of the deadly sinking of the Cheonan warship, the Lee Myung-bak administration imposed sanctions against North Korea that forbade all inter-Korean trade and South Korean investments in the North.

[…]

Statistics from the Korea International Trade Association show that the volume of inter-Korea trade in 2011 dropped by 10.4 percent, falling to about $1.7 billion from $1.9 billion in 2010. The Kaesong Industrial Complex, which was exempted from the sanctions, accounted for most of the inter-Korean trade.

In contrast, the volume of trade between North Korea and China surged by 62.4 percent in 2011, from $3.4 billion in 2010 to $5.6 billion.

“After stopping trade with South Korea, factories in Pyongyang and Nampo cities turned to Chinese companies and now work for them,” a South Korean businessman said on condition of anonymity. “It took so much time and money for us to teach North Korean employees and now Chinese companies enjoy the fruits of our labor.”

The North Korean government responded to the South Korean sanctions:

As talks between the two authorities have been halted, North Korea has unilaterally decided to raise taxes on income and management of the complex.

In fact, the North Korean regime earns significant money from the complex. South Korean firms pay the North Korean government an average of $126.4 per month for each North Korean worker. The government then distributes 5,000 won of North Korean currency and some food coupons to each employee per month. This wage is desirable compared to other worker payments in the North.

Analysts calculate that the regime is holding at least $50 million from the $77.8 million of the North Korean employees’ annual income.

At current black market rates, there are appx 4,450 DPRK won to for US$1.

The article notes, however, that the Kaesong Industrial Zone continues to grow:

Located only three kilometers away from the Military Demarcation Line, the inter-Korean complex has 123 South Korean companies and about 51,000 North Korean employees.

…

Currently, the South Korean government is implementing a scheme to build more roads and infrastructure for South Koreans crossing the border to commute to the complex (see here and here).

“Although Kim Yong-chol, former head of the policy planning office of the North’s powerful National Defense Commission, who has exerted a huge influence on operating the Kaesong complex, repeatedly threatened to shut down the complex since the May 24 sanctions, he’s recently been more cooperative, saying ‘Let’s make it better,’” a high-ranking government source told the JoongAng Ilbo.

Unlike the frosty inter-Korean relations, the sales performance of the joint industrial complex is positive. For the past three years, 55 South Korean firms additionally moved into the complex and the annual output value surpassed $400 million in 2011, jumping from $180 million in 2007.

Last year’s volume is 30 times that of the $14.91 million in 2005, when the complex made its first yearly outputs. The total output value since 2005 has accumulated to $1.5 billion.

[…]

Currently, roughly 160,000 people are living in Kaesong city and approximately one out of three are working in the complex

The article also reports on additional DPRK-China projects that are not necessarily a result of higher barriers to commerce between the two Koreas (dredging, mining, labor mobility, and SEZs):

“A Chinese firm based in Yanji is now implementing a 60-kilometer-long (37-mile) dredging project in the Tumen river bed,” a government-affiliated research official said.

“It’s not simple dredging work, but a plan to mine the iron ore buried nearby.”

“In the river bed, about 30 percent of the sand contains iron ore,” the official said.

The regime also exports their labor forces to their closest ally.

“Most of the local people left for South Korea to get a decent job and the average wage for a Chinese worker is increasing,” a Chinese factory manager in Yanji said. “So we are planning to hire North Korean workers instead.”

Pyongyang and Beijing are also focusing on developing the two special economic zones, Rason and Hwanggumpyong in northeastern North Korea.

When Chen Deming, the Minister of the Chinese Ministry of Commerce of China, and South Korean Trade Minister Park Tae-ho had a bilateral meeting on May 2 to start negotiations on the Korea-China free trade deal, they included a provision stating the two countries will allow preferential tariffs on goods produced in designated zones.

“Hwanggumpyong is like a Kaesong Industrial Complex to China,” a South Korean authority said. “The Hwanggumpyong zone has the same function as Kaesong, composed of China’s capital and technology and North Korea’s land and labor forces.”

In the Rason Economic Zone, China has finished construction paving the 53-kilometer-long road connecting the Rason zone and a local tax office in Wonjong-ri, a North Korean village close to China.

The Chinese government also arranged a harbor near the Rason area, constructing a pier that can accept a three million-ton ship and building a bus route between an express bus terminal in China and the zone.

“If China uses the Rason harbor, they can save $10 per metric ton,” Jo Bong-hyeon, a senior official at the Industrial Bank of Korea, said. “It’s really good business for China, enough to invest money on building infrastructure in the zone.”

Read the full story here:
Kaesong complex running well despite sanctions
JoongAng Ilbo
2012-05-23

According to the Korea Times:

The number of gas stations in North Korea is rapidly increasing following a similar rise in automobiles in and around the showcase capital, a source who recently visited the Stalinist state said Tuesday.

Visitors to Pyongyang, which underwent massive renovations for the recent 100th birth anniversary of country founder Kim Il-sung, have noted a visible increase in cars, mostly Chinese, but also brands such as Mercedes, BMW and Volkswagen.

“Compared to some years ago, there has been a veritable boom in the use of cars. And, at the same time new gas stations have sprouted in Pyongyang, and even in the countryside,” the source said, asking not to be named.

North Korea watchers say that while much of the country remains in dire economic straits, consumption is rising in Pyongyang, where the North’s elite class resides, boasting wealth accrued from grassroots capitalism and increased trade with China.

The source, who has a record of accuracy on economic developments in the North, said while the stations appear to be owned by party organizations they are seen as good business opportunities for the operators.

Those filling up cars attached to the party must pay with a coupon but prices were cheaper for others paying with hard currency, which experts say Pyongyang is attempting to soak up. Gas is measured in kilograms there, not liters or gallons.

The source also noted the increased use of the license plate number “7-27” that has become linked to new leader Kim Jong-un and refers to July 27, 1953, when the armistice to end the Korean War came into force.

Most cars are still formally attached to an army unit, the ruling party or a government institution, but are said to be increasingly used for private transportation. Other signs of increased spending have popped up in Pyongyang in the form of foreign-themed restaurants and cafes, as well as a department store hawking Chanel and Armani.

Other projects for the founder’s centennial include new high-rise apartment units in the Mansudae area of the capital and the opening of a hydroelectric plant long-touted as a symbol of modernity.

The makeover coincides with lifestyle changes among Pyongyang residents marked most distinctly by the rapidly-increasing use of cellphones after the regime introduced a 3G network in 2008.

Despite the upgrades in the capital, reports of starvation persists, raising concerns that the wealth disparity may be unsustainable for the fledgling Kim Jong-un regime. Some say the regime may feel pressured to provide luxury goods due to fierce competition among the elite.

Read the full story here:
Gas stations booming in Pyongyang
Korea Times
Kim Young-jin
2012-5-22

Back in March I wrote a blog post about how the official Pyongyang Metro maps had been updated to reflect the reality of closed stations and stations that would never come to be. You can read all the specifics here.

Just a couple of months after changing the Pyongyang Metro maps, however, the Mangyongdae Metro Station appears to be back on the table.  It was featured at the 12th “May 21 Architectural Festival” (May 9-11):

It is difficult to say for certain where the station would be placed, but older maps show it near Kim Il-sung’s “native house”.

Given the cost and logistics of such a project, I still remain skeptical it will ever be completed…but the citizens of Pyongyang can dream can’t they?

I uploaded video of the metro stop concept pictures to Youtube. You can see them here. You can see the full KCNA video of the architecture exhibit here.

On the Koryo Tours Facebook Page, a customer posted two pictures he had taken of maps of the Pyongyang Metro.  One of the pictures was taken in May 2007 and the other in August 2011:

Pictured above: (L) May 2007 map (R) August 2011 Map

The 2007 map looks like this photo I took when visiting in 2004.

Here is a map of the Pyongyang Metro on Google Earth which includes the respective areas of difference highlighted in the above images:

Kwangmyong Station (now closed) is connected to Kumsusan Memorial Palace, where Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il are lying in state.

The removal of the four unnamed stations from the 2007 map  (the estimated approximate locations taken from this map) perhaps reflects nothing more than an acknowledgement of reality — that the Pyongyang Metro will not be expanded any further.

Neither the 2007 nor the 2011 map show the Namsan Station (남산역) behind (west of) the Grand People’s Study House:

According to Xinhua:

Air Koryo of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea will launch a charter flight route between Pyongyang and the northeastern Chinese city of Harbin on April 27, local Chinese airport authorities said Friday.

The airline will offer a round-trip flight between the cities every Monday and Friday, a spokesman with the Heilongjiang Provincial Airport Group Management Co. Ltd. said.

The new service will meet the travel demands of nationals from both countries, the spokesman said.

Harbin, known as China’s “Ice City,” is the capital of Heilongjiang Province, which borders Russia.

Read the full story here:
DPRK’s Air Koryo to open Pyongyang, Harbin charter flight
Xinhua
2012-2-24

UPDATE 2 (2012-4-12): North Korea and China attracting investors for Rajin Port development (IFES):

China is currently actively recruiting investors to build additional wharfs in Rajin Port.

China’s Dandong City Industrial and Information Association (丹东市信息协会) announced that it is seeking investments for the construction of tanker wharf under 10,000 ton and affiliated facilities. This organization has received 45 year usage rights from the Rason City People’s Committee and stated that it needed 330 million CNY (52 million USD) to cover the construction cost. According to the association, the investment is attractive because of its geographic location, reduced transit time and costs, and tax-free benefits, for which a special permit was obtained from the North Korean authorities granting trade goods coming from Jilin Province at the Hunchun Port to be allowed entry tax-free. In addition, cargo will be permitted to be sent from Rajin Port to other ports in China.

Meanwhile, North Korea is also planning to build a new port in the Rajin-Sonbong area with a state-of-the-art container distribution capacity. According to the “Rajin New Port Development Plan,” Rajin port development will undergo major transformation as an international hub port, similar to Busan Harbor, unlike the previous small-scale renovations of Piers 1, 2, and 3. This new port is expected to be built across from the current Rajin Port.

Rajin Port development was initially considered as a remodeling project to update the existing wharfs. In 2003, China began to implement construction of Piers 1, 2, and 3. However, the piers began to deteriorate and for the lack of railway and road infrastructure in the area, it delayed the transportation and distribution and could not perform its full function. As a solution, in 2008, North Korea transferred the usage right of Pier 1 to China and Pier 3 to Russia. At that time, Pier 1 was developed to primarily transport chemical fertilizers but it was recently updated as a transportation dock for coal. Russia, in addition to the port, also carried out a modernization project of the Rajin-Hassan railway system to improve the transport of containers.

The new port development plan as suggested by North Korea indicates Jian Group of China as the responsible party for developing the new port into a container port. However, considering that North Korea’s industry does not call for container ports, it is more likely that North Korea is expanding the port to make it a hub port to ship cargo to China, Russia, and Europe. Considering Rajin Port’s geographical advantage, it is likely that North Korea is striving to make it into an international hub port that connects the Pacific with Northeast Asia.

China’s recent advertisement of investment is also considered to be linked with the new port development in Rajin Port.

UPDATE 1 (2012-3-1): Accoridng to Stratfor, the Chinese have denied they plan to make this investment.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry denied allegations made in a Feb. 16 South Korean media report regarding its agreement with North Korea to jointly develop the Rajin-Sonbong Special Economic Zone (SEZ), a port area in northeast North Korea commonly referred to as the Rason Special Economic Zone.

According to the Yonhap news agency, Beijing agreed in late 2011 to invest about 19 billion yuan ($3 billion) into Rason, for which it would receive the lease of three piers for 50 years. Under the agreement, Beijing would also build an airfield, a thermal power plant and a 55-kilometer (34-mile) railway track connecting Rason to Tumen, China. The Chinese Foreign Ministry claimed that the specific details of the report are untrue and that China and North Korea had agreed only in principle to develop the zone.

China has long exerted its economic influence in North Korea and has an interest in the strategically important Rason Special Economic Zone. Chinese involvement in Rason dates back to the 1990s, though Beijing increased its involvement considerably in 2005 when it secured the rights to one of the port’s piers. Beijing has been particularly involved over the past few years. While the details of the deal remain unknown, it is clear that Beijing has arranged to help Pyongyang develop Rason, possibly by connecting the remote port to northwest China. Such a development would revitalize the zone — to the benefit of both countries.

ORIGINAL POST (2012-2-15): China has committed to infrastructure projects in Rason. According to Yonhap:

China has secured the rights to build three new piers in a special economic zone in North Korea’s northeast and use them for 50 years, sources said Wednesday.

China will also build an airfield and a thermal power plant in the special economic zone known as Rason, as well as a 55-kilometer railway track between China’s northeastern city of Tumen and Rason.

North Korea and China reached an agreement late last year to build infrastructure in Rason with Chinese investment of about US$3 billion, according to the sources in Seoul and Beijing.

The Daily NK offers some more data:

China has agreed to dig out dock 4 at Rasun to make it possible for 70,000 ton vessels to dock and to construct a runway long enough to accommodate passenger and cargo aircraft within the SEZ; the railroad is due to be complete by 2020, while the development of dock 5 and 6 will follow that of dock 4, Yonhap sources claim.

This agreement was reportedly signed quietly by North Korea’s Joint Ventures Committee and the Chinese government shortly before Kim Jong Il’s death.

The North Koreans have sought the construction of an airport and expansion of the port  for some time.

KITC published the image above in 1995 (Source here).  If you look carefully on the right side of the picture you will see the site of a proposed airport.

Above is a more recent map of Rason published by the DPRK. In the middle of the above map you can see a small airplane which represents the desired location of a future airfield. It is in the same location as shown on the KITC map.

Here is the approximate location on Google Earth (42.397884°, 130.592084°):

If you look at the left side of the KITC photo you can also see that there are many piers, however today there are only three.  I suspect that the new piers will be constructed south of the current piers and will look something like this:

The railway and power plant projects are intereting as well.  There is already a thermal power plant in Sonbong, so I expect that the Chinese are simply renovating it so that it generates more power or is simply more reliable (Google Earth:  42.327275°, 130.382585°):

At a presentation at the Korea Economic Institute in Washington, DC, Andray Abrahamian reported that increased electricity supplies for the Rason Zone could come from China.

As for the Tumen (China) – Rason railway line…this already exists as well.  The DPRK’s Hambuk Line (함북선) runs from Chongjin to Namyang (border with Tumen) to Rason:

The Tumen to Rason leg of this railway line, however, is approximately 156km (according to Google Earth) and likely runs pretty slowly.  The proposed new Chinese-built Tumen-Rason line is intended to be just 1/3 the distance!

Additional Information:

1. The Russians built a railway line from their border to the Rajin Port. Learn more here.

2. The Chinese and Russians have already rented two of Rajin’s three ports.

Read the full stories here:
China secures right to use 3 piers to be built on N. Korean port for 50 years
Yonhap
2012-2-15

China Reportedly Grabs 3 Docks and More
Daily NK
2012-2-15

According to the Daily NK:

The North Korean authorities are reportedly installing new and additional surveillance cameras on main defection and smuggling routes along the border with China.

Although surveillance cameras have been visible along the North Korean border since 2010, that was limited to a small number of areas. However, sources suggest that there has been a substantial increase already in the first month of 2012.

A source from Musan in North Hamkyung Province told Daily NK yesterday, “Starting this month more surveillance cameras have started being installed to improve security along the border. The surveillance cameras have been brought in large numbers into areas where escapes and smuggling often used to happen.”

The source explained, “The cameras are secured on poles erected 20m back from the riverside in areas controlled by the Border Guards, and the camera wires are connected underground to National Security Agency hideouts. It is so that areas can be monitored from the barracks.”

The work is being primarily undertaken by the National Security Agency, which is responsible for overseeing the stopping of defections. However, the source said, “This work is mostly being done by the NSA, but maybe they and the Border Guards are planning to keep watch over defection and smuggling altogether.”

Moreover, the source went on, “The surveillance cameras have been imported from China; I heard they will expand installation once they get more in.”

Faced with personnel limitations but also orders from Pyongyang demanding that the Sino-North Korean border be even more tightly controlled than it was under Kim Jong Il, it would not be surprising if the front two lines of North Korea’s three-line border security regime (Border Guards and the National Security Agency; the third is Local Reserve Forces) had decided that increasing the use of surveillance cameras might be a cost-effective way to try and increase their effectiveness.

Read the full story here:
NSA Ramping Up Use of Surveillance Cameras
Daily NK
Choi Song Min
2012-02-10

Pictured Above (Google Earth): The Hwanggumphyong and Wiwha Island SEZ on the Yalu/Amnok River which separates the DPRK and PRC.

On Friday, the Donga Ilbo reported that Daewoo Shipbuilding was going to invest in the DPRK’s Hwanggumphyong SEZ (see the original post below).  Today the report appears to be incorrect. According to the Wall Street Journal:

Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co. on Monday shot down news reports that it had agreed to build a shipyard in North Korea.

“We don’t have any plans to do that,” a spokesman said.

According to some South Korean news accounts over the weekend, the company, which is the world’s second-largest builder of ships and whose controlling stake is owned by the South Korean government, had agreed to help a Chinese company develop an island off North Korea’s northwest coast, near the Chinese city of Dandong.

The DSME spokesman said the company held discussions with the Chinese company but isn’t close to an agreement.

The news accounts said DSME would build a shipyard that would be devoted to repair work. One report said the idea would be presented to DSME’s directors and announced in April.

The company spokesman said it’s unclear how the accounts originated.

See the original report bleow:

(more…)

In February 2011 I posted reports that the DPRK’s west coast was experiencing record-low temperatures and the ports were frozen. Unfortunately for the North Korean people, history is repeating itself.

Pictured above (Yonhap): two satellite images of the DPRK’s west coast

According to the Donga Ilbo:

North Korea`s fisheries and shipping industries, two key earners of foreign currency for Pyongyang, have effectively been shackled due to a prolonged cold wave that has frozen waters in the Yellow Sea.
With the temperature reaching minus 10 degrees Celsius for more than a month, more than 40 kilometers of sea water in the Yellow Sea off the North`s coast have been frozen. This is the first time in decades that about 200 kilometers of the North`s coastline from the mouth of the Yalu River to the North`s Hwanghae provinces have been frozen.

Experts say the frozen water will not only affect the North’s fisheries and shipping industries, both of which are major earners of U.S. dollars, but also the Stalinist country`s economy and newly launched Kim Jong Un administration.

Massive ice blocks cover 200 kilometers of N. Korean coastline

In Seoul, the Korea Center for Atmospheric Environment Research and the Korea Meteorological Administration said Thursday that based on analysis of satellite images, massive ice 40 kilometers wide was detected in North Korean coastlines spanning 40 kilometers from the mouth of the Yalu River to coastal waters off Pyongyang.

According to the analysis, Korea Bay located in between the North’s Cholsan and Changyon peninsulas has remained frozen since Jan. 10 due to the cold wave. Coastal waters of Unryul County in South Hwanghae Province, the Chongchon River flowing into Korea Bay, and the port of Nampo at the mouth of the Daedong River running through Pyongyang are also covered with ice.

Chung Yong-seung, director of the environmental think tank, said, “In the past, waters off the North Korean coast used to be frozen. But the formation of such large-scale ice is unprecedented.”

Experts blame arctic ice moving south due to global warming for the ice formation.

North Korea has been hit by a severe cold snap this winter. According to the South Korean weather agency, the North’s average temperature last month was minus 8.4 degrees, 0.7 degrees lower than in an average year.

The Chosun Shinbo, the official newspaper of the pro-Pyongyang Federation of Korean Residents in Japan, recently said, “Temperatures in Pyongyang remained below zero from Dec. 23 last year through Jan. 31, the most extreme cold since 1945,” adding, “North Koreans can even walk on the Daedong River.”

Temperatures in the North fell further this month to minus 11.1 degrees on average, down 4.6 degrees from an average year.

Big burden on N. Korean gov

The ice formation in North Korean waters is pressuring the Kim Jong Un administration economically, experts said. The combined share of fisheries and agriculture in the North`s GDP is 20.8 percent, eight times higher than for South Korea (2.6 percent). Fisheries also play a key role in sustaining the North`s economy with catch volume reaching 630,000 tons a year.

Pyongyang`s dollar earnings have also been hit hard due to the frozen sea that has prevented fishing boats from leaving ports. Goh Yoo-hwan, head of the (South)Korean Association of North Korean Studies, said, “The North should export primary products such as fisheries goods, but no fishing operations due to the frozen water will take a huge toll on the North`s dollar earrings.”

Waters near China’s Liaodong Bay and Russia’s Vladivostok have also been frozen, causing the North’s maritime transportation to go awry. Due to soured inter-Korean relations, the North`s trade with the South and Japan has declined and raised the Stalinist country’s dependence on China to 56.9 percent.

Kim Yong-hyeong, a professor of North Korean studies at Dongguk University in Seoul, said, “If the ice formation in waters wreaks havoc on the North’s maritime transportation, this will destabilize the North Korean economy.”

The problem is that ice at sea is growing thicker. The National Meteorological Satellite Center in Seoul said the boundaries between ice blocks and waters in the North’s section of the Yellow Sea were vague last month, but grew clear this month with ice getting thicker.

Director Chung of the environmental think tank said, “Given North Korea’s weather conditions, the ice in the sea will grow thicker through early next month,” adding, “North Korean society will be hit hard if its fisheries and shipping industries are grounded for more than two months.”

And just how productive is the DPRK’s fishing sector?  According to Yonhap:

Chung Yong-seung, head of the research institute, said it is rare for the port to freeze two winters in a row, a development he said could have a negative impact on the North’s fishing industry.

North Korea’s catch reached 663,000 metric tons in 2009, the latest year for which statistics are available, according to the South Korean government data.

Read the full reports here:
N. Korea’s largest port frozen for 2 straight winters
Yonhap
2012-2-10

Extended cold wave freezes key NK sectors of fisheries, shipping
Donga Ilbo
2012-2-10

According to KCNA (2012-1-25):

The gross industrial output value grew 1.2 times for twenty days of January this year as against the same period last year.

This is the result of the high-pitched drive waged by all the workers of the country since the first day of this year after receiving with excitement the joint calls of the Central Committee and the Central Military Commission of the Workers’ Party of Korea, the joint New Year editorial for this year and the letter of the working people in South Hamgyong Province.

In the period, the Ministry of Light Industry increased the production 1.4 times and the Ministry of Food and Daily Necessities sharply boosted the production.

Thermal and hydropower stations have increased the ratio of operating the generating equipment.

Much effort is being concentrated on supplying coal to the thermal power plants and chemical and metal plants and developing more coal beds.

The Ministry of Coal Industry produced 12,000 more tons of coal than planned for the 20 days.

Iron mills and steelworks also increased the production.

The freight transport volume increased by 12 percent from the same period last year.

Innovations were made in the production of vinalon and fertilizer by the industrial establishments in the field of chemical industry and in the production of custom built equipment and mining machines by the industrial enterprises of the field of machine industry.

The forestry stations and pit wood stations increased the timber production.

Progress has been reported on a daily basis from the important projects including the building of apartments in Mansudae areas and the Paektusan Songun Youth Power Station.

For the uninitiated, this is about as close as the DPRK gets to releasing economic statistics. Note there are no base numbers–only [some] % increases. Also, despite the measure being officially named “output value”, it is really just a claim of increased physical production.  There is no value (prices) or mention of “services” included in these measures.

Unfortunately without more solid numbers, and the proclivity to ascribe productivity gains to effective propaganda, these reports cannot be taken seriously.

Although we all talk about the DPRK’s GDP and per capita income as if the numbers are solid, the reality is quite the opposite.  In addition to the general lack of information, there are all sorts of methodological problems with assessing the value of the DPRK’s economy.  Here are some helpful sources if you want to learn more:

1. DPRK Economic Statistics Report

2. G. Warren Nutter papers:

– (JSTOR) “Soviet Industrial Growth”, Source: Science, New Series, Vol. 130, No. 3370 (Jul. 31, 1959), pp. 252-255

-(JSTOR) “Industrial Growth in the Soviet Union”, The American Economic Review , Vol. 48, No. 2, Papers and Proceedings of the Seventieth Annual Meeting of the American Economic Association (May, 1958), pp. 398-411

-(JSTOR) Some Observations on Soviet Industrial Growth”, The American Economic Review , Vol. 47, No. 2, Papers and Proceedings of the Sixty-eighth Annual Meeting of the American Economic Association (May, 1957), pp. 618-630

3. The North Korean Economy by Nicholas Eberstadt

4. Assessing the economic performance of North Korea, 1954–1989: Estimates and growth accounting analysis

5. Bank of Korea’s assessment fo the DPRK economy in 2010.

6. My North Korean Economic Statistics Page