North Korean Economy Watch

Korea Times
5/2/2007

Despite Pyongyang’s ardent plea, Washington has recently decided to retain North Korea on the list of countries that sponsor terrorism. In its annual report called “Patterns of Global Terrorism,” the United States stipulated North Korea as a state sponsor of terrorism, along with Iran, Cuba, Syria and Sudan. However, the U.S. State Department has considerably reduced and revised the grounds for designating it as a terrorism-sponsoring state, opening the way for dropping Pyongyang from it.

In other words, Washington is hinting if the North shows sincerity in abiding by the Feb. 13 agreement on denuclearization, it could de-listing Pyongyang from the list. The latest U.S. decision to keep the North on the list appears to reflect Washington’s judgment that actual situations in the Stalinist country have not changed much, although Pyongyang has persistently called for its exclusion from the list since the landmark agreement.

Everyone knows now the frozen funds at the Banco Delta Asia have obstructed the implementation of the Feb. 13 agreement. Still it is clear what Pyongyang has to do to extricate itself out of the current doldrums and move further towards being dropped from the list: Put the Feb. 13 accord into action without delay. The reclusive regime should show visible actions, such as inviting back international inspectors to its Yongbyon reactor site, indicating Pyongyang thinks the BDA issue has all but been settled.

It is not hard to understand North Korea’s position, but doing nothing only citing the BDA funds would solve nothing. Pyongyang should explain its current circumstances to the international society and ask for its help. By keeping to its original stance of linking the initial steps to the funds issue, the isolationist regime will have little to gain, only deepening its isolation from the rest of the world.

Aside from North Korea, South Korea needs to take issue with the U.S. State Department’s annual report that erased the part that “the South Korean government estimates about 485 persons were kidnapped or detained by North Korea since the Korean War (1950-53).” Washington, which must be well aware of two Koreas being at odds over the POW and abductee issue, has all but raised the ire of Pyongyang by removing the part on South Korean abductees. This would have a negative effect on Seoul if and when the two Koreas retake this issue.

The U.S. action comes as all the more regrettable, considering it has retained the Japanese abductee issue in close linkage to excluding Pyongyang from the list. The government should ask for a proper explanation and call for its correction.

And from the US State Department:

North Korea
The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) was not known to have sponsored any terrorist acts since the bombing of a Korean Airlines flight in 1987. The DPRK continued to harbor four Japanese Red Army members who participated in a jet hijacking in 1970. The Japanese government continued to seek a full accounting of the fate of the 12 Japanese nationals believed to have been abducted by DPRK state entities; five such abductees have been repatriated to Japan since 2002. In the February 13, 2007 Initial Actions Agreement, the United States agreed to “begin the process of removing the designation of the DPRK as a state-sponsor of terrorism.”

(no mention of Myanmar, with which the DPRK just re-established diplomatic relations)

Daily NK
Han Young Jin
5/1/2007

There is great interest over May 1st in North Korea. Every year, laborers from factories and businesses gather to unite and celebrate the special day.

The origin of May Day is well known throughout North Korea. Indifferently, in North Korea, the 1992 Korean Dictionary published by the Social Science Institute based on Pyongyang even states that May 1st was founded to commemorate the day in 1889 when the working class battled against the capitalists inciting a rally between the two classes in Chicago. This riot as we know today is the Haymarket Riot.

Unfortunately, this is propaganda used by North Korea is contradictory to the reality behind North Korea’s sweat shop labor. Even if North Korean laborers work every day for a month, they are not given rations properly yet their wages are extremely low.

According to wage specifications received last November for the wages of North Korean laborers in Kaesong Industrial Complex, each worker is entitled to 7,000won monthly. This includes wage and day-off allowances as well as “bonuses.” On the black market, US$1 equals 3,000won, so in actual each worker receives no more than US$2 a month.

The $57 sent by South Korean enterprises for each individual worker somehow falls into the hands of North Korean authorities. For this reason, some argue that South Korean businesses should develop a system to stop the exploitation of North Korean workers by paying workers directly.

Workers sent overseas are no different. Defector, Kim Tae San who was once the owner of a shoe factory in Czechoslovakia said, “North Korea laborers working in the Czech shoe factoriy generally have a ‘Loyalty to the authorities fund’ and this is where most of their money is pocketed. Most of the workers are merely left with $10~13 to live on a month.”

If this is the case for individual laborers in foreign countries, we can only fathom what the situation may be like for workers within North Korea.

In reality, the actual monthly wage for laborers in North Korea is approx. 5,000won. While the distribution system remains still, this amount of money is soon depleted after the purchase of 5kg of rice, as each kilo is worth 1,000won. Though miners are paid a little extra, the amount of money received is nonetheless insufficient.

The idea of exploitation by the capitalist is taking a new form in North Korea. The General Federation of Korean Trade Union which is supposed to represent the rights of a worker has merely become a sub-branch of the North Korean Workers’ Party.

Even the managers in the factories are governmental officials and deliberately antagonize the laborers. They are not concerned about the welfare of North Korean laborers nor do they have interest in better working conditions of laborers. Rather, they are too busy living off the money produced by the workers.

A defector in South Korea said, “In North Korea, the jobs without distributed rations and rice are spread everywhere. The People’s Safety Agency regulates people by forcing them to work in such factories.”

As it was in the past May Day’s principle is the guarantee for the exclusive rights of workers for a basic standard of living. In celebration of the upcoming May Day, a petition will be signed in Changwon city, South Kyungsang in South Korea for South-North Korean laborers and a May 1st workers unification rally for South and North Korean laborers as a symbol of the 6.15 Mutual Declaration.

Instead of raising their voices at political problems, they have to combine their voices for the preservation of rights of North Korean laborers according to the basic principles of May Day.

No doubt the biggest priority for laborers in North Korea is to solve the issue of living standards. Democratic Unions, a South Korean labors’ union must unite to pave the way and ensure the basic livelihood of North Korean workers. By doing this, we will be helping North Korean laborers.

Daily NK
Kwon Jeong Hyun
5/1/2007

Drug dealings have been occurring frequently amongst North Korea’s wealthy class which has led to an increase in people “taking medicine” an inside source recently informed.

Further, an underground casino for foreigners at Yangkag Hotel, Pyongyang, is known to have been openly circulating drugs. Yangkag Hotel is an elite hotel and was built in 1995 in co-partnership with France. Currently, the hotel operates a casino used by foreigners.

The source informed on the 30th, “Drug dealers directly approach the wealthy class who live around the borders of North Korea-China” and revealed, “People fall for the dealer’s trap and hence the number of addicted drug sellers and wealthy class is increasing.”

A few North Korean tradesmen even testified that a large number of the rich living in the border regions of North Korea, have in fact dealt with drugs in one form or another. Apparantly, about 3 out of 10 rich persons in North Korea have had some experiences with drugs and most of the long-distance drivers in North Korea take drugs.

One North Korean tradesman ‘H’ revealed, “Drug dealers con North Koreans with money by saying that the ‘medicine’ clears the head and acts as an aphrodisiac by giving you strength. Then they let the buyers taste-test the drug for free.” H said, “After a few times, the majority of these people become addicted and the dealer sets up a relationship to sell the drug for a long time.”

‘J’ who lives around the border regions expressed the seriousness of the drug issue by telling his own story. Through North Korea-China trade, J’s brother-in-law had accumulated a lot of wealth. One morning without any warning, he suddenly died in which J had thought was a hart attack. However, he later found out from his sister that drugs had been the cause.

For the past 2 years, J’s brother-in-law had been earning money and also spending it on drugs. He tried to quit on numerous occasions but was unable to escape from the persistent temptation by the drug dealer. As time passed, the symptoms of an addict surfaced which ultimately led to a drug overdose and death.

J said, “Never in my dreams could I have imagined that a good person like my brother-in-law would become a drug addict. Though authorities are enforcing regulations and punishment on the misuse of drugs, the problem is that there are no specific penalties or laws. If this keeps going, things could get worse.”

The source said, “North Korean authorities have made numerous decrees on various occasions stating that they will toughen punishment. But there are no specific rules or law and so there is no control over the offenders.” The source added, “The truth is, it will be difficult to penalize everyone according to the decrees set as many people throughout the regions of North Korea are now using drugs including the rich living in the cities.”

On the other hand, the district of Hamheung is receiving much focus as it is known to be the base for drug manufacture. Drugs sold on the black-market in Pyongyang, Chongjin and Shinuiju are considered of high quality and receive utmost trust if the drugs have been made in Hamheung.

Hamheung’s history dates back to when the chemical industry was first booming in North Korea. As a result, North Korea authorities began to produce medicinal drugs to attract more foreign currency. When the economic situation worsened, workers and the elite were known to have stashed drugs secretly in order to make money.

In addition to this, as lifestyles became more difficult, there were rumors suggesting that chemical analysts brought some raw materials of Philopon from China to secretly make drugs within the labs.

“It’s not only Hamheung. Drugs are easily available even in Pyongyang” the source said and, “Drugs are openly traded at the underground foreigners casino in Yangkag Hotel (for Hong Kong, Macau and Chinese tourists).”

The source continued, “The elite in Pyongyang often take drugs and this hotel is known for its stash of drugs” and added, “The Safety Agency and the Protection Agency must take action. Otherwise, the situation is only going to get worse.”

Yonhap
5/1/2007

The U.N. Development Program (UNDP) has completed the process of wrapping up all of its operations in North Korea, a Washington-based radio station reported Tuesday.

At the request of North Korea, the UNDP’s two remaining staff members are supposed to leave Pyongyang on May 3.

But the pullout will have no influence on the ongoing external audit of all U.N. operations in North Korea, which began in March amid U.S. allegations that U.N. aid money was being diverted to the North’s regime, David Morrison, spokesman for the UNDP, said in an interview with Radio Free Asia.

The agency suspended operations on March 1 because North Korea failed to meet conditions set by its executive board following suspicions that the aid money might be diverted for illicit purposes, including development of nuclear weapons. It withdrew seven of its nine international staff in mid-March.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon ordered an external audit of all U.N. operations in North Korea which began on March 12.

The audit is being made of the related documents and the UNDP made sure that inspectors get all the copies needed for the audit, the spokesman said. Currently, the deputy resident representative and the operations manager are the only UNDP officials in North Korea to support the independent external audit.

The UNDP’s office equipment and materials will be turned over to North Korea, another UNDP official said.

Joon Ang Daily
Brian Lee
5/1/2007

Still seeking access to the international financial system, Pyongyang has asked Macao authorities to transfer $25 million in funds to unnamed banks in Russia and Italy, signaling some progress in the deadlock over money held in a Macao bank.

Chinese Deputy Foreign Minister Wu Dawei told Japanese lawmakers visiting Beijing that North Korea broached the idea, the Kyodo News Agency reported. Wu said that Macao authorities are trying to determine whether the move is possible.

South Korean government officials held out hope that the news could be a catalyst in finally resolving an issue that has been dragging on for weeks. “We are ready at anytime to move on; we are just waiting for the clouds to clear,” said one official. Italy was the first European country to open diplomatic ties with Pyongyang in 2000.

The dispute over the money led the North to miss the April 14 deadline for shutting down its main nuclear reactor.

In what was viewed as a major concession, Washington announced on April 10 that it supported measures by Macao to unblock the North Korean funds held in Banco Delta Asia. The U.S. had said the money was the result of illegal activities.

However, other than saying that it has taken notice of such measures, Pyongyang has delayed withdrawing the money. Instead, through state media, the North said it was looking to integrate itself into the international financial system rather than just retrieve the money.

With China and Macao entering the labor day holiday starting today, it could be a few days before any transfer takes place, the government official in Seoul conceded.

A source said that Pyongyang had also asked banks in Singapore, Vietnam and Mongolia to agree to a transfer but was rebuffed.

Washington has endorsed measures to unfreeze the funds, but it has not withdrawn its designation of Banco Delta Asia as a confirmed money launderer.

Yonhap
4/30/2007

Years of efforts to cultivate North Korea’s mountainous farmland is beginning to yield results, and Swiss and Korean officials are testing a bank credit program for the farmers in the Asian country, a Swiss aid office said on Sunday.

North Korea is showing “many promising signs of changes in progress,” including the emergence of consumer markets that are now established as part of the country’s economic system, Adrian Schlapfer, assistant director-general of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), said on the agency’s Web site.

Schlapfer was comparing the current situation to that during his previous visit to Pyongyang four years ago.

“The farming land in which the starving people started to work back then is now recognized as providing scope for agricultural initiative,” he wrote.

“The SDC, together with North Korea’s Central Bank, is therefore in the process of testing a micro-credit program to encourage farmers to base their investment decisions on economic feasibility considerations — an innovation for North Korea,” he said.

But North Korea still suffers from food scarcity, and aid is still essential, he said.

The SDC, an agency of the Swiss Foreign Ministry, has maintained an office in Pyongyang since 1997, focusing on agricultural programs to improve food production and on supporting domestic reform. The Swiss government started providing humanitarian assistance to North Korea in 1995.

Schlapfer described North Korea as the most little-known and enigmatic partner of the SDC, and acknowledged there are constant doubts on whether Swiss engagement there will yield results.

“Are there any meaningful approaches for long-term development partnership in this country with its planned economy, backwardness and secretiveness? Given the context, is it at all possible to initiate change?” he asked.

Pyongyang is “not an easy partner,” he said. “The key values, priorities and methods of Switzerland’s development cooperation have to be repeatedly insisted upon.”

“However, the projects implemented over the past 12 years are encouraging,” Schlapfer added.

Korea Times
Ryu Jin
4/30/2007

At a quarter to 7 a.m. on a normal weekday, a rush to work opens the morning of a North Korean town seated just minutes away from the heavily fortified border with South Korea.

Several blue commuter buses, just like ones that can be seen in downtown Seoul, stop in front of a sign reading, “Kaesong Industrial Zone’’ and spew out hundreds of North Korean workers.

As the working time draws near, they hasten their steps toward their respective workplaces, owned and managed by people from across the border. Some 13,000 North Korean workers, mostly women in their 20s and 30s, spend most of the daytime in the small capitalist enclave in the southwestern part of their Stalinist nation.

“Welcome!’’ “Good Morning!’’ Several South Koreans say as they greet their North Korean colleagues in front of the main gate of Shinwon Ebenezer. Hwang Woo-seung, director of the apparel company’s Kaesong branch, says that they have never skipped a day _ regardless of rain or snow _ without such greetings since the factory went into operation in 2004.

Closing hours are by and large around 5 p.m. But almost half of the 13,000 laborers work overtime until 7 p.m. in order to return home early on Saturdays. By the first half of 2008, the number of North Koreans working in the joint industrial park is expected to reach 100,000, according to South Korean officials.

From Seeds to Young Plants

Launched three years ago, the Kaesong Industrial Complex has been a gauge of the situation on the Korean Peninsula, where hundreds of thousands of troops confront each other across the border, which remains as the last flashpoint of the Cold War era.

Operations, for example, had nearly stopped late last year in the wake of a nuclear test by the North. Since the Feb. 13 denuclearization agreement, however, businesses have gone back to normal.

A free trade agreement (FTA) struck in April between South Korea and the United States, which opened up the possibility of the Kaesong products being exported to America as “made in Korea’’ goods, also breathed a fresh enthusiasm into the industrial zone.

Foreign eyes watching the complex are also changing. A growing number of foreign delegates are coming to the zone, and their evaluation has been quite positive. Moody’s Investors Service analysts Thomas Byrne, who visited the site on Feb. 9, said Kaesong is the “optimistic future’’ of South and North Korea.

Currently, 22 firms _ mostly small- and medium-sized ones _ are making clothes, shoes, watches and kitchen pots in the 1 million-pyong (3.3 million-square-meters) pilot site of the Kaesong complex, which will sprawl over a total 20 million-pyong (66 million-square-meters) in the coming years.

Since the first products came out in December 2004, annual output has increased from $14.9 million (13.8 billion won) in 2005 to $73.7 million (68.4 billion won) in 2006.

Despite potential risks stemming from political uncertainty, the zone has an inescapable economic logic _ the cheap labor and land of the North combined with the capital and technology of the South.

Proximity also makes for an attractive alternative for South Korean firms looking to move their plants to China. The distribution cost in Kaesong is one-tenth that of China, land price one-fifteenth and the labor cost one-twentieth, according to statistics.

Some 300 companies are expected to fill up the whole first-stage experimental site by the first half of next year, hiring up to 100,000 North Korean workers.

“It means that an up-and-coming new city is being created in the border area with a total population of about 300,000 to 400,000, when the families of the workers are added,’’ says Kim Dong-keun, chairman of the Kaesong Industrial District Management Committee (KIDMAC).

Kaesong hopes to invite as many as 3,000 companies eventually, employing some 350,000 workers by the mid-2010s, when the fully-fledged complex (roughly the same size of Changwon) is completed with apartment buildings, hotels, shopping centers and even an amusement park and golf courses.

Way to Integration

North Korea, for its part, envisions Kaesong as its own version of Shenzhen, one of the first “special economic zones’’ in China, and hopes that the new industrial site could jump-start its near-bankrupt economy.

Since the mid-1990s, when it was severely hit by great famines amid the first nuclear standoff with the United States, North Korea has remained a wasteland plagued by the so-called triple distresses _ the shortage of food, cash (foreign exchange) and energy.

With the end of the Cold War, North Korea lost hefty aid from China and the now-defunct Soviet Union, which had propped up its flagging economy. In a desperate move, Pyongyang launched an experiment with the free market in July 2002, deregulating prices and hiking salaries.

North Koreans had also anticipated the businesses with South Korea, which started in the wake of the historic inter-Korean summit in 2000, to bring money into the cash-strapped country.

But the ambitious tour project at Mt. Kumgang above the eastern side of the border had been too fainthearted to turn profitable because it was limited only to tourists.

Kaesong was a different story. While South Koreans saw the tour project largely as symbolic, they were ready to offer more financial incentives for companies to invest in the border town.

For the South Korean decision-makers, Kaesong became the site of an experiment to transplant capitalism to the Stalinist state, plagued by an inefficient bureaucracy and pervasive malnutrition.

Of course, the venture poses risks for the tightly controlled hermit kingdom, which has been ruled by hereditary “monarchs’’ _ the late leader Kim Il-sung and his son Kim Jong-il _ for more than half a century. A major city with about 150,000 residents, Kaesong will inevitably be exposed to what the North Korean leadership calls decadent Western culture.

Suh Ye-taik, an executive director of Hyundai Asan, selected by the North as its major business partner, recalls that it was an offer that nobody expected when the North Koreans first proposed Kaesong. Pyongyang originally wanted to develop other places such as Shinuiju and Haeju.

“It was an unexpected offer in political terms,’’ he said. “But we decided to opt for Kaesong in consideration of the proximity and other conditions of location.’’

Kaesong, seated about 140 kilometers south of Pyongyang and some 60 kilometers north of Seoul, is on a point of strategic importance in the case of a military conflict between the two Koreas. North Korea even yielded some kilometers by withdrawing its conventional artillery.

Kim Jong-il, however, seems to be well aware of the fact that his own hold on power depends on reviving the economy. Kim Heung-kwang, a defector from the North who had worked as a professor at Pyongyang Computer Technology University, predicted in a recent thesis to the Korea Institute of Science and Technology Information (KISTI) that North Korea would open up the Internet to individuals as early as 2009.

“Security guarantees and restoration from the economic plight are the top priorities for the survival of the North Korean regime,’’ said Yang Moo-jin, a professor at the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul. “They realize opening is the only way out of their predicament.’’

While Kaesong is a touchstone for economic integration in the unification process, the workplaces in the industrial zone are test boards for cultural and societal assimilation of the two Koreas, which have walked different paths for the past several decades since the 1950-53 Korean War.

Shinwon is a good example. South Korean managers say they now see drastic changes in the attitudes of North Korean workers. People from across the border had kept an awkward silence in the first years. But smiles and small chatter has become part of the atmosphere.

“The quality of the products here is good because the Northern workers are very productive,’’ said Hwang, the head of the apparel company’s Kaesong factory. “They now learn skills much faster than they did in the initial years.’’

They are also getting familiar with dialects from the other side of the border. In the three-storied factory of Stafild that produces medical walking shoes by some 1,800 North Korean workers, visitors overheard “One for all, all for one’’ _ the motto of the Stalinist state.

For Brighter Future

While its ambition is grand and lofty, the Kaesong complex still faces major hurdles _ both from inside and outside. One of the biggest problems is the U.S. economic sanctions against North Korea, which ban the sale or shipment of key strategic goods such as high-tech computers.

Though the South Korean government is trying to attract the investment of some information-technology (IT) companies in the long term, no high-tech firms have so far advanced in to Kaesong.

So, what the zone really needs is a genuine political thaw between North Korea and the U.S., government officials as well as experts point out. A strong inter-Korean relationship is another important factor to affect the joint project.

Labor conditions in Kaesong are a problem of its own. The average wage is only $57.50 per month, which is not provided in cash. North Korean workers receive coupons to get the necessities of life, though their standard of living is much higher than those in other areas of the country.

Largely focused on red brick industries, which led the economic growth of the South until the 1980s, some workplaces in the zone are exposed to dangerous environments and workers are not entitled to the core labor rights, such as the right of collective action.

Foreign investment will be a touchstone of the venture’s success in the long term. South Korea plans to invite U.S. investors to the industrial estate in October in an effort to expedite foreign investment.

“Foreign investment will help stabilize the operation of the industrial complex and will be a good experience for the management of other firms,’’ said Kim Dong-keun, the KIDMAC chairman.

South Korean officials also expect that from now on some large South Korean enterprises will come into the zone to continue the development of the Kaesong industrial park.

“So far, the zone has been occupied largely by small- and medium-sized companies,’’ Unification Minister Lee Jae-joung said at a breakfast lecture late last month. “We expect the international credit rating of Kaesong will improve if leading enterprises move in.’’

On April 27, the National Assembly of South Korea passed a law that supports the industrial zone. Firms operating in Kaesong will be provided with the same benefits enjoyed by the small- and medium-sized companies in other areas such as a 7-percent tax exemption. South Korean workers in Kaesong will also be eligible for the Labor Standard Act and the country’s four major insurance policies.

“Kaesong Industrial Complex is a win-win situation for both the South and the North,’’ Kim said. “Both economies will complement each other through the project and will be the steppingstone to national unification and integration.’’

Korea Times
Kim Yon-se
4/30/2007

Hyundai Group is gearing up to activate its inter-Korean businesses as negative factors, such as North Korea’s nuclear test last October, have started to settle down.

As early as this year, Hyundai Asan, the group’s tourism unit, plans to operate cable cars on Mount Kumgang to attract more South Korean tourists. The company has been in talks with North Korea to run cable cars on part of the mountain.

“It usually takes about one year or more to complete the construction of a cable car system. We launched the construction last year,” a company official said, suggesting that tourists could enjoy the service in 2007 or early 2008.

He said cable cars will run between the mountain’s top and the Sejonbong ridge, one of Mount Kumgang’s peaks. As the peak is located near the East Sea, tourists will enjoy scenic views of the mountain and sea simultaneously.

Hyundai Asan has set the goal of attracting 400,000 tourists, including South Koreans and foreigners, to Mount Kumgang this year, compared with 234,446 last year.

Its rosy outlook comes largely from the six-party agreement to dismantle North Korea’s nuclear programs in February. Hyundai Asan officials say the event will help normalize inter-Korean businesses.

“The landmark accord will enable our inter-Korean projects, including Mount Kumgang tours and the Kaesong Industrial Complex, to get revitalized,” the official said.

Along with the scheduled opening of tours to inner Mount Kumgang from May 27, Hyundai Asan has decided to hire more than 10 fresh employees.

As the number of tourists fell to fewer than 250,000 in 2006 from 301,822 in 2005 and 272,820 in 2004, the company had to conduct layoffs and cut monthly payments to some employees amid deteriorating profitability last year.

Now the company plans to restore the salary level and pay delayed bonuses in a bid to encourage workers.

The tour project accounts for about 70 percent of Hyundai Asan’s total sales. It has set a sales target of 300 billion won for 2007.

Hyundai is also poised to push ahead with a plan to begin tours to Kaesong, a North Korean historical city near the border that is home to the South Korean-invested industrial complex. It plans to hold working-level meetings with the North in order to hasten the start of the tours.

The Christian Post
Michelle Vu
4/29/2007

In a country described as a spiritual vacuum surrounded by the watchful eyes of a totalitarian regime and oppressed by a quasi religious cult centered on its leader’s family, North Koreans desperate to keep the Gospel alive have found innovative methods to smuggle in the Word of God.

Whether it is through human transport of Bibles or North Koreans risking their lives to testify to their families upon return or balloons filled with Christian tracts, the Word of God is penetrating the country where being openly Christian can result in execution.

From within the country, evangelism is taking place through disguised missionaries and North Korean Christians repatriated by China or returning on their own free will, according to North Korean defectors at the Open Doors USA panel discussion this past week on religious persecution in North Korea.

One North Korean defector, Ms. Eom Myong-Heui, said that she was evangelized through a Chinese-Korean missionary disguised as a businessman while still living in North Korea.

Eom – who is now an assistant pastor of a church in South Korea for North Korean defectors – said that she was desperate for food during the North Korea famine in the 1990s and had resorted to partnering with the disguised missionary businessman to earn money.

The Korean-Chinese missionary would teach her the Bible whenever they met and eventually Eom became a Christian.

Yet she and the other North Korean defector on the panel agreed that the best method to spread the Gospel in the closed society is through training North Korean refugees.

“The best and most effective way is using the North Korean refugees,” stated Eom, who said defectors can call their family and relatives in North Korea and share the Gospel.

Eom explained that she speaks to her two daughters still in North Korea through a cell phone from China that cannot be monitored by the North Korean government.

“We can train those North Koreans as strong believers and connect to relatives in North Korea … and conversations can spread [the] Gospel,” she said.

“Philip Lee,” a North Korean defector now living in South Korea. added that some North Koreans are even willing to return to the North and spread the Gospel. Lee, whose real name is withheld for security reasons, said that one of the main ministries in his church composed of North Korean defectors is to train strong Christian leaders who are willing to return to North Korea and witness.

But he noted that even refugees forcefully returned to North Korea can become powerful witnesses.

Lee recalled a repatriated North Korean Christian named Brother Luke who would daily urge his prison guards and officers, “You should believe in Jesus! You should accept Jesus!” Luke reportedly continued his exclamations even during torture and before a judge in court, according to Lee. Before his martyrdom one year later, one prison guard had accepted Christ.

Meanwhile, other North Korean defectors have found innovative ways to spread the Gospel in the North while still remaining in South Korea.

Lee Minbok, founder of North Korea Christian Association, began sending large balloons filled with thousands of Christian tracts across the North-South border about three years ago. Lee, previously a scientist in North Korea, is mostly joined by a small group of defectors or those who have worked with North Korean refugees. The balloons are said to land in North Korea within 20 minutes to 1 hour from its departure in the South.

“I’m proud that North Korea is angry,” said a grinning Choi Yong-Hun, a volunteer at NKCA and a South Korean who spent nearly four years in prison in China for helping North Korean refugees, to The Christian Post. “They ask, ‘Who sent it?’ We say that God sent it. It is a very effective way to send the Gospel.”

Other ways given to evangelize North Koreans include smuggling in Bibles, as Open Doors has done over the past ten years; Christian radio broadcast; and through organizations working with North Korean refugees along the border in China.

Last week’s panel discussion in Washington was part of North Korea Freedom Week, Apr. 22-29, which seeks to raise awareness of the brutal North Korean regime and to urge stronger actions by the U.S. government and international community to press North Korea on its human rights abuse.

The week mainly ended on Saturday with international protests against China’s violent treatment or North Korean refugees at Chinese embassies around the world.

Austrailian Associated Press
4/27/2007

Australia will provide almost $4 million in humanitarian aid to a hungry and malnourished North Korea.

Millions of the 23 million people in the communist country are living in poverty.

Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said Australia’s $4 million commitment will focus on improving the health, hygiene and nutrition of North Koreans.

“Thirty-seven per cent of North Koreans suffer from chronic malnutrition, and two-thirds of North Korean children do not receive enough food because of a one million tonne food shortfall,” Mr Downer said in a statement.

“Many North Koreans also lack access to clean water and sanitation.”

Mr Downer said Australia’s assistance will be provided through a number of United Nations agencies and the International Red Cross.

About $1.5 million will go towards UNICEF’s water and sanitation program.

A further $1.5 million will provide food for 1.9 million people through the World Food Program.

The rest of the money will be spent on emergency health and essential medicines, disaster management, water supply and sanitation.