Archive for May, 2006

First album of N. Korean copyrighted songs due in Seoul next month

Wednesday, May 3rd, 2006

Yonhap
5/30/2007
Kim Hyun

A cover album of North Korean pop songs featuring South Korean singers will be released in Seoul next month based on an unprecedented musical copyright contract between the two Koreas, promoters in Seoul said Wednesday.

Some Northern songs have gained popularity in the South, where they have been circulated illegally. Pyongyang has protested the unregistered circulation through informal channels since it established copyright laws in 2000.

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Rumors continue to surface on the Sinuiju SAR

Wednesday, May 3rd, 2006

According to the Daily NK (2006-5-3):

Lee Jeong Gil (44), a Chinese-North Korean trader who recently returned from Shinuiju in late April, said that, “It would be hard for Shinuiju to be a special region. However, it is likely that an international market would be formed in the outskirts of Shinuiju.”

Mr. Lee stated, “As far as I know, besides that of Shinuiju, international market plans would be carried out in the outskirts of Nampo and Wonsan as well.” He went on to explain, “This was already determined at the Central Committee level,” something he noted hearing directly from a high-ranking official living in Shinuiju.

Mr. Lee explained, “Because of the huge removal of residents and the great impact on outside areas caused by the special region plan, the government regards the Shinuiju special region plan as complicated.” He noted as well, that, “It seems that the government pursues this in the same manner as the previously constructed Onsung and Nasun international markets.”

The special region plan is to develop a particular region by dividing it into a concerned area and an outskirt. The goal would then be to introduce into the concerned area such aspects of a market economy as financial industries, manufacturing industries, accommodation industries, and free trade zones. Like special regions, international markets could attract foreign investments. Yet, because special regions are controlled by international markets that are not yet mature – most only at a stage where foreigners rent stores to do business – the effects that international markets can bring are meager.

Mr. Lee said, “It seems reasonable to assume that the government will permit commuting since it has allowed daily visa-free commutes to and from China since July… So, it requires a look into the news that North Korean customs moved from Ryeokjeon-dong, the present area, to Minpo-dong where the second NK-China Yalu River iron bridge plan is being constructed.”

He went on to explain, “I heard that the government will construct new buildings for foreign traders to do business in, in the outskirts of Shinuiju, and that they will give leasing rights to investors who invest more than 100,000 dollars.”

On the other hand, on the 23rd, Mr. Kim (51) noted, “The internal policy direction for Shinuiju and Nampo was already set to make special regions within the year to overcome the economic crisis [North Korea] has faced recently.” It is likely that what the high-ranking official testified about is not about special regions, but about international markets.

Read the full story here:
Shinuiju Development, Not a Special Region But an ‘International Market?’
Daily NK
Kwon Jeong Hyun
2006-5-3

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DPRK loses press freedom award…

Tuesday, May 2nd, 2006

From the Committee to Protect Journalists:

The world’s deepest information void, communist North Korea has no independent journalists, and all radio and television receivers sold in the country are locked to government-specified frequencies. Burma, Turkmenistan, Equatorial Guinea, and Libya round out the top five nations on CPJ’s list of the “10 Most Censored Countries.”

Patterns that emerge from CPJ’s analysis include:

Total control. Print and electronic media in all 10 countries are under heavy state control or influence. Some countries allow a few privately owned outlets to operate but most of these are in the hands of regime loyalists. In Libya, there are no independent broadcast or print media, an anachronism even by Middle East standards. Equatorial Guinea has one private broadcaster; its owner is the president’s son. In Burma, citizens risk arrest for listening to the BBC in public.

One-man-shows. Most of the countries on CPJ’s list are ruled by one man who has remained in power by manipulating the media and rigging any elections that are held. The media foster a cult of personality. On state television in Turkmenistan, “President for Life” Saparmurat Atayevich Niyazov’s golden image is constantly displayed in profile at the bottom of the screen. State-run radio in Equatorial Guinea has described President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo as “the country’s God.”

Use of the “Big Lie.” In North Korea, all “news” is positive. According to the country’s rigidly controlled media, North Korea has never suffered famine or poverty, and citizens would willingly sacrifice themselves for their leader. The official Korean Central News Agency said that leader Kim Jong Il is so beloved that after a deadly munitions train explosion in a populated area, people ran into buildings to save the ubiquitous portraits of the “Dear Leader” before they rescued their own family members.

Zero tolerance for negative coverage. In Uzbekistan, a government crackdown forced more than a dozen foreign correspondents to flee abroad after they covered a massacre of antigovernment protesters in Andijan in May 2005. Reporters covering opposition to Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko’s recent re-election were jailed and charged with crimes such as “hooliganism.” In Cuba, the government organizes “repudiation acts” for recalcitrant journalists; demonstrators surround the journalist’s home and prevent people from coming or going.

Cynical disregard for people’s welfare. Governments suppress news of the dangers and hardships faced by their citizens. North Korea covered up a famine that affected millions. Burma stifled coverage of the effects of the tsunami that hit the country in December 2004.

“By any international standard, the practices of these governments are unacceptable,” said Cooper. “We call on the leaders of these most censored countries to join the free world by abandoning these restrictive actions and allowing journalists to independently report the news and inform their citizens.”

North Korea has wedded the traditional Confucian ideal of social order to the Stalinist model of an authoritarian communist state to create the world’s deepest information void. All domestic radio, television, and newspapers are controlled by the government. Radio and television receivers are locked to government-specified frequencies. Content is supplied almost entirely by the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). It serves up a daily diet of fawning coverage of “Dear Leader” Kim Jong Il and his official engagements. The country’s grinding poverty or famines are never mentioned. Only small numbers of foreign journalists are allowed limited access each year, and they must be accompanied by “minders” wherever they go.

Lowlight: After a deadly munitions train explosion in April 2004 in Ryongchon near the Chinese border, KCNA reported that citizens displayed the “spirit of guarding the leader with their very lives” by rushing into burning buildings to save portraits of Kim “before searching for their family members or saving their household goods.” The international press, meanwhile, was barred from the scene, where more than 150 died and thousands were injured.

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US criticizes Kaesong investment

Tuesday, May 2nd, 2006

From the Joong Ang Daily:

Jay Lefkowitz, Washington’s special envoy on North Korean human rights, has continued to criticize the working conditions for North Korean laborers at the Kaesong Industrial Complex, where South Korean companies have located plants.

On the surface, wages and working conditions are the main issue, but experts say there is a more fundamental difference between Seoul and Washington on economic support for the North and on human rights issues there.

In an essay in the Wall Street Journal’s weekend edition, Mr. Lefkowitz said daily wages for North Koreans at the complex were less than $2. That appears to be correct; the monthly minimum wage at the complex is $57, including a 30 percent commission to the government. But because companies at the site pay those wages to a North Korean labor service provider, it is not known how much, if any, of the wages actually find their way into workers’ pockets.

There are currently, 6,850 North Korean workers at the complex; the number will go up by about a fifth this month.

The Unification Ministry here was outraged by Mr. Lefkowitz’s comments, especially by a reference to “slave labor.” The minister, Lee Jong-seok, said on Sunday that he wasn’t sure whether Mr. Lefkowitz was trying to improve human rights in the North or hamper them.

Seoul has put human rights issues in North Korea on the back burner, angering many conservatives here, arguing that the best way to improve rights was by economic development of the North, assisted by massive amounts of economic assistance from South Korea. 

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South proposes DPRK ‘sand mine’

Tuesday, May 2nd, 2006

From Yonhap

SEOUL, May 1 (Yonhap) — North and South Korea are to hold working-level talks this week to discuss ways to increase economic cooperation, including Seoul’s proposal to jointly develop the Han River’s sand-rich estuary and mineral mines in the communist North, Seoul’s Unification Ministry said Monday.

The new round of dialogue between officials of the Inter-Korean Economic Cooperation Promotion Committee is to be held in the North’s border town of Kaesong from Wednesday through Thursday, the ministry said in a press release.

The meeting will include talk of ways to jointly develop the western mouth of the Han River, called the Imjin River in the North, which is believed to contain at least 1 billion cubic meters, or about 1.6 billion tons, of sand.

It will also serve as a venue to fix the next meeting of the inter-Korean committee, the highest-profile dialogue between the divided Koreas. Last month the two sides agreed on a deadline of end-May.

The sand project was proposed by Unification Minister Lee Jong-Seok, Seoul’s chief delegate to the inter-Korean Cabinet talks, at a meeting in Pyongyang last month.

The Seoul metropolitan area houses almost half of the country’s 48 million population live and requires some 80 million tons of sand a year for use in construction, according to ministry officials.

The South Korean minister also proposed the two sides work together in developing the North’s zinc and magnesite mines in the country’s northwestern city of Danchon.

In an eight-point agreement adopted at the end of the ministerial talks, the North Korean side welcomed Seoul’s proposal, but left actual projects for joint mining to be discussed at the upcoming inter-Korean economic talks.

The South Korean delegation is to be led by the head of the ministry’s social and cultural exchanges bureau, Kim Chun-sig, while the North Korean side will be led by Cho Hyon-ju, an official from the North’s National Economic Cooperation Committee, the ministry said.

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DPRK soldiers sneaking into Kumgang for treatment

Monday, May 1st, 2006

From the Korea Times:

A head doctor of Hyundai Asan Hospital in the Kumgang tourist area, which was set up to deal with emergency cases among South Korean tourists, told Unification Minister Lee Jong-seok that North Korean soldiers sometimes sneak into the hospital.

Their commander has apparently ordered them to stay away from the South Korean tourist districts, but still the ordinary soldiers come to get better medical treatment, he said.

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Iran purchases missles from DPRK

Monday, May 1st, 2006

From Al-Jazeera (YES!  My first Al Jazeera post!)

Iran bought 18 long-range missiles from North Korea, a German newspaper said, citing an inelligence report.

“Iran has bought 18 disassembled BM-25 missiles from North Korea with a range of 2,500 kilometers (1,553 miles),” Bild newspaper said, quoting a report by the foreign intelligence service BND.

The report said Iran bought the mobile missiles from Pyongyang in the form of kit sets.

The newspaper added that the missiles are based on the Russian SS-N-6 missile for submarine launch and that Iran’s President  MAHMOUD AHMADINEJAD wants to have the range of the missiles “extended to 3,500 kilometers”.

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Seouol selects inter-Korean science cooperation projects [to subsidize]

Monday, May 1st, 2006

From the Korea Herald:
 
The South Korean Ministry of Science and Technology yesterday announced this year’s cooperative science and technology projects between South and North Korea.

The ministry selected 15 projects, including new and ongoing ones. They are regarded as having future viability and continuity, the ministry said.

These projects will be supported for the next three years at least, while being evaluated on a regular basis, the ministry said.

For the South-North cooperative science projects, the ministry has invested a total of 4.8 billion won from 1999 to 2005. The ministry has allocated 650 million won for this year.

The 15 projects include the Korea Transport Institute’s peninsula-wide traffic specifications; Korea Center for Disease Control & Prevention’s study on malaria in North Korea; the Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technologies’ study on chemical products as basic necessities; Pohang University of Science and Technology’s training program for computing specialists; Inha University’s initiative to develop North Korea’s wind power resources; Korea Institute of Machinery and Materials’ research on North Korea-originated magnesite; Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology’s development of cold-resistant sweet potatoes to alleviate North Korea’s food shortage.

Also, there are Andong University’s South-North comparative study on fossils in the paleozoic era; Korea Institute of Geoscience and Mineral Resources’ peninsula-wide geological map; Science & Technology Policy Institute’s analysis on North Korea’s science and technology policy; Seoul National University’s parasite control technology; and Korea Institute of Science and Technology Information’s project for North Korean infrastructure building.

The project selection utilized the Korea Institute of Science and Technology Information’s analysis tool for documents and patents, the ministry added.

Dubbed “KITAS,” the tool has helped the ministry analyze North Korea’s 22 different kinds of academic documents, which amounted to 38,000 volumes.

The ministry then selected promising areas of cooperation, which include biotechnology, machine manufacture, and non-metal mineral exploitation.

With its food crisis, North Korea has a particular interest in biotechnology, such as plant breeding and rabbit cloning, the ministry said.

“I think biotechnology cooperation between the two Koreas will be very promising,” said Yoon Dae-sang at the ministry’s science-technology cooperation division.

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Biotech sector ripe for inter-Korean cooperation

Monday, May 1st, 2006

Yonhap
5/1/2006

South Korea could capitalize on North Korea’s emerging prowess in the biotechnology sector to foster inter-Korean cooperation in this modern scientific field, a report by a state-run institute in Seoul said Monday.

The communist country, often viewed as stunted politically and economically, possesses considerable competitiveness in the field of biotechnology, the report by the Korea Institute of Science and Technology Information (KISTI) showed. This, it said, is partly due to the need to alleviate the country’s chronic food shortages.

The institute cited 38,737 papers published in North Korea from 1985 to 2005, to show how scientists there have published a wealth of biotech papers related to medicine and clinical testing of plants and animals.

“North Korea has built up certain fields that can be developed by the two Koreas in the future,” said a KISTI researcher, declining to be named.

North Korean scientists have published many papers on biological agents designed to facilitate growth of tissues and micro-organisms, he said.

The country also reported the world’s second successful cloning of a rabbit and has demonstrated a level of expertise in fields like protein structure analysis, enzyme research and genetics, he added.

Biotech is one of the key future growth industries being pushed by Seoul, so cooperating with the North is being viewed as a potentially win-win deal.

In addition, the report said, South and North Korea can conduct joint works on areas like non-metal research and technology to help in the mining of natural resources.

The report by the institute comes after scientists from both countries promised to expand cooperation in the scientific field.

South Korea’s science minister Kim Woo-sik pledged earlier in the day, to continue state support for joint South-North Korea science cooperation. Seoul plans to provide 650 million won (US$710,200) this year after having spent 4.8 billion won from 1999-2005.

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China begins air service to FNJ

Monday, May 1st, 2006

Yonhap
5/1/2006

China’s second-largest carrier China Southern Airlines Co. began a three-times-weekly flight service between Beijing and Pyongyang, Xinhua News Agency reported Monday.

The airline’s first airplane left Beijing at 1:05 p.m. (local time) and arrived in Pyongyang, the North’s capital, at 2:35 p.m., the report said.

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