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DPRK focuses on economy in 2010: Aims to improve the standard of living by boosting agricultural and light industry output

Sunday, January 10th, 2010

Institute for Far Eastern Studies (IFES)
(NK Brief No.10-01-06-1)
2010-01-06

On January 1, North Korea published its annual New Year’s Joint Editorial in the Rodong Sinmun (official newspaper of the Central Committee of the Workers’ Party of Korea), Josonimmingun (newspaper of the Korean People’s Army), and the Chongnyonjonwi (newspaper of the Central Committee of the Kim Il Sung Socialist Youth League).

The editorial introduces North Korea’s general policy direction for 2010. In the international realm, the editorial highlights the establishment of a peace regime between Pyongyang and Washington, as well as improving inter-Korean relations. Domestically, the editorial focused on improving the standard of living for the people by improving agriculture and light industries. It appears that the North has decided to focus on domestic and international stability.

This policy approach appears to be an attempt to strengthen the basis for the North’s drive to build a ‘Strong and Prosperous Nation’ by 2012, but in the mid- to long-term, it also seems to have been adopted with Kim Jong-eun’s succession in mind.

This year’s joint editorial focused primarily on the North’s economy. More than anything, it centered on improving the lives of the people by boosting light-industrial and agricultural output. This was highlighted in the editorial’s title, “Bring about a radical turn in the people’s standard of living by accelerating the development of light industry and agriculture once again this year that marks the 65th anniversary of the founding of the Workers’ Party of Korea,” and was a consistent theme throughout the article.

Focusing on increased economic output specifically in light industry and agriculture, it is clear that the Kim Jong Il regime is seeking to boost public support by solving food and clothing shortages.

It is also noteworthy that in the editorial’s section on the economy, there is absolutely no mention of the ‘national defense industry’ that has been prominent in previous New Year’s Joint Editorials. National defense has been prioritized in previous joint editorials, with one article emphasizing that “everything necessary for the national defense industry must first be ensured in order to meet the economic line of the Military-First Era.” The defense industry was briefly mentioned, however, in the editorial’s section emphasizing the importance of scientific and technological development.

Substantial points of the economic portion of the editorial include the following:

– The need to “bring about a radical turn in the people’s standard of living by accelerating the development of light industry and agriculture once again this year that marks the 65th anniversary of the founding of the Workers’ Party of Korea.”

-“Light industry and agriculture are the major fronts in the efforts for the improving of the peoples’ standard of living. . . . an all-Party, nationwide effort should be directed to mass-producing consumer goods.”

-“The agricultural sector should sharply increase grain output by thoroughly applying the Party’s policy of agricultural revolution, like improving seeds, double cropping and improving potato and soybean farming.”

-“We should radically increase state investment in fields related to the people’s lives, and all sectors and units should supply fully and in time the raw and other materials needed for the production of light-industrial goods.”

-“We should gain access to more foreign markets, and undertake foreign trade in a brisk way to contribute to economic construction and the improvement of the people’s standard of living.”

-“Socialist principles should be maintained in commodity circulation, and the quality of welfare services should be decisively improved.”

-“The fundamental secret of making a new leap in this year’s general offensive is in launching a campaign to push back the frontiers of science and technology in all sectors.”

-“The defense industry sector, a major front in pushing back the frontiers of science and technology, should continue to lead the efforts to open the gate to a great, prosperous and powerful country.”

Posted in Domestic publication, Institute for Far Eastern Studies, Kim's New Year Address (Joint editorials), Manufacturing, Military | Comments Closed

North Korean art: unintended consequences and adverse selection

Sunday, January 10th, 2010

According to the Korea Times:

When the South Korean government lifted a ban on the sales and distribution of North Korean paintings in 1998, the southerners’ curiosity in the North’s art surged.

With increasing demands, many works found their way into the hands of South Korean collectors through various channels, notably via China. And galleries in South Korea competed to hold exhibitions.

Soon, it became a fanciful thing among art collectors in South Korea to have a piece or two of North Korean art. A work by a well-known painter such as Jung’s was sold at a minimum of 10 million won ($8,800) apiece.

For cash-strapped North Korea, suffering from a moribund economy, the paintings were more than a piece of art. They also turned out to be a new cash cow. And as in any greedy business, the reputation of the North Korean art market became tainted, as counterfeit and duplicate products started to surface.

Experts believe that most of the spurious acts were actually made inside North Korea. Sometimes the painters themselves were not free from blame either.
…
North Korea sells hundreds of paintings by its artists, including those who work for the state’s Mansudae Art Studio in Pyongyang each year to galleries in China – a de facto gateway for North Korea to reach the outside world. The paintings then are sold to South Koreans and other collectors.

But besides the official export quantity of paintings, there are also “unofficial” paintings, entrusted privately by some artists to North Korean merchants who share the profit with the painters after selling them on the black market.

“Of course, the sales of these paintings go unreported,” said Lee. “In North Korea, an artist’s paintings are state property. So, when an artist’s paintings are displayed in countries and if they were illegally sold paintings, the painter will be in a position to deny that it’s his works.”

With the rising popularity of North Korean paintings in South Korea, North Korea sometimes produced low-quality paintings en masse. A few years back, North Korea did some trade with a major South Korean company. Lacking sufficient cash, North Koreans proposed they would make up the payment in arts products. The South Korean company accepted the offer.

“I was called in by the company to examine the value of the paintings. It was a huge container. Inside it was full of paintings. But the quality was all poor.

“I suggested the company burn them all, fearing that if they entered the art market, it would cause disruption with such a huge volume when many people cannot tell their values,” Lee said.

Last April, Lee had a chance to meet with another renowned North Korean painter, Sun Woo-young, in China. When asked about the situation, Sun also reportedly told Lee that only 11 out of 150 paintings, put on sale in South Korea, were authentic.

North Koreans acknowledge that there are forged or duplicate paintings circulating, but insist that they are done in China by Chinese painters. But Lee believes that most forgeries are done within North Korea.

“Chinese counterfeit painters prefer to copy famous Chinese paintings, not North Korean paintings, because selling Chinese paintings can make more money,” Lee said.

The official gallery Web site of the Mansudae Art Studio also recognizes the controversy surrounding the North Korean paintings. On the section of the “Frequently Asked Questions,” one question is: “How do I know the works are original?”

The authenticity debate also comes amid North Korean art’s increasing popularity overseas. In recent years, the North held art exhibitions in a number of countries, including the U.K., Germany, Italy, the U.S. and Australia, receiving favorable reviews.

Lee said for North Korean paintings to be recognized internationally, the transparency of their authorship, distribution and authenticity should be strengthened.

“If quality control is not maintained, selling North Korean paintings the way they do now is like shooting one’s own foot. It will come back to get you.”

So here are the economics: Once the South Korean government eliminated a ban on selling and distributing North Korean art, demand predictably exploded among South Korean collectors. A market developed where North Korean art studios were exporting pieces to Chinese middle men who were then able to resell to the South Koreans. The demand was so high that at one point some North Korean companies were able to pay for imports with North Korean art (though in the case above it did not turn out well).

This would not be so interesting were it not for the unintended consequences.

In the market described above, the rents from economic activity (selling paintings) are primarily divided between the Chinese middlemen and the North Korean art studios. The artists themselves probably received little from the transactions. However, some clever (and popular) North Korean artists figured out they could earn some cash for themselves if they clandestinely produced works of art for export through trusted intermediaries. Under this clandestine trading model, the rents are divided between the artist and his trusted middleman/men. The particular split depends on the relationship between supply and demand–which we do not know. This type of activity is pretty much what we also see on collective farms: farmers produce less for the collective and more from their private plots. As a result individual incomes and private production increase.

This kind of activity however was popular enough to spawn a market in counterfeit paintings! Once other painters realized the kinds of returns that premium paintings were earning abroad, they jumped into the counterfeit business! This of course causes problems in the market for North Korean art because collectors do not know if they are buying an original or not. In the limit, adverse selection could cause the market to unwind.

But this almost never happens because economic problems create opportunities for profit. We know there are organizations and individuals out there who can solve this problem Is there an entrepreneur out there who can get into the business of certifying and registering North Korean art or fund someone who can?

To learn more about this, read the full Korea Times article below:
Fake NK Paintings in Wide Circulation
Korea Times
Sunny Kee
1/7/2009

Posted in Art | Comments Closed

Citizen Mobilization Kicks Off Early

Monday, January 4th, 2010

Daily NK
Jung Kwon Ho
1/4/10

According to sources within North Korea, citizens have been mobilized to produce fertilizer and ordered to submit scrap materials for use by the state in an attempt to bring to fruition the New Year’s Statement, in which light industry and agriculture were promoted as the main frontiers for development in 2010.

One source from North Hamkyung Province told The Daily NK on the 3rd, “The first battle of this year began on the 2nd of January. A decree was issued, stating that each adult resident has to provide 50 kilograms of fertilizer to surrounding farms.”

He went on, “Middle school students of 11 and above have to provide 30 kilograms of fertilizer to their school, and any senior citizen over the age of 60 has to provide 30 kilograms of fertilizer to their neighborhood office. This fertilizer production battle will continue until the end of March”.

This is an unusual duration, the source explained, “The annual fertilizer production battle is normally completed on February 15th, but this year the authorities are emphasizing the importance of agriculture and, as a result, declared the completion date to be the end of March.”

“The production of fertilizer is an annual event, however, its target volume and duration has doubled. The lack of available fertilizer has already initiated competition between workplaces to secure access to public toilets and dumping grounds.”

A different source in Yangkang Province explained how things were being done there, “Middle school students over the age of 15 up to adults under the age of 60 have to provide fertilizer privately to surrounding farms by sled. Students from 1st to 3rd grade in middle school and senior citizens over the age of 60 have to provide the fertilizer to a neighborhood location designated by municipal committees of the Party.”

According to the same source, the temperature in Hyesan was -26C on the 2nd when workers from each workplace and factory, and residents of people’s units, assembled in the square in front of the Kim Jong Suk Art Hall to transport the fertilizer by sled to nearby farms in Chun-dong, Geomsan-dong and Wun-dong, and to Hwajeon Cooperative Farm, causing problems.

The source explained that the farms were up to 16 kilometers away, so, “Numerous people suffered from frostbite during the transfer.”

In addition to production of fertilizer, each workplace and organization received instructions to submit scrap metal, paper, rubber and vinyl. On this topic, the source commented, “Residents are making a hoo-ha about the requirement to submit unused materials for light industry like scrap metals. During the vacation in January, each middle school student is supposed to produce fertilizer and provide ten kilograms of scrap metal plus five kilograms of scrap paper and rubber to a designated depot. When such tasks are completed, the student gets a certificate from the depot and then has to show it to school.”

The source concluded, “Residents are already concerned about the possibility of increased compulsory mobilization even worse than that for the 150-Day Battle last year.”

Posted in Agriculture, Education, Kim's New Year Address (Joint editorials), Labor conditions/wages | Comments Closed

2010 Joint editorial round-up

Sunday, January 3rd, 2010

Naenara published an excerpt of the 2010 joint editorial of Rodong Sinmun, official organ of the Central Committee of the Workers’ Party of Korea, Josoninmingun, newspaper of the Korean People’s Army, and Chongnyonjonwi, organ of the Central Committee of Kim Il Sung Socialist Youth League:

Bring about a radical turn in the people’s standard of living by accelerating the development of light industry and agriculture once again this year that marks the 65th anniversary of the founding of the Workers’ Party of Korea

Today our service personnel and people greet the New Year Juche 99 (2010) with the pride of being victors, who wrote a new history of great revolutionary upsurge.

A heyday unprecedented in the history of the nation lies ahead of them, who are courageously rushing towards the world by tapping the inexhaustible potentials of Songun Korea.

Kim Jong Il is leading the campaign for the building of a great, prosperous and powerful nation to a brilliant victory as he steers the efforts to effect a great revolutionary upsurge on the strength of single-hearted unity. Now all the service personnel of the Korean People’s Army and all the people are offering their heartfelt thanks and the greatest glory to him who is shaping the brilliant future of the country and the revolution with unflagging energy and untiring leadership, and are filled with a firm determination to support the Party’s cause to the last with intense loyalty and heroic feats.

Last year Juche 98 (2009) was a year of dramatic change, when a phenomenal age of realizing all the ideals of the people has come.

Kim Jong Il worked out a grand plan for making a decisive turn in the Korean revolution and the building of a thriving nation by effecting a new revolutionary upsurge and wisely led the efforts of the service personnel and people. After kindling the torch of a great upsurge in Kangson, home to the Chollima movement, he proposed launching the 150-day and 100-day campaigns successively, and took revolutionary measures to bring them to a victorious conclusion. His outstanding leadership ability was the source of impetus for the unprecedentedly great innovations and leap. The matchless fighting spirit of the leader, who continued the forced march of high intensity to vibrant hard-fought fields for an upsurge throughout the year, burning his heart with noble love of his country and fellow people, gave free rein to the mental strength of all the service personnel and people and worked world-startling miracles across the country. Last year’s struggle etched in their hearts the truth that his decision is precisely practice and they will always emerge victorious when they follow him.

Last year witnessed one remarkable event of knocking on the gate to a thriving nation after another.

The successful launch of man-made satellite Kwangmyongsong No. 2 and the successful second underground nuclear test by our own efforts and technology were a landmark event signalling the first victory in the building of a prosperous nation. The perfection of the Juche-based steel-making system in the Songjin Steel Complex and the attainment of the cutting edge of the CNC technology constitute a great victory of the great Juche idea and an auspicious event for the whole country and all the people that demonstrated our inexhaustible economic and technological potentials. The firework displays on the Day of the Sun–birthday of President Kim Il Sung–, May Day and the WPK anniversary in October were a striking manifestation of the lofty ideals and ambition of the Korean people who are building a thriving nation and the rosy future of Songun Korea that is advancing under the leadership of the great Party.

The economy of the country entered the stage of full-scale upturn as all the people staged a life-and-death struggle under the leadership of the Party.

The 150-day and 100-day campaigns were an unforgettable struggle that wrote the most brilliant chapter in the history of our great upsurge. The whole course of the heroic campaigns conducted by all the people, including the workers, clearly showed what kinds of miracles would be performed and what kinds of changes would be effected when we give free rein to the might of the harmonious whole of our leader, our Party and our people, in which the Party trusts the people and the people defends the Party and the leader at the risk of their lives.

Production sharply increased in the sectors of basic industries, vanguards of the national economy, and the industry as a whole achieved revitalization. Structures of lasting value in the Songun era, like the Nyongwon Power Station, Wonsan Youth Power Station, Waterway on the Miru Plain and Mansudae Street, were built across the country. The gasification project in the Namhung Youth Chemical Complex was completed, and dynamic efforts were made to upgrade the major factories and other enterprises. Last year remarkable achievements were brought about in agricultural production and rural construction, many cooperative farms transformed into ideal villages appropriate to a prosperous country and the production foundations and potentials of the light-industry sectors, including the textile and food-processing industries, strengthened markedly.

Remarkable successes were achieved in the development of socialist culture.

In the heat of the revolution in literature and the arts in the Songun era conducted under the energetic guidance of Kim Jong Il, masterpieces were produced and re-presented one after another in the fields of the cinema, opera, drama and music. Examples of mass-based culture and the arts in the era of a great upsurge were set to inspire the whole country with revolutionary enthusiasm and militant spirit. Kim Il Sung University, Wonsan University of Agriculture and other institutions of learning were refurnished splendidly, and sportspersons registered good results bringing great pleasure to the people.

The victorious great upsurge of last year confirms that the DPRK is developing in leaps and bounds, and the day when the successful building of a thriving nation will be proclaimed is just approaching.

New Year Juche 99 (2010) is a year of general offensive, when all-Party and nationwide efforts should be concentrated on improving the people’s standard of living on the basis of the laudable victory and achievements of the great revolutionary upsurge.

Kim Jong Il said:

“Our building of the country into an economic giant is aimed, to all intents and purposes, at radically improving the people’s standard of living. When the people’s living standards are decisively improved, hooray for socialism and singing of Arirang of prosperity can ring out louder across the country and the gate to a prosperous nation be opened.”

This year marks the 65th anniversaries of the founding of the glorious Workers’ Party of Korea and the country’s liberation.

The anniversary of the founding of the WPK will be an important occasion for demonstrating the mounting national spirit and mettle of the Korean army and people, who are adding brilliance to the undying exploits performed by President Kim Il Sung in building the Party and carrying out the revolutionary cause of Juche and the human cause of independence, and are speeding up the building of a thriving socialist nation on the strength of the single-hearted unity around the leadership of the revolution. We should celebrate the anniversary as a great revolutionary event to be written down in the history of Kim Il Sung’s nation as we give the fullest play to their ardent loyalty to the Party, great guide, that has opened up a bright future for the country and people.

The great upsurge we are bringing about as we make unheard-of creation and leap forward under the leadership of the Party has entered a new phase.

The might of the country’s economy, including the heavy industry, was strengthened in the flames of the gigantic great upsurge, setting up a springboard for the country, already a politico-ideological and military power, to justifiably reach the status of an economic giant.

Now, based on the brilliant achievements of the great revolutionary upsurge, the Party is unfolding unprecedentedly grand plans and operations to bring about a decisive turn in the people’s standard of living. It is the firm determination and will of the Party to enable the people, who have braved severe hardships together with the Party, to enjoy the blessing of socialism to their heart’s content by getting them relish the substantial fruits of the present great upsurge and realize without fail the noble intention and desire of President Kim Il Sung who devoted his heart and soul to the people all his life. True to the intention of the Party, which regards it as the supreme principle in its activities to steadily improve the people’s standard of living and spares nothing for them, we should channel all our efforts to improving the people’s standard of living.

To launch a sweeping campaign to bring about a drastic turn in the improving of the people’s standard of living in the flames of the great revolutionary upsurge—this is the general orientation of this year’s efforts.

We should conduct an all-Party and nationwide drive for improving the people’s standard of living to ensure that the achievements of the great upsurge are followed by greater ones and this year becomes a prosperous year filled with the people’s happiness.

“Bring about a radical turn in the people’s standard of living by accelerating the development of light industry and agriculture once again this year that marks the 65th anniversary of the founding of the Workers’ Party of Korea!” is a slogan we should uphold.

Light industry and agriculture are the major fronts in the efforts for the improving of the people’s standard of living.

Great are the foundations of light industry and agriculture, which our Party has laid out with an eye on today against all odds.

An all-Party, nationwide effort should be directed to mass-producing consumer goods. The light-industry sector should carry forward the upgrading of its factories and enterprises on a high level, and strive to improve the quality of the consumer goods. Local-industry factories should be operated at full capacity, and units, as many as possible, should launch a campaign to turn out more daily necessities favoured by the public. The agricultural sector should sharply increase the grain output by thoroughly applying the Party’s policy of agricultural revolution, like improving the seeds, doing double cropping and improving potato and soya bean farming. It should strictly observe the requirements of the Juche farming method and introduce organic and other new farming methods and technologies. We should ensure that the updated stockbreeding, fish farming and fruit production bases that have established a Juche-oriented breeding system and embodied the principle of profitability demonstrate their great effect in reality.

We should radically increase the state investment in the fields related to the people’s living, and all the sectors and units should supply fully and in time the raw and other materials needed for the production of light-industry goods. We should gain access to more foreign markets, and undertake foreign trade in a brisk way to contribute to economic construction and the improving of the people’s standard of living.

The four vanguard sectors are the engine of the national economy and a key to solving the problem of the people’s living.

In December last year, Kim Jong Il kindled the flame for the new year’s drive while inspecting the Kim Chaek Iron and Steel Complex and placed the workers of the Songjin Steel Complex, who had perfected the Juche-based steel-making system, in the van of the great revolutionary upsurge in the Songun era. The vanguard sectors, with a firm view that the development of light industry and agriculture depends on that of heavy industry, should push ahead with today’s general offensive for the improving of the people’s standard of living by means of increased production.

Steel production leads to the production of grain and machinery. The sector of metal industry should increase the capacity of Juche iron production that relies on the domestic raw materials and fuel and scale without fail the targets of pig iron, steel and rolled steel production set by the Party. The sector of electric power industry should channel effort to run thermal power stations at full capacity and push ahead with the construction of large-scale hydroelectric power stations, including the Huichon Power Station. The sector of coal industry should produce coal without condition for the thermal power stations, chemical factories and other important units, and step up modernization projects to steadily enhance its production capacities. The sector of rail transport should set an order and discipline as strict as in the army, produce new-type locomotives and freight cars in a larger number and make railway service modernized and railways heavy-duty.

The sector of machine-building industry should extend the scope of introduction of the CNC technology on a high standard as required by the IT age, and effect a revolution in the production of tools, so as to produce high-performance, state-of-the-art machinery in a larger number.

We should implement the people-oriented policies of the Party and the state to enable all the people to substantially enjoy the benefits of socialism.

The true nature of our socialism lies in putting the people’s well-being above anything else and providing them with all the benefits. We should ensure that the advantages of the people-oriented policies, like giving free medical care and free education, formulated by President Kim Il Sung and applied by the Party and state throughout their history are given fuller play to in the people’s living. We should speed up the construction of 100 000 flats in Pyongyang with those in Mansudae Street as a model, and build beautiful socialist streets and villages in a greater number in other urban and rural areas. Socialist principles should be maintained in commodity circulation, and the quality of welfare service improved decisively.

The fundamental secret of making a new leap in this year’s general offensive is in launching a campaign to push back the frontiers of science and technology in all sectors.

We must turn out as one under the slogan, “Let us push back the frontiers of science and technology in all the sectors of the building of a great, prosperous and powerful country and leap higher and faster!” The sector of defence industry, a major front in pushing back the frontiers of science and technology, should continue to lead the efforts to open the gate to a great, prosperous and powerful country, and all other sectors and units of the national economy should launch a drive to push back the frontiers of science and technology. They should bring science and technology close to production and put themselves on a modern and scientific basis in a far-sighted manner, focusing on enhancing their abilities to develop new technologies and products. We should map out a correct strategy for the development of science and technology as required by the 21st century, and rapidly develop core technologies, technical engineering of major sectors and basic science. Scientists and technicians should fulfil their role as the pioneers in pushing back the frontiers of science and technology and standard-bearers in making their country a scientific and technological giant, with a determination to glorify their country by means of their intelligence, their technology. All the sectors should conduct a vigorous mass technological innovation movement to push back the frontiers of science and technology and create new norms and records.

Today’s vibrant reality requires a revolutionary change in the organizing of economic work.

The leading economic officials should map out aggressive and realistic business and management strategies, and actively push ahead with the advance of the current great upsurge. A strict discipline should be established in planning, financial management and labour administration, so as to give full play to the superiority of the highly-organized, socialist planned economy.

In order to maximize the speed of this year’s general offensive, it is necessary to give steady play to the unconquerable mental strength of the service personnel and people.

Our Party remains unchanged in its stand to persistently hold fast to the ideological strength, mental strength, no matter how the situation may change.

The mental strength of our people is based on the strong will and fighting spirit of General Kim Jong Il. All the Party members and other people should become staunch revolutionaries and vanguard fighters, who, defending their leader unto death, translate into reality the idea of great upsurge and the far-reaching plans of the General, who continues his unremitting forced march for the benefit of his country and fellow people. The slogan “When the Party is determined, we can do anything!” must become the eternal motto of our people in their life and struggle.

For us, who have to make a higher and faster leap towards the world, national dignity is as precious as life itself. We should thoroughly embody the Korean-nation-first spirit in all fields of social life as befits the people of a dignified power, who opened up an era of frontier science in which our satellite is circling the orbit.

The sector of art and literature should produce many masterpieces so as to give the fullest play to the mental strength of the service personnel and people.

In order to achieve the goals set by the Party this year, we should strengthen in every way the might of our revolutionary ranks, whose core is the Korean People’s Army.

The KPA should plan and conduct all forms of its military and political work on the highest level this year that marks the 50th anniversary of the start of the Songun-based revolutionary leadership of Supreme Commander Kim Jong Il, thus giving fuller play to the inexhaustible might of the revolutionary army of Mt. Paektu.

The KPA is an elite force that has formed a harmonious whole with the Supreme Commander in idea and will, in disposition and pluck, and in feeling and emotion.

It should train all its men and officers into the vanguard fighters of the Songun revolution, holding aloft the slogan “Let us defend with our very lives the leadership of revolution headed by the great Comrade
Kim Jong Il!” It should ensure that it overflows with the soldiers’ spirit of implementing without condition the orders and directives of the Supreme Commander by holding the work of establishing the revolutionary command system and military discipline as a priority task of the Party political work and developing the work without letup. It should always remain highly alert without a moment of relaxation or indolence while keeping itself fully ready for combat action so that it can resolutely frustrate any surprise attacks of the enemy.

The men and officers of the People’s Army should continue to perform feats that would go down in history in the grand construction sites, including the Huichon Power Station, by displaying the revolutionary soldier spirit. Under the slogan “Let us help the people!” they should strengthen the unity between the army and the people, a foundation of Songun Korea, and become the role models for civilians in the ideological spirit, morality, sports and physical culture, the arts and all other aspects.

The working class, youth and all other people, who are taking part in the effort for the building of a great, prosperous and powerful country, should launch determined offensives, regarding their work places as battle fields. Our workers should create a new speed of advance in the spirit of having performed labour feats during the 150-day and 100-day campaigns.

The youth, who are a shock brigade in the great revolutionary upsurge, should make breakthroughs in the construction site of the Paektusan Songun Youth Power Station and other most difficult and labour-intensive posts and build more monumental edifices representing the Songun era, burning their hearts with the determination to move even the mountain if the Party calls them to do so. They should become heroes, who add lustre to the era of great upsurge with undying labour feats, and talented persons, who highly demonstrate the dignity of the country by pushing back the frontiers of science and technology.

We should strengthen the Party and remarkably enhance the role of Party organizations to achieve a brilliant victory in this year’s general offensive.

This year, when we will be celebrating the 65th anniversary of the founding of the Party, Party organizations should give free rein to our Party’s militant might, which was built in the tempest of the Songun revolution, by bringing about a fresh turn in the Party work.

They should further intensify the Three-Revolution Red Flag Movement, so as to ensure that the revolution in ideology, technology and culture is waged briskly at all units.

We should defend the interests of the masses in a thoroughgoing way and solve all problems by relying on their strength as required by the revolutionary mass line of the Party.

Officials should become true servants of the people, who understand their sentiments and unfold their work as suited to these sentiments, and commanding personnel who, enjoy reputation and love among them, as they are possessed of free and easy character and ennobling humane traits.

All Party members, with a high political consciousness that they are the members of the glorious Workers’ Party of Korea, should become skillful political activists and courageous fighters, who always hold the flag in the van in all fronts of making a great upsurge.

The working people’s organizations should strengthen ideological education and briskly conduct various kinds of mass movements, like the socialist emulation movement among their members so as to give free rein to their patriotic enthusiasm in today’s effort for building a great, prosperous and powerful nation.

This year marks the 10th anniversary of the publication of the historic June 15 North-South Joint Declaration. The North-South Summit and the publication of the June 15 North-South Joint Declaration in 2000 were a historic event that is of great significance in accomplishing the cause of national reunification. Under the banner of June 15 North-South Joint Declaration, a new era of independent reunification has been opened, and great, unprecedented successes were achieved in the development of inter-Korean relations and the national reunification movement. The previous ten years since the publication of the June 15 Declaration followed by the publication of the October 4 Declaration for its implementation, during which the Korean nation has advanced along the road for independent reunification and peace and prosperity, has clearly confirmed that these declarations are the most reasonable reunification programmes and the ideal of “by our nation itself” is the very national spirit and the one and only ideal in the June 15 reunification era.

Last year, we took active and bold measures and made sincere efforts in order to improve the aggravated inter-Korean relations and bring a radical phase in national reunification. Our measures evoked great support and sympathy at home and abroad and created an atmosphere of dialogue and cooperation between the north and the south.

The schemes of the separatist forces to thwart the advance of the era of June 15 reunification are vicious, but they cannot break the desire and will of the fellow countrymen to achieve independent reunification and national prosperity by implementing the north-south joint declarations, and it is inevitable that the pro-reunification, patriotic forces will prevail over the separatist forces and emerge victorious.

This year we should hold high the slogan “Let the entire nation unite under the banner of north-south joint declarations and achieve national reunification at the earliest date!”

The way for improving the north-south relations should be opened.

Unshakable is our stand that we will improve the north-south relations and open the way for national reunification on the basis of the historic June 15 Joint Declaration and October 4 Declaration. If the south Korean authorities continue to negate the June 15 Declaration and cling to the policy of confrontation in collusion with the foreign forces, the relations between north and the south will never be improved. They should refrain from committing acts that may aggravate the confrontation and tension, and take the road of respecting the North-South Joint Declaration, promoting north-south dialogue and improving the relations between both sides.

National reconciliation and cooperation should be promoted actively.

Reconciliation should be promoted with the common national interests given precedence, and cooperation should be encouraged through travel and contacts between the people from all walks of life. All sorts of legal and institutional mechanisms that hinder the projects for common interests and prosperity of the nation should be abolished and free discussion and activities of the broad sections of the people for reunification should be fully ensured.

The unity of the entire nation constitutes a decisive guarantee for the country’s reunification. All the fellow countrymen in the north, south and abroad should strengthen solidarity and collaboration to develop the national reunification movement. They should build up the atmosphere of independent national reunification, reconciliation, cooperation and unity on a nationwide scale to greet the 10th anniversary of the publication of the June 15 North-South Joint Declaration and the 30th anniversary of the advancing of the proposal for the founding of the Democratic Federal Republic of Koryo.

The entire Korean nation should crown the year 2010 as a year of opening a new phase of independent reunification by frustrating all challenges of the anti-reunification forces with their concerted efforts and stepping up the grand nationwide march toward reunification.

The fundamental task for ensuring peace and stability on the Korean peninsula and in the rest of Asia is to put an end to the hostile relationship between the DPRK and the USA. It is the consistent stand of the DPRK to establish a lasting peace system on the Korean peninsula and make it nuclear-free through dialogue and negotiations. Our Party and the Government of our Republic will strive to develop relations of good-neighbourliness and friendship with other countries and achieve global independence under the unfurled banner of independence, peace and friendship.

Our Party is a great guide which steers our motherland and people to sure victory, and ours are a heroic army and people who perform everything without fail once the Party has planned and decided to do it.

The majestic firework display to be held on the auspicious October holiday will resound all over the world as a reflection of the determination of all the service personnel and people to follow the Party to the last along the road of Songun and the delight of all the people in enjoying the blessings of socialism.

More about the joint editorial below:
(more…)

Posted in CNC, Domestic publication, Kim's New Year Address (Joint editorials), Korea Today | 5 Comments »

New DPRK art exhibit in Beijing

Tuesday, December 29th, 2009

According to CNN:

The Beijing-based Jinghesheng Investment Company has partnered with the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), North Korea’s formal name, to exhibit — and sell — 60 oil paintings and 30 traditional Korean ink paintings.

“They were all carefully selected by the DPRK’s Ministry of Culture,” said exhibit director Li Xuemei. Although North Korean artworks may be available in some galleries in China and other countries, said Li, “you don’t really know where they came from, but ours are surely authentic artworks from DPRK.”

Inside a hall, the gallery showcases works of twenty North Korean artists affiliated with museums and art academies in Pyongyang. Li said the gallery receives as many as 100 visitors a day on the weekend and about 60 on weekdays.

The pieces depict landscapes and modern life. Many were painted by seasoned Pyongyang artists who hold honorific titles as “People’s Artists” and “Merit Artists.”

One oil painting, a socialist realist piece entitled “Huge Waves in the East Sea,” is three meters high and ten meters long and covers an entire wall of the gallery. Four artists collaborated on the painting using a wide scope of greens and blues to create textured and turbulent waves crashing into taupe gray rocks against a backdrop of blue sky.

The collection also includes watercolors, elegant portraits of Korean women in modern and traditional dress and wildlife.

Li said the artwork is only sold to elite customers, typically Chinese entrepreneurs in affluent cities like Hong Kong, Guangzhou and Dalian. She said 30 percent of the works on display have already been sold, but she declines to quote any prices.

“Many people chose to collect this art because North Korea is a country still closed to the outside world, although it is seeking to open up in the future,” Li said. “This makes North Korean artworks a good investment. Some artists have already passed away, making their work more unique and valuable.”

While the arts’ value may increase over time, their North Korean artists will not see any cash returns.

“In North Korea,” Li said, “art is not private property and the value made from the sales will go directly to the state.”

One artist and three North Korean government officials flew into Beijing to attend the opening of the show but stayed away from the media and declined to be interviewed.

…

While contemporary North Korean art is typically laden with a heavy message, the artworks showcased in the 798 art district leaves out traces of politics or propaganda. New collections of North Korean art will rotate through the gallery until in the coming months.

“We’ll show artworks on rotation,” Li said. “We’ll show different styles in the next collection.”

Additional Information:

1. The gallery is located in Beijing’s 798 district located here.

2. Pictures of the gallery and art can be seen here.

3. Nick Bonner has his collection on display in Beijing as well. His new web page is here. His old web page is here. Mr. Bonner recently showed some North Korean art in Australia.

4. Felix Abt offers pieces by artists at Pyongyang’s Paekho Art Studio here.

5. David Heather sells North Korean art here and here from the Mansudae Art Studio.

6. A separate web page claims to be the official site of the Mansudae Studio here.

7. The Mansudae Art Studio is located here.

8. Here is another page claiming to sell North Korean art. It seems to be based in Germany.

9. Here are a couple of books on North Korean art: Art Under Control in North Korea, North Korean Posters

10. Here is a book review of North Korean Posters which offers additional information.

Posted in Art, China, Ministry of Culture | Comments Closed

Book review Tuesday: Lankov and Foster-Carter

Tuesday, December 15th, 2009

Book Review 1: The Cleanest Race: How North Koreans See Themselves-And Why It Matters
Author: B.R. Meyers
Reviewed by: Andrei Lankov
Review Publisher: Far Eastern Economic Review (the last issue)
Order this book on Amazon here

Most books on North Korea focus on the nuclear issue, that never-ending soap opera of the international diplomacy. In the rare cases when North Korean domestic dynamics are taken into account, the authors (most of whom do not speak or read Korean) concentrate on the official pronouncements of the regime.

Brian Myers takes a fresh approach. He largely ignores what the regime tells the outside world about itself, but concentrates instead on what North Koreans themselves are supposed to believe, paying special attention to the North Korean narratives and mass culture, including movies and television shows. North of the DMZ, mass culture is not about entertainment. Rather it is a lighter version of propaganda whose task is to deliver the same message, but in more palatable form.

As in the case in the Soviet Union, Pyongyang uses works of fiction to send signals which cannot be transmitted otherwise due to current political considerations. For example, when North Korean media found a few kind words for South Korean President Kim Dae Jung who visited North Korea in 2000 with impressive amounts of giveaway cash, North Korean novels still ridiculed him as a pathetic double-dealer.

Continue Reading here…

Bookr review 2: North Korean Posters
Editor: David Heather
Reviewed by: Aidan Foster-Carter and Kate Hext
Review Publisher: Print Quarterly, December 2009 issue (Vol XXVI no 4), pp 429-31.
Order this book on Amazon here

North Korean art is hardly well-known, but it has recently seen something of a surge. For this David Heather can claim some credit, and does. As he boasts in his brief (just one page) preface to this block of a book, “I held the largest exhibition of North Korean Contemporary Art in the West in June 2007 in the heart of London and managed to fly the North Korean Flag in Pall Mall for probably the first time ever” (p.7, capitals in original).

That militant tone, here tongue in cheek, is deadly serious in North Korean Posters. On page after gaudy page angry Korean heroes curse and smite the foe, mostly Americans with hook noses. Fists, tanks and sledgehammers crush; bayonets lunge and stab; rockets rain down – including on a shattered US Capitol (p. 138), in blithe disregard of post-9/11 sensitivities.

In a year when North Korea has been censured by the UN for testing a nuclear device and a long-range missile, such images can only reinforce stereotypes of what Koen De Ceuster in his introduction calls a country “often misrepresented and largely misunderstood” (p.9). Yet there is more to North Korean art than this, as anyone who attended David Heather’s shows at La Galleria can attest. (For those who missed out, images and comment can still be found by searching Philip Gowman’s London Korean Links website, an indispensable resource.)

Here one finds a commercial tie-in modestly unadvertised in North Korean Posters. The said posters, plus a range of other artworks – various genres of painting, tapestry and ceramics – may be purchased via www.northkoreanart.org, which proclaims that: “La Galleria Pall Mall has the privilege to be the only Gallery outside DPR Korea to be permitted to sell art and represent individual artists from North Korea. We can certify that all the works are original and authentic, made and signed by the artists themselves in Pyongyang.” These posters, here described as “Propaganda Popart” (sic), can be yours for £250 each (unframed) plus postage.

“Individual artists”? Not one is named in the book under review. Nor are the pieces dated; so one cannot trace the evolution of styles or themes, let alone particular artists. By contrast, the first volume in this series by Prestel – Soviet Posters, featuring Sergo Grigorian’s collection (2007) – is divided into six periods; each work is dated, with notes on artists and other detail. The absence of such basic data in North Korean Posters is a serious omission. De Ceuster’s useful Introduction gives the broad context, yet is oddly free-standing. With few exceptions the posters are left to shout for themselves, with no information except basic translations of the slogans – which, bizarrely and inconveniently, are printed sideways rather than below.

Furthermore, when is a North Korean poster “original and authentic”? De Ceuster notes that “hand-painted reproductions find ready buyers abroad.” Northkoreanart.org is silent on this key question for collectors: what exactly does your £250 buy, an original or a copy? (Also its comments on the actual art are trite, even illiterate: gouache and propaganda are misspelled.)

The ambiguities go on. Curiously, Northkoreanart does not say who exactly is its partner in Pyongyang, but its sister site LaGalleria.org reveals this as the Mansudae Art Studio. Yet a search swiftly brings up mansudaeartstudio.com, based in Italy and claiming to be “the only official web-site of the Mansudae Art Studio in the West,” which pipped Heather to the post with an exhibition in Genoa in May 2007. Will the real Mansudae reps please stand up? The Italian site is far more educative. Through it one can buy The Hermit Country, which despite a clichéd title (it must have miffed the comrades) is a much better, broader book on modern North Korean art, not limited to posters. The moving spirits here are a pair of Pier Luigis: Cecioni, a collector who owns 600 works; and Tazzi, an idiosyncratic but insightful critic.

For a serious academic survey, Jane Portal’s aptly titled Art Under Control in North Korea (Reaktion/British Museum, 2005), with its fully integrated text and illustrations, is essential. The current art scene in Pyongyang was recently described in an excellent piece by Adrian Dannatt in March’s Art Newspaper. This is big business, on an industrial scale. Mansudae has a thousand artists producing “at least 4,000 top level original works a year [and] a factory-style section producing copies for western hotels;” while abroad it claims to have held over 100 shows in some 70 countries.

Perhaps there are yet more ‘sole agents’ out there? North Korea lends itself to a Columbus complex. People who happen upon it often imagine they are the first ever to do so, and even when disabused they like to claim a special niche. Scepticism is in order, on many counts.

As Dannatt says: “it could not be easier to assemble a collection of contemporary DPRK art … but it could not be harder to source the originals.” He quotes Nicholas Bonner, the doyen of collectors in this area – he began in 1993, and is curating a major exhibition in Brisbane in December – on how many ‘original’ works are in fact copies, and how to tell the difference. Bonner’s website Pyongyangartstudio.com, showcasing his gallery in Beijing, makes no monopoly claims but focuses on the actual art. Interestingly Bonner eschews the propaganda genre, but has a fascinating selection of film posters: a far less aggressive variant, ignored by Heather. He is also scrupulous in specifying that what he offers are “hand painted copies.”

But back to the book. North Korean Posters is a sadly missed opportunity. It reiterates visual cliché, but gives almost no context – historical, political, artistic – for these specific works. It is just a picture book to flick through: no dates, no dimensions, no artists. For a publisher of Prestel’s stature these are shameful lapses. Is the image somehow meant to speak for itself?

Absent such essentials, this is just another twist on commie chic – like Che Guevara T-shirts. It is all very postmodern and cynical. Once upon a time North Korea was communist. Some of these posters are about ideals people believed in, as they strove to build a better society. In today’s DPRK, a half-starved neo-feudal tyranny, one of the few ways to earn hard cash is factories of well-trained draughtsmen flogging second-hand images – bilious or kitsch, take your pick – to gullible, exoticizing Westerners. (Here as in all else, the contrast with South Korea’s brilliant and original art scene is acutely painful.) The laugh is on us too, if we just gawp at these admittedly striking visuals. Have we lost our minds? Do we care to know what we are we looking at? Neither Heather nor Prestel seem bothered. Caveat lector – et emptor.

I used a copy of Soviet Posters and North Korean Posters to make this artistic discovery.

Posted in Art, Civil society, Mansudae creative Company (art studio) | 1 Comment »

Friday Fun: The times they are a’ changin’ (UPDATE)

Thursday, December 10th, 2009

UPDATE: A few weeks ago we were speculating as to whether DPRK women were getting tattoos (see original post below), but it seems this is sadly not the case. It is more likely that these colorful icons are logos of some kind. Another visitor to the DPRK this year sent in the following picture:

Click image to see stocking logo on the ankles

Do any readers from China recognize this logo? I find it hard to believe that stockings made in the DPRK would be so brazen. As an aside, the woman in the picture above is wearing the same shoes as some of the women below. It looks like thick souled shoes are in this year.

ORIGINAL POST: A recent visitor to North Korea with a very keen eye snapped this photo at Kamsusan Palace:

I have seen tattoos on North Korean men but never on women. True, these may only be temporary tattoos (more likely since they all seem to match–both in design and in place of application), but this is also interesting. Given the way the girls went about applying these tattoos it is likely they are trying to signal something. What? If anyone can find out more on North Korean tattoos–or where the Pyongyang tattoo parlor is (if there is one)–I will be eternally grateful. I am not optimistic at this point.

Check out the full set of photos here.

UPDATE: Some readers think these could be logos on stockings. This would also be interesting. So would these be a local fashion innovation or imported from China?

Posted in Art, Civil society, Clothing | 8 Comments »

Friday Grab Bag: NOKO Jeans go on sale; Korea Today turns 60

Thursday, December 3rd, 2009

UPDATE 2: NOKO Jeans are on sale here and here.

UPDATE : It looks like the NOKO Jeans launch did not go off as expected. The Swedish department store in which the jenas were to go on sale has pulled the plug on NOKO’s retail space at the last minute. According to the AFP (Via Singapore’s Straits Times):

A SWEDISH department store on Saturday cancelled what was to be the sale of the ‘first ever’ brand of jeans made in North Korea, the Swedish company behind the communist-made dark denims said.

‘Apparently PUB has censored our exhibition/store by shutting it down and ‘confiscating’ the jeans because of the ‘working conditions in North Korea’,’ Jakob Ohlsson of company Noko Jeans told AFP in an email. ‘At first i thought it was a joke but everything has been removed from the store,’ he added.

Mr Ohlsson, along with Jacob Aastroem and Tor Rauden Kaellstigen – all under the age of 25 and with no previous experience in business or fashion – started Noko Jeans in mid-2007, prompted by a desire to enter in contact with isolationist North Korea.

Their designer jeans were to be sold starting on Saturday at Aplace, a boutique that is a tenant of the trendy PUB department store in central Stockholm. ‘A half-hour before opening, we got a call from the head of the department store and he explained to me… that PUB cannot sell the Noko Jeans,’ Kalle Tollmar, the founder and CEO of Aplace told AFP.

‘The explanation I got was that (the store’s management) had taken the decision… that PUB is not the right place, or platform, for this kind of political discussion,’ he said, confirming his store was hoping to continue distribution of the controversial duds at another location.

The Noko sales space at PUB was deserted on Saturday, the jeans removed and and surrounding photo exhibition taken down by the department store’s security. ‘They have it in a locked room at PUB but we have been promised to get everything back on Monday, it’s only for security reasons, they don’t want us to sell the jeans,’ Ms Tollmar said. — AFP

According to the AP:

A Stockholm department store says it won’t carry a new line of North Korean-made designer jeans because it doesn’t want ties to the isolated communist nation.

PUB store spokesman Rene Stephansen says it is “a political issue that PUB doesn’t want to be associated with.”

The Noko Jeans line is the brainchild of three Swedish entrepreneurs who hoped to help break North Korea’s isolation through increased trade with the West.

A spokesman for the retail space where Noko Jeans was selling its product says the jeans were taken off shelves early Saturday.

Noko Jeans spokesman Jacob Astrom says he regrets the decision is looking for a new shop location. The jeans will be available online.

The NOKO web page says that the jeans will be available on Monday, but in Sweden, Monday has nearly come and gone and the jeans are still not for sale on the web.

ORIGINAL POST: NOKO Jeans go on sale today. According to Reuters:

Designer jeans labeled “Made in North Korea” will go on sale this Friday at a trendy department store in the Swedish capital, marking a first foray into Western fashion for the reclusive communist state.

The jeans, marketed under the “Noko” brand, carry a price tag of 1,500 Swedish crowns ($215) and will share shelf space at Stockholm’s PUB store with brands such as Guess and Levi’s.

Noko’s founders told Reuters they had spent over a year trying to gain access to factory operators in North Korea, and struggled with poor communications and an unfamiliar approach to doing business once inside the country.

“There is a political gap, there is a mental gap, and there is an economic gap,” said Jacob Astrom, one of three Swedish advertising executives behind the project. “All contacts with the country are difficult and remain so to this day.”

The idea for the project was born out of curiosity for North Korea, which has grown increasingly isolated in recent years under Western criticism of its human rights record and nuclear ambitions.

“The reason we did this was to come closer to a country that was very difficult to get into contact with,” Astrom said.

North Korea, a country better known for its reclusive nature than fashionable clothes, rarely allows outsiders within its borders and has virtually no trade or diplomatic relations with most Western countries. Sweden, one of only seven countries to have an embassy in North Korea, is an exception.

But the process of agreeing a deal to produce just 1,100 pairs of jeans — the first ever produced by the country, according to the founders — often proved baffling. E-mails vanished into a void and communications were strained.

At one point they were asked to bring a zinc smelting oven into the country, and a trade representative once asked them to help him find a pirated version of the computer program Adobe Acrobat so he could read files they were sending him.

“Everyone is a manager. Even our chauffeur was some sort of manager,” said founder Jakob Ohlsson, adding that North Korean titles were often confusing.

After being turned down by North Korea’s largest textile company, the group managed to secure a manufacturing deal with its largest mining company, Trade 4, which also happens to run a small textile operations on its site.

“This is often the way it works in North Korea,” said Ohlsson. “Companies seldom specialize and therefore often manage several operations that differ completely from one another.”

During the summer, the trio traveled to the factory in North Korea to oversee the production process and ensure that workers there were treated according to Noko’s guidelines.

“We were forced to operate by micro-management,” Ohlsson said, referring to his experience on the factory floor.

Fashionable novelty seekers can order Noko jeans from the company’s website www.nokojeans.com after December 4, but you are not likely to see a pair on the streets of Pyongyang, North Korea’s capital, anytime soon.

Socialist dress code forbids them.

According to the BBC:

Mr Ohlsson explained black denim was chosen because North Koreans “usually associate blue jeans with America. That’s why it’s a little taboo”.

But the high ticket price for the jeans is not simply aimed at finding an exclusive niche in the market.

Mr Ohlsson admitted: “The reason they are so expensive is that we didn’t have any experience in fashion, trading, or anything like that.”

Read previous NOKO Jeans posts here, here, here and here.

Korea Today Turns 60. According to Korea Today:

December 4 this year marks the 60th founding anniversary of The Foreign Language Magazines, DPRK.

On the occasion we extend heartfelt gratitude to our readers.

We began to publish our journal, titled New Korea, in January 1950, hoping to help the readers understand how the Koreans had lived before they got free from the Japanese colonial rule and engaged in building a sovereign independent state, what they were aspiring after and what course they would take in the future.

Later the title changed to Korea Today.

The monthly magazine has so far carried policies the Workers’ Party of Korea set forth in each stage of socialist construction, achievements the Korean people made in their implementation, independent and creative life of the working masses and their happiness as well as the history, geography and culture of Korea.

Also introduced are the struggle of the Koreans and other progressive people for reunifying the nation that has been divided into the north and the south for over 60 years and building a new independent world—in various styles and methods.

Published in Russian alone in the initial years, the monthly is now available in English, Chinese, French, Spanish and Arabic, too.

You can get access to Korea Today on the Naenara site.

We’ll do our best to help you know the realities of Korea where building of a thriving nation is on its height, the efforts of the Korean people for national reunification and the struggle of Koreans and other progressive people around the world for a new, free and peaceful world.

It is interesting that Korea Today would remind everyone that their first publications were in Russian and featured Pyongyang’s Liberation Tower (located here) on the cover. It removes all doubt about who was actually in control at the time (i.e. not Kim Il Sung). (Новая Корея=New Korea).

Korea Today is full of all sorts of interesting and useless tid-bits on the DPRK–such as this.

Korea Today, Korea, and Kumsukangsan are all published by the Pyongyang Foreign Languages Printing House (also turning 60) located here.

The Soviet equivalent of Korea Today, named Soviet Russia Today, published a piece about the early days of the DPRK by American communist Ana Louise Strong, who was one of the first Americans allowed into the country. Learn more here.

Posted in Domestic publication, International trade, Korea Today, Sweden | 10 Comments »

Now that’s a socialist haircut!

Sunday, November 22nd, 2009

Back in 2005, the North Korean media was mocked in the western press for encouraging its population to maintain hairstyles consistent with a socialist lifestyle. Judging by the imagery, this was no laughing matter!

Well, the AFP reports that Rodong Sinmun has once again taken on the task of reminding the population of the importance of tidy hair:

Rodong Sinmun, the ruling-party newspaper, said men should keep their hair short and women should have it tied up.

“To keep your hair tidy and simple… is a very important matter for setting the ethos of a sound lifestyle in the country,” the paper said in its Saturday edition, quoted Thursday by South Korea’s Yonhap news agency.

“A short haircut is the basic style for men,” it said, adding that trimmed hair makes men look “elegant, neat, ambitious and passionate.”

The paper added that “for women to have their hair down and mussed up” does not suit the “people of the revolutionary age.”

Rodong recommended that female students keep their hair short or plaited, middle-aged women have their hair permed or tied and the elderly wear their locks in a traditional bun.

It is too bad the Rodong Sinmun is not on line and in english. I would love to know how often the public is urged to look after its hair.

Read the full article here:
North Koreans told to keep hair short, tidy
AFP
11/19/2009

Posted in Civil society, Domestic publication | 4 Comments »

Hyesan getting a facelift

Friday, November 20th, 2009

Kangsong Taeguk 2012 comes to Hyesan! According to the Daily NK:

According to an inside source, the North Korean authorities have, at the behest of Kim Jong Il, been using the “Mt. Baekdu Tourism Fund’ for improving areas in and around the city of Hyesan in Yangkang Province.

The source relayed the news in a phone conversation with The Daily NK on the 11th, saying, “Recently, many changes have been taking place in Hyesan. At the General’s suggestion, the ‘Mt. Baekdu Tourism Fund’ was channeled to the city, and has been used to dramatically improve the road to and beautify the area around the Samsu Powerplant, as well as creating parks around the Kim Jong Suk Performing Arts Theater.”

In May 2007, after five years under construction, the North Korean authorities held a ceremony for the completion of the Samsu Powerplant. Subsequently, in preparation for an onsite inspection by Kim Jong Il, the beautification of the area around the plant was completed and a new, 24km section of the No. 1 Road running from nearby Wangduk Station (one of a number for the exclusive use of Kim Jong Il) up to the powerplant was constructed.

Construction of the road was apparently extremely difficult, involving removing mountainsides and filling in streams to facilitate the construction of the road, part of that which connects Hyesan with Samjiyeon.

North Korea mobilized around 100,000 people in the period between January 2007 and May 2008 for the work, including 30,000 members of the June 18th Shock Troop, workers from a nearby collective farm, Hyesan Factory and other enterprise laborers.

The construction funds, said to be in the region of $800,000, were sent directly, in cash, to the Party Provincial Secretary and the Provincial Trading Bureau in 2007. They even brought in iron rods, gasoline and diesel fuel from China.

It is apparently difficult for even the vehicles of officials to pass down the No. 1 Road due to the existence of an Escort Bureau checkpoint.

The source also explained about other projects, “Separate from this construction, the project to renovate the road which goes around Wangduk to the Chundong district of Hyesan (where the No. 10 Army Corps Headquarters is located) also began recently (in 2009), and $80,000 has been invested in a beautification project in the area around the Kim Jong Suk theater.”

The road construction project connecting Wangduk and the Samsu Powerplant and the project to repave the existing road from Wangduk Station to the No. 10 Army Corps Headquarters in Chundong were both completed between May 2008 and the end of the “150-Day Battle” in preparation for Kim Jong Il’s inspection of army units in the area.

The beautification of the area around the newly constructed Kim Jong Suk Theater is also noteworthy. The surrounding area contains the No. 7 and No. 8 apartments, which until recently were extremely worn out. Additionally, when an 8-floor apartment next to the No. 7 apartment collapsed in July 2007, some 30 people are said to have lost their lives.

The authorities, while remodeling the No. 7 and No. 8 apartments in an effort to clean up the area, renovated dilapidated apartments and even started a project to lay down Chinese paving blocks in the area.

The Daily NK’s source could not be sure what the original source of the funds was, but confirmed in particular that “it was first tapped under the General’s instructions. Most officials are aware of this.”

On a related note, work on the incomplete Mt. Baekdu-Samjiyeon Railway has still not resumed since its interruption in May. This would seem to indicate that even the Mt. Baekdu Tourism Fund was insufficient for the work.

Read the full story here:
Intensive Public Works Reported in Hyesan
Daily NK
Lee Sung Jin
11/20/2009

Posted in 2012 Strong and Prosperous Nation (Kangsong Taeguk), Art, Construction, Real estate | Comments Closed

North Korean Economy Watch