North Korean Economy Watch

When I was much younger, I began martial arts training in taekwondo (TKD) and Brazilian jiu jitsu (BJJ).  Eventually I gave up taekwondo for kickboxing, and eventually just decided to specialize in BJJ. 

Although I was part of the International Taekwondo Federation (ITF), I really had no idea about its origins, or its part in the history and development of taekwondo.  So today I was surprised to read about the history of this organization and its relationship to the DPRK and even an assassination attempt on South Korean President Chun Doo hwan!

The beginning…

The ITF was founded in 1955 by General Choi Hong-hi, who is considered by the group to be the father of TKD.  Choi moved to Canada (from South Korea) in 1972, complaining that the Park government, among other things, allegedly forbade him from teaching TDK in the DPRK.  Shortly after he left, the South Korean government formed the World Taekwondo Federation (now recognized by the IOC).   

Choi’s final years were marked by his efforts to return to North Korea. He introduced taekwondo there in 1980, and won further favour with the government by changing the name of one solo practice form from kodang (after a North Korean democratic Christian moderate, presumed slain by the Red Army in 1946) to juche (after the isolationist policy of “self-reliance” advocated by North Korean leader Kim Il-Sung). Though Choi’s intention had been reconciliatory, unfortunately South Korea saw it as treasonous. (Guardian)

General Choi died and was buried in Pyongyang in 2002.  His death gave the DPRK the opportunity to name its IOC member, Jang Ung, as ITF leader, prompting Choi’s son, Choi Jung hwa, to resign as secretary-general and move back to Canada to set up a separate governing body there.  The ITF leadership is now claimed by three groups in the DPRK, Austria, and Canada who each purport to be successors to General Choi.

Choi Jr…

It seems that Choi Jr. moved to North Korea (from Canada) in 1981 after Canadian police discovered his role in plotting the assassination of then South Korean President Chun Doo-hwan, who was scheduled to visit Canada the following year.

In 1991, however, he surrendered to Canadian authorities and was sentenced to six years in prison, but was released after one year for good behavior. (AP)

“I was unintentionally involved” in the assassination attempt case, Choi told a news conference Monday. “I think that’s because of my political naivety or spirit of adventure. I made such a mistake due to this combination of factors.” (AP)

Now Choi Jr., after 34 years, has returned to South Korea to undergo questioning about the incident. Choi Jr. maintans that North Korea infiltrated the ITF, using it as a front to send out spies and plot the killing of a South Korean president who ruled for much of the 1980s:

“After taking control of the ITF, the North trained spies and sent them overseas, disguising them as taekwondo masters,” (Reuters)

Choi Jung-hwa, however, was expected to be cleared of most of the allegations against him because he voluntarily returned and the statue of limitations on many of them have expired.(AP)

UPDATE 2:  Soprano Suzannah Clarke, the first Briton to perform in the DPRK, has been working to bring North Korea’s state symphony to perform in London.  Unfortunately, she has had to postpone the Sept. 17 perforance until next year:

Although a bank has withdrawn its sponsorship for the tour because of the credit crunch, organiser Suzannah Clarke said the concerts could have gone ahead with another backer but concerns over the venue in London had forced a rethink.

“We could have still run the tour with the sponsorship that was promised to us but we felt it would have been a squeeze and that is not the way to do things properly,” Clarke, a British opera singer, told AFP.

“We were not 100 percent sure about the venue in London. It is a very large orchestra which needs a very big stage and we were trying to fit them into a very small space.” (AFP)

It will cost at least 400,000 pounds (US$720,000) to fund the trip (Yonhap).

UPDATE 1: Fingers crossed that NK orchestra will visit UK in September
by Michael Rank

Fingers are tightly crossed that North Korea’s State Symphony Orchestra will visit Britain as planned in September as planned even though a key sponsor has withdrawn its support due to the credit crisis.

Soprano Suzannah Clarke, who is something of a superstar in Pyongyang, has been greatly frustrated in her battle hard to bring the 160-member orchestra to London by the decision of the bank to drop out, and fears she could be pipped to the post by a visit by the orchestra to the U.S. instead.

She said that with just a few weeks to go plans are uncertain, but “We are still working to make it happen in September.” But if the visit does go ahead the orchestra will perform in Methodist Central Hall, close to the Houses of Parliament, rather than the bigger and more glamorous Royal Festival Hall or Royal Albert Hall as originally planned.

Not that Central Hall is lacking in political or historical significance–far from it. As Clarke noted, it hosted the 1946 inaugural meeting of the General Assembly of the United Nations, which would make it a highly appropriate venue for the first visit by a North Korean orchestra to the west.

She said one of London’s prestigious concert halls had told her the orchestra could not play any North Korean music, which she found surprising and shocking as the visit is aimed at promoting peace and understanding and is not political in nature.

Clarke said she was, to her consternation, in competition with American efforts to bring the orchestra to the U.S. in October, and although she had little definite information about this it appeared that the Bush administration was eager for the visit to go ahead before the end of the Bush presidency following the recent nuclear agreement. It would of course be a fitting return visit following the historic visit by the New York Philharmonic to Pyongyang in January.

She said raising money for the planned visit had been an enormous headache. “There isn’t a good feeling around for the DPRK for funding,” she added.

She was hoping that the orchestra would follow its visit to the U.K. with a visit to the U.S. and that it would all be part of a “world peace initative”,  but the State Department, Korea Society and New York Philharmonic were keeping their cards close to their chests and it was hard to tell what their plans were. “They are being very difficult, they want to go it alone,” she added.

Apart from visiting London, she hopes the orchestra will perform in her native Middlesbrough in northeast England, which has enormous significance in North Korea as that’s where the North Korean football team sensationally beat Italy in the quarter finals of the World Cup in 1966.

Clarke has performed every year since 2003 in North Korea, where she has sung everything from Mozart to Gershwin and from Verdi to Andrew Lloyd Webber. But she is unlikely to be going this year as she gave birth to her first child in January.

Mr. Rank wrote about Ms. Clark last October as well.

ORIGINAL POST:  The Times of London reports on Suzannah Clarke’s continuing efforts to bring North Korea’s state symphony to the West for the first time.  No word on whether “ordinary” people will be able to attend.  Excerpts below:

Children more used to singing When the Saints go Marching in are now being taught North Korean anthems in preparation for the state orchestra’s first visit outside the world’s most secretive nation.

The unprecedented tour is part of a mission by a former steel worker turned operasinger to bring the 160-piece orchestra beyond the last Cold War frontier to Britain for a one-off performance in Middlesbrough. As one of the few Westerners to be invited to North Korea, the celebrated soprano Suzannah Clarke has been given permission by Kim Jong Il to bring the ensemble on tour to Britain.

The first stop will be the unlikely location of the Teesside town, which has shared a strange bond with Pyongyang ever since the North Korean football team delivered one of sport’s most surprising results when they beat Italy during the 1966 World Cup at the local stadium.

and…

Clarke said: “I have deliberately chosen non-political songs, including the Arirang, which is enjoyed by both North and South Koreans as a celebration of their culture.” She added that military propaganda would not feature in the repertoire.

The tour, scheduled for this September or May next year, depending on the level of American involvement, will be the first time that the orchestra has been allowed to perform outside the reclusive Stalinist state.

Read the full article here:
Children sing for peace as North Korean musicians make historic visit
Times of London
Lucy Banneerman
7/5/2008

From the book’s web page (translated from German): Werner Kranwetvogel has travelled to the DPRK and had the opportunity to visit the Arirang Mass Games on two evenings. At these occasions he produced a spectacular series of pictures, which shows exactly this dualism: on the one hand there are tremendous and most impressing wide shots with thousands of synchronized performers. But on the other hand he firstly shows close ups of the dancers, isolates them, jumps close to several groups, shows their passion and the total devotion of the performers to that very moment. This outstanding series of pictures shows the ambivalent fascination of the mass aesthetics in a unique way and comments itself without words.

The book’s web page has an impressive number of pictures, as well as many video clips of the games (with the original music). 

(hat tip to Klaus-Martin Meyer)

According to the Daily NK, the chairpersons of the DPRK’s “People’s Units” (the smallest administrative population unit) are elected by the local membership through a show of hands.  Since the chairperson is in a position of some power, the political and economic dynamics that take place are pretty interesting.  The Daily NK notes how a chairperson’s skill at protecting his constituents from inspections by other departments is now factored into local (unofficial) real estate prices:

Quoting from the article:

“When the inspection group comes, the chairpersons of the People’s Units contact each other in advance, so inspections can be avoided. Nowadays, how a People’s Unit chairperson acts affects the price of housing.”

“People who buy homes now cannot distinguish between good and bad homes, but pay great attention to the People’s Unit in the neighborhood. If the People’s Unit chairperson is not so sophisticated, then the neighborhood cannot come together, so people tend to avoid such neighborhoods and the price of housing tends to fall as well.”

“If an inspection unit comes suddenly, the People’s Unit chairperson tends to alert every household through the children in the village, which has been described as ‘the pastime of the People’s Unit.’ The more a People’s Unit chairperson excels at this, the less damage to the people of the unit.”

“Officials or big-time merchants pay careful attention to their relationship with the chairpersons. No matter what the type of inspection is, the citizens’ attitude can be assumed via the words of the chairperson of the People’s Unit, so the fate of a household depends on the words of the chairperson.”

And if the chairperson is not good at his job?

“Depending on the extent of the damage to the People’s Unit during the inspections, people distinguish whether or not the People’s Unit chairperson is smart and experienced or not. If the chairperson is judged to be not smart, then he or she has to relinquish his or her position.”

It is interesting that the chairpersons take such an interest in protecting their constituents from outside authorities, however, it is naïve to think that local elections are responsible for this behavior.  The reality is that these chairpersons probably know a good deal of information about their residents and collect some form of direct payment, or “taxes”, for their services.  The quote above, “big-time merchants pay careful attention to their relationship with the chairpersons,” is just a more polite way of saying this.  If the chairperson position was not profitable in some way, why would anyone want it?

Read the full Daily NK story here:
Who Is the Chairperson of the People’s Unit?
Daily NK
Moon Sung Hwee
8/18/2008

Well the Olympics have wrapped up, and the DPRK made headlines for several notable reasons:

1.  The Chinese government made things harder for the North Koreans living in China. 

2. Two DPRK athletes test positive for doping.  This results in Kim Jong Su being stripped of his silver and bronze medals in shooting.

3.  If these medals had not been taken away, the DPRK would have seen their most succesful Olympic showing ever.  Still, their medal count has been relatively impressive: 2 golds, 1 silver, and 3 bronze.  Mostly in weightlifting and Judo.

4.  Despite these results, the victories are not being touted back in Pyongyang.  According to Bloomberg:

At home, few Olympic events are shown live on television and press reports barely mention the reclusive nation’s haul of seven six medals, including two golds — the second-best in history.

Delivering news of a first gold medal since 1996, the national news agency, KCNA, carried a three-sentence report listing the weights that Pak Hyon Suk lifted for the title.

“She thus came first in the 63kg category final competition,” the story concluded.

Hardly the splurge of propaganda that might be expected in a state that misses few chances of self-promotion to a population experiencing its worst food shortages in a decade. The lack of Olympic hype is a deliberate exercise in keeping people from looking beyond their borders, said Mike Breen, author of “Kim Jong Il: North Korea’s Dear Leader.”

5.  North Korea’s Olympic sponsors made the news.  Turns out the DPRK’s athletes need to learn to thank their sponsors on camera, not “you know who:”

“When I was about to do the third (lift), I kept in my mind that the Dear Leader would be watching,” Pak said after her Aug. 12 win. “That thought was real encouragement to me and that is how I was able to lift the last weight.”

She stopped short of emulating Cha Kum Chol’s celebration at the world weightlifting championships in Thailand in September. Then, the 56-kilogram winner burst into a rendition of “If you didn’t exist, we wouldn’t exist” — a eulogy to Kim Jong Il — at a news conference.

“A lot of people give much pleasure to the Dear Leader and I’m happy to be one of them,” Cha said in Chiang Mai. (Bloomberg)

6. The DPRK’s Olympic athletes spent most of the time confined to the Olympic Village. According to a reporter with the Oregonian:

There are 63 athletes from the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea staying in a private compound inside the Olympic Village.

Literally.

Staying.

Inside.

The athletes get to go outside when they practice, or when they compete in the 11 sports they’ve come here to win medals in. But that’s about it. And I know this because I went to the Water Cube on Tuesday and talked with North Korean synchronized swimmers Kim Yong Mi and Wang Ok Gyong.

Well, I talked with an interpreter who spoke English and Mandarin. And he talked with a second interpreter who spoke Mandarin and Korean. And the five of us huddled at one end of the swim complex, against a steel rail that blocked off the back door, understanding each other, one clumsy sentence at a time.

Kim and Wang finished 15th in the preliminaries and didn’t qualify for today’s finals, which means they’ll probably be back in communist North Korea by the time you read this. There will be no trip to the Great Wall. No shopping excursion to the Silk Market. There will be no tours, or temples, or taking the subway.

The Forbidden City?

Forbidden.

Said Wang: “We’re not allowed to see places of interest.”

…

North Korean athletes are not allowed to mingle with athletes from other nations inside the village. And they refused to talk with reporters after their performance on Tuesday until their coach — a woman named Jong Ae Ryu — gave her blessing. It’s protocol, and the whole contingent hurried off after a few minutes and polite explanation that they didn’t come to Beijing to be tourists or make friends.

“No mixing with others,” Jong said.

Read more here:
North Korea Heads for Best Olympics; Don’t Say It in Pyongyang
Bloomberg
Grant Clark and Heejin Koo
8/21/2008

A lonely Olympics experience
The Oregonian
John Canzano
8/19/1008

UPDATE 3 (2010-6-3): China Hongxing bid to sponsor the DPRK’s 2010 World Cup football team, but was beat out by Italian firm Legea.

UPDATE 2 (2008-8-14): The Wall Street Journal did a follow up story on China Hongxing:

During the Opening Ceremonies, for instance, the North Koreans refused to wear Erke’s logo for fear it would compete with their country’s Communist red-starred flag.

and…

The North Korean sponsorship cost Erke $2 million to $3 million, said Wu Rongzhao, deputy chief executive at China Hongxing Sports, which owns Erke. The Singapore-listed Hongxing reported net profit of $59 million for fiscal 2007.

Yet Erke’s sponsorship of the North Korea team has been “a very painful process,” said Mr. Wu.

Erke had to scrub plans for a marketing event timed to the Games’ opening because of red tape and bureaucracy, said a person familiar with the matter. For instance, Pyongyang’s Olympic officials would communicate only by email, not by phone.

Nor are North Korean athletes a sports marketer’s dream. Most are conditioned to be self-effacing and to credit their victories to the North Korean regime and its leader, Kim Jong Il. Weightlifter Pak Hyon Suk, who won North Korea’s first gold in Beijing on Tuesday — wearing Erke — said her victory was the “the best present for the president, for the people, for the country and for myself,” according to Xinhua, China’s state-run news agency.

UPDATE 1 (2008-7-28): Reuters follows up with China Hongxing:

Hoping to achieve what Michael Jordan did for Nike, a little-known Chinese sportswear brand is banking on the North Korean Olympic team for publicity.

“[The Chinese] tend to watch the North Koreans compete in the events that the Chinese are also strong in, so sponsoring North Korea will get a lot more eyeballs,” [Jenny Yeo, company spokesperson] said.

North Korean athletes in the Beijing Games will be sporting a stylized swan logo from China Hongxing’s “Erke” brand, which means “you conquer” in Mandarin.

China Hongxing will be kitting out the team with leotards, soccer boots and the red windbreakers the athletes will wear to the August 8 opening ceremony. Erke will be selling some of this sportswear in China and expects buyers seeking novelty value.

ORIGINAL POST (2007-7-25): Since China’s star Olympic athletes have signed endorsement contracts with western sports apparel firms, their Chinese competitors have looked to the DPRK to help them cash in on the ’08 Olympics (and beyond).

China Hongxing Sports Limited is one such companies, and they have issued a press release here (PDF) announcing their deal with the DPRK Olympic team and the women’s football team.

Slate has more on the retail strategy:

Chinese companies can’t compete with the world powers when it comes to locking up megastars. Olympic gold-medalist hurdler Liu Xiang, who will likely emerge as the biggest Chinese star of the Beijing games, has a deal with Nike. One of China’s leading sports-marketing consultants told me that every starter on the national basketball team has a deal with a foreign brand. Yi Jianlian, whom the Milwaukee Bucks selected with the sixth pick of the NBA draft, had a Nike contract by the time he was 16.

…

At the same time, Chinese shoe companies’ Billy Beane-like quest for hidden value has led to a few questionable decisions. Most sneaker companies would shy away from sponsoring the North Korean Olympic team. At the 2004 Summer Games in Athens, the DPRK won a grand total of five medals, none of them gold. Besides, the Hermit Kingdom doesn’t exactly conjure up the kind of brand associations most shoe companies are looking for. But Erke’s [China Hongxing] sponsorship of North Korea has a simple explanation. North Korea’s strongest sports include gymnastics, table tennis, and diving, all of which draw huge support and TV audiences in China.

Read the full stories here:
Chinese Companies Sponsor Countries Others Won’t Touch
Wall Street Journal, Page A14
Mei Fong
8/14/2008

North Korea’s Olympic outfitter hopes for publicity gold
Reuters
Melanie Lee
7/29/2008

Female Weightlifters, Spanish Basketball Stars, and Kim Jong-il
Slate
Jacob Leibenluft
7/25/2007

UPDATE:  Looks like the show was drastically scaled down in P’ang.  According to the Associated Press:

Efforts shifted to trying to stage a rock concert in Pyongyang, and Cooper said possible artists included Eric Clapton or Roger Waters. But he said no corporate sponsor was found willing to pay the high production cost to bring such acts to the North.

It would have been the highest-profile performance in Pyongyang since the New York Philharmonic’s historic concert in February.

In the end, the rally ended up making the short stop in Pyongyang without the cars to watch the North Koreans’ “mass games” propaganda spectacle featuring 100,000 people performing synchronized gymnastics and acrobatics.

After the performance, the group had a banquet at the Koryo Hotel that a guide boasted was “one of the most luxurious hotels in our country.” Toasts were raised to the health of Kim Jong Il, and to Cooper.

Tattooed rally entrants wearing designer T-shirts and jeans mixed alongside North Korea’s vice culture minister clad in a dark suit.

And according to Simon (in the comments):

I was at Arirang the same night as these guys and went to the Koryo Hotel afterwards to see if they were having a party or anything like that – no party, no Hoff and the biggest star I saw was Carlton from the Fresh Prince of Bel Air. Don’t know who Travis Barker is so he may have been there. All in all I don’t know if they would consider the visit a success as they just flew in, went to the Games (spectacular as ever, a few changes as well this time so better than last years) and then flew out again – no concert, no party (unless it was hidden away or very small scale) but at least Carlton was there, and a guy carrying a skateboard who could conceivably have been a skater.

ORIGINAL POST: I had no idea what the Gumball 3000 was until I read the article below.  The story seems so surreal it has to be true. 

From the article:

This Saturday, August 9, superstars and super cars converge in San Francisco for the official kick-off of the 10th Anniversary Gumball 3000 Rally. More than 100 of the most amazing cars, driven by film stars, musicians, athletes and billionaires, will take an incredible eight-day journey from San Francisco to Los Angeles, San Diego, Las Vegas, North Korea and China. The “Gumballers,” driving by day and reveling at VIP parties by night, will witness the Mass Games celebration in North Korea as part of a “global friendship initiative” as well as attend the Olympic finals in Beijing.

“This year’s rally is our most historic and spectacular to date,” said Maximillion Cooper, Gumball Founder. “Fuelled by adrenaline, amusement and amity, the 2008 route from the West to the East, including the city of Pyongyang, North Korea, will be a real once in a lifetime adventure.”

The Gumball 3000 entrants include David Hasslehoff driving K.I.T.T., the Trans AM “Official Knight Rider,” Travis Barker and more in the world’s hottest cars from Ferrari Enzos to Bugatti Veyrons, low riders and electric cars.

Learn more about the Gumball 3000 here.

Read stories below:
Gumball 3000 10th Anniversary Rally Kicks Off Saturday, August 9 in San Francisco
Market Watch
08/08/08

Partytown Pyongyang? Global tour comes to NKorea
Associated Press
Burt Herman
8/15/2008

According to UPI:

The International Olympic Committee reported its first positive drug test involving a medal winner Friday at the Beijing Games.

Kim Jong-su of North Korea, who won silver in the men’s pistol competition and a bronze in the air pistol, tested positive for propanolol, a betablocker that limits trembling.

China’s Tan Zongliang was moved up from third to second in the pistol and fourth-place finisher Vladimir Isakov of Russia will receive the bronze in that event.

And sccording to RTE Sport Olympics:

A second North Korean shooter was disqualified from taking part in the Beijing Olympics because of doping, state media in South Korea said on Saturday.

Kim Hyun-woong, a pistol shooter, was kicked out of the Olympic team after test results showed positive for a banned substance, Yonhap news agency reported, quoting a South Korean official.

Read the full artocle below:
North Korean medal winner tests positive
UPI
8/15/2008

The most authoritative map of North Korea on Google Earth
Download it here

This map covers North Korea’s agriculture, aviation, cultural locations, markets, manufacturing facilities, railroad, energy infrastructure, politics, sports venues, military establishments, religious facilities, leisure destinations, and national parks. It is continually expanding and undergoing revisions. This is the eleventh version.

Additions include: Mt. Paegun’s Ryonghung Temple and resort homes, Pyongyang’s Chongryu Restaurant, Swiss Development Agency (former UNDP office), Iranian Embassy, White Tiger Art Studio, KITC Store, Kumgangsan Store, Pyongyang Fried Chicken Restaurant, Kilju’s Pulp Factory (Paper), Kim Chaek Steel Mill, Chongjin Munitions Factory, Poogin Coal Mine, Ryongwun-ri cooperative farm, Thonggun Pavilion (Uiju), Chinju Temple (Yongbyon), Kim il Sung Revolutionary Museum (Pyongsong), Hamhung Zoo, Rajin electrified perimeter fence, Pyongsong market (North Korea’s largest), Sakju Recreation Center, Hoeryong Maternity Hospital, Sariwon Suwon reservoir (alleged site of US massacre), Sinpyong Resting Place, 700 Ridges Pavilion, Academy of Science, Hamhung Museum of the Revolutionary Activities of Comrade Kim Il Sung, South Hamgyong House of Culture, Hamhung Royal Villa, Pork Chop Hill, and Pyongyang’s Olympic torch route. Additional thanks go to Martyn Williams for expanding the electricity grid, particularly in Samjiyon, and various others who have contributed time improving this project since its launch.

Disclaimer: I cannot vouch for the authenticity of many locations since I have not seen or been to them, but great efforts have been made to check for authenticity. These efforts include pouring over books, maps, conducting interviews, and keeping up with other peoples’ discoveries. In many cases, I have posted sources, though not for all. This is a thorough compilation of lots of material, but I will leave it up to the reader to make up their own minds as to what they see. I cannot catch everything and I welcome contributions.  Additionally, this file is getting large and may take some time to load.

Institute for Far Eastern Studies (IFES)
NK Brief No. 08-8-8-1
08/08/08

According to Choi Hyun-soo, vice director of the DPRK Department of Agriculture, “The issue of increasing agricultural production is related to the serious political issue of the fate of the construction of a strong and prosperous socialist nation, and even moreso, the fate of our style of socialism,” rather than simply an issue of economic affairs.

In an interview published in the latest issue (July 24) of the DPRK Cabinet publication, “Democratic Chosun”, Vice Director Choi stressed that several years of natural disasters had prevented last year’s grain production from reaching a satisfactory level, making increased grain production this year an even more important issue. While Choi recognized the impact of the natural disasters, he also blamed the “villainous isolation and oppression machinations of the imperialists” for causing the North’s scant grain production. He also pointed out that the sudden jump in rice, corn, wheat and other grain prices around the world has been cause for concern, and “these days, there are no countries offering food or in a position to provide it.”

He went on to state, “If countermeasures to prevent damage during the monsoon season cannot be implemented, farmland and crops could be severely damaged,” and the lack of heavy rains is no reason for complacency, but rather, efforts to prevent flood damage need to continue. The (North) Korean Central Broadcasting Station also reported on July 24, “Good agricultural cultivation is an important political task,” and, “Good agricultural cultivation and easing of the eating problem is precisely the utmost important matter for the success of socialism and the protection of our system and ideology.”