North Korean Economy Watch

KCNA
5/8/2007

The national scientific and technological festival commemorating the 95th birth anniversary of President Kim Il Sung was held from May 3 to 7 at the Three-Revolution Exhibition. 

The 22nd festival of this kind took place in the forms of a symposium on latest scientific and technological achievements, a presentation of results of scientific researches, a presentation of achievements in technical innovation and a diagram show. 

Officials, scientists, technicians and working people across the country presented achievements, experiences and many scientific and technical data attained in the course of the massive technical innovation movement at local scientific and technological festivals. 

At least 570 items of data of scientific and technological results highly appreciated there were made public at 18 sections of the national festival. 

During the festival the participants introduced achievements in agriculture and light industry and valuable scientific and technological data helpful to revitalizing the national economy and lifting to a high level the technical engineering of such major fields as IT and nanotechnology, bioengineering and basic sciences and widely swapped experiences. 

Five persons carried away special prize and 53 top prize at the festival. 

The closing ceremony of the national festival took place on Monday. Present there were Choe Thae Bok, secretary of the C.C., Workers’ Party of Korea, Ro Tu Chol, vice-premier of the Cabinet, Pyon Yong Rip, president of the State Academy of Sciences, and others. 

The decision of the jury of the festival was made public at the closing ceremony and the festival cups, medals and diplomas were awarded to those highly appraised. And prize of scientific and technological merits went to seven officials who had given precious help to scientists and technicians and presented materials of new research results to the festival. 

A closing speech was made by Pak Yong Sin, secretary of the Central Committee of the Korean General Federation of Science and Technology.

Korea Herald
5/8/2007
 
An online website named North Korea’s “juche” (self-reliance) ideology as the world’s 10th major religion, although some argue that it is more a philosophy than a religion, Yonhap News Agency reported Tuesday.

Adherents.com, which collected information and statistics on more than 4,200 religions around the globe, cited Christianity as having the largest number of believers at 2.1 billion. Islam has 1.3 billion, followed by Buddhism claiming some 376 million believers, while another 100 million people share African traditional faith, according to the site.

Juche was said to have 19 million believers, which is the entire North Korean population.

Some 22 religions were listed to account for the beliefs of over 98 percent of the world’s population.

The website explains juche as the official philosophy promulgated by the North Korean government and education system, initially classified as the country’s form of Marxist communism.

Joong Ang Daily
Lee Ho-jeong
5/7/2007

The wearing of the hanbok, the Korean traditional dress, is undoubtedly one of Korea’s most cherished traditions. Once worn everyday, it is now most commonly worn on special occasions, such as the Lunar New Year and Chuseok (Korean Thanksgiving), or at weddings and funerals.

Although most people in Korea today wear western suits or sneakers and jeans, the hanbok has a special meaning for many Koreans and that is reflected in the high prices, particularly for some of the more elaborate examples.

Many experts say that Korean hanbok makers, in an effort to reconnect with the wider public, are researching ways to integrate the hanbok’s essential elements with Western fashion.

Bae Young-ja and Choi Hye-yool, authors of the book “The History of Korean Clothes,” said the hanbok, which consists of pants and a jacket, has its roots in the outfits of the Northern Altaic peoples.

(more…)

KCNA
5/4/2007

The Korean Documentary and Scientific Film Studio recently released the documentary “Grand Hydropower Base in Thaechon Area”.

The film vividly depicts historic facts showing that the Thaechon area has been converted into a huge power base under President Kim Il Sung’s grand nature-remaking plan and Kim Jong Il’s wise guidance. 

It presents scenes of Kim Jong Il forming a highly qualified construction team involving servicemen and wisely leading the construction of the power stations, visiting the area several times to solve all the problems and bestowing great loving care upon the builders. 

It also shows how heroically the builders including servicemen and youth shock brigade members worked to build the gigantic Songwon and Thaechon dams, excavate huge water tunnels and build five power stations. 

The film says that Kim Jong Il spoke highly of the strenuous fighting spirit, the working manner of self-reliance and the optimistic way of life displayed by the builders and set them up as the spirit of Thaechon.

Yonhap
5/2/2007

A group of lawmakers from the pro-government Uri Party left for North Korea on Wednesday with a package of new proposals to boost economic and sports exchanges, including the construction of a second joint industrial park.

The five-member delegation, accompanied by agricultural and coal industry officials, will meet with top North Korean officials, including the North’s No. 2 leader Kim Yong-nam, during its four-day visit until Saturday, party officials said.

High on the agenda of the meetings will be the South’s proposals to create another South Korea-developed industrial complex such as one under operation in Kaesong; designate the mouths of the North’s Imjin River and the South’s Han River as a “joint security area”; and jointly collect sand from their beaches and build a cross-border canal linking Seoul and Kaesong.

The sides will also discuss the North’s proposed entry into the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, the hosting of a joint academic forum and the possibility of North Korean footballers playing in the South Korean professional league, he said.

“I hear some critics asking what right our party has to do this, but we can play a role as a messenger between officials of the South and the North about important current issues,” Rep. Kim Hyuk-kyu, the delegation’s leader, said before departing at Incheon International Airport.

There have been a series of visits to North Korea by Uri Party lawmakers in recent months, prompting speculation that they were laying the groundwork for a summit between President Roh Moo-hyun and North Korean leader Kim Jong-il. The first and only inter-Korean summit, which took place in 2000, generated a series of economic and cultural exchanges.

Kim said the summit issue was not on the agenda, but acknowledged the delegation will respond if Pyongyang brings it up.

Accompanying the lawmakers are Nam Kyong-woo, livestock director of the National Agricultural Cooperative Federation, and Kim Weon-chang, head of the state-run Korea Coal Cooperation.

Daily NK
Han Young Jin
5/1/2007

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Daily NK
Kwon Jeong Hyun
5/1/2007

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Christian Post
Michelle Vu
4/29/2007

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

DOWNLOAD IT HERE (to your own Google Earth)

Using numerous maps, articles, and interviews I have mapped out North Korea by “industry” (or topic) on Google Earth.  This is the most authoritative map of North Korea that exists publicly today.

Agriculture, aviation, cultural, manufacturing, railroad, energy, politics, sports, military, religion, leisure, national parks…they are all here, and will captivate anyone interested in North Korea for hours.

Naturally, 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. 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 on the more “controversial” locations.  In time, I hope to expand this further by adding canal and road networks. 

I hope this post will launch a new interest in North Korea. There is still plenty more to learn, and I look forward to hearing about improvements that can be made.

Yonhap
Lee Dong-min
4/20/2007

The United States is considering starting exchange programs with North Korea, potentially including government officials, to broaden bilateral relations and help open up one of the most closed societies in the world, a White House envoy said Thursday.

Jay Lefkowitz, appointed by the U.S. president to deal with North Korean human rights issues, said the exchanges could be between athletes, musicians, artists and even government officials.

“This is something we are thinking about,” Lefkowitz said at a session hosted by the Heritage Foundation.

He wasn’t sure whether North Korea would be receptive, the envoy said, “but exchange programs, I think, are ultimately a wonderful way to broaden relationships … they let real people interact with real people.”

It could be similar to the “ping pong diplomacy” initiated with China, he said, and the opportunity would be beneficial for both countries.

“It is highly likely that the people North Korea sends abroad will be chosen from the elites,” Lefkowitz said.  “Nonetheless, even the most pro-regime participant will undoubtedly have his assumptions jarred by seeing the outside world.”

U.S. relations with North Korea are heavily restricted by domestic laws. Pyongyang, denounced annually in human rights reports as one of the world’s most oppressive regimes, is also suspected of developing nuclear weapons and sponsoring terrorism.

The two countries held their first diplomatic normalization talks last month, a process begun when North Korea signed on to an agreement to eventually give up its nuclear weapons and programs.

Lefkowitz said human rights improvement in North Korea is a prerequisite to establishing formal relations.

“If the North Korean government ever wants to be seen as legitimate, it will have to make progress on human rights,” he said.

There is a glimmer of hope, the envoy said, quoting a Russian expert on North Korea who says a “quiet revolution” is under way in the communist nation and that the government there is gradually losing control over its people.

The phenomenon, Lefkowitz said, is very similar to what happened in the last days of the Soviet Union.

He criticized China for refusing to help North Korean refugees flowing into the country through their shared borders and said next year’s Beijing Olympics is a chance to highlight the situation.

“Does anyone seriously believe that a massive abuse (of) the refugee population will go unnoticed? I certainly hope not,” Lefkowitz said.

“This is an area where the international media can play a big role of exposing what’s going on.”

The envoy repeated his skepticism about the Kaesong industrial complex, an inter-Korean pilot economic project. Located just north of the border, the complex houses factories built with South Korean capital and run by North Korean labor.

Lefkowitz refuted argument that the project guarantees the same kind of success from China’s special economic zones.

In China, the companies operated under relatively free market conditions and accepted foreign investment and participation, he said.

For Kaesong, the “most troubling” is lack of overall transparency, he argued.

“This does not necessarily foretell liberalization,” he said. “Until there is transparency, other countries should not import goods made in Kaesong.”