International Governments « North Korean Economy Watch

Archive for the ‘International Governments’ Category

Price and wage data:

Wednesday, February 15th, 2006

Daily DK did a survey of prices in the DPRK this January, 2006.

Official Wages for a North Korean workers labor are 2,000 won to 3,000 won per month (about $1).

Exchange rate

Yuan 350:1 / Dollar 2,715:1 / 100Dollars: 85Euro

Groceries
Rice	750won	Millet	500won
Glutinous	850won	Barley	450won
Annam rice	700won	Pork	3,000won
Chicken	3,000~4,000won(it depends on size)	Egg	150won per one
Edible oil	Yellow-1,930won per kg	Seasoning	1,500won per 500g
Edible oil	White – 1,660won	Corn	380won

Clothes and Shoes
Underwear	panties	500~1,000won	Sneakers	Home handcraft	6,000won
	Brassiere	4,000~5,000won		Private products	3,000won
Socks	500~1,000won			Made in China	12,000~17,000won
Shoes	15,000~20,000won		Handy shoes(for women)	2,000won

Housing Prices
Rental	60won per menth / Paying quarterly
Luxurious apatment	4,000~5,000dollars(99m²)	Quality apartment	3,000dollars(82.5m²)
General apartment	1,500~2,000dollars(66m²)	Small apartment	1,000~1,500dollars(49.5m²)
General single story house	800dollars	Inferior single story house	450~500dollars

Medicines
Cold remedy	20won(1pill)	Vitamin B1 injection	20won(once)
Aspirin	20won(1pill)	Amoxicillin (Antibiotics)	28won(250mm)
Anthelmintics	60won(1pill)	Santonin	120won (1pack)
Obstruent	15won(1pill)	Painkillers	15won(1pill)

– When examined, bribery is not necessary
– When getting a medical certificate or medicines, bribery is necessary
– Bribery: one box of tobacco/ as for medicines for 1,000 won, 7000 won

Stationery
Pencil	General lead pencil	25won	Notebook	Big one	25won
	Mechanical pencil	200won	Notebook	Small one	15won
	Ball pen	50~100won	School Uniform	Elementary school	1,500won
School Bag	10,000won		School Uniform	Mid and High schools	2,500won

– Every month, the following costs should be paid to schools: kindergartens – 1,000 won/ elementary schools- 2,5000 won/ middle and high schools- 4,000 won
– Every month, the following stuffs should be provided to schools: scrap irons, glass 15kg and 40 bundles of timbers
– In an irregular basis, the following stuffs should be provided to school: vinyl, wastepaper, paints and gasoline

Railroad Fares
Shinuiju – Pyongyang	High class – 650won	Shinuiju – Chongjin	1,000won
	Low class – 450won
Shinuiju – Gaesung	1,000won	Shinuiju – Nampo	600won
Shinuiju – Ryongcheon	200won	Sariwon – Pyongyang	200won (low class)
Pyongyang – Dandong(Pyongyang-Beijing international train)		About 10yuan(3,300won)
Dandong – Pyongyang		400yuan

Fares of Cars and Buses
Shinuiju – Pyongsung	8,000won	Shinuiju – Jeongju	5,000won
Shinuiju – Yeomju	3,000won	Shinuiju – Wonsan	10,000won
Sariwon – Wonsan	8,000~10,000won	Sariwon – Pyongyang	1,000won
Sariwon – Pyongsung	8,000~10,000won	Sariwon – Haeju	6,000won

Accommodation Fee
Hotels	Usually 100 dollars, at minimum 60 dollars
Inns	50~100won
Private-owned inns	Less than 100~200 won / The most decent room is 500won

Fees for Travel Documents
Safeguard certificate	in a province	3,000won	Crossing-river certificate	100dollars
Safeguard certificate	Outside of a province	4,000~5,000won	Passport and visa	40,000won

Selling Stand in a Market
Depending on size, place and kinds of business	15,000~50,000won

Appliances
White-black TV	50,000~60,000won	Computer	Pentium 3	170~190dollars
Color TV	200,000won(new one)	Computer	Pentium 4	300~400dollars
Radio	Made in China – 20,000~30,000won(about 100yuan)

Prices and Phone Bills of Telephone and Mobile Phone
Telephone	Installation fee(per one)	40,000won(about $200)	Using in a postal office	Local	2won
Telephone	Rental per month	1,500won	Using in a postal office	distance	40~50won

Posted in Agriculture, Finance, General markets (FMR: Farmers Market), Labor conditions/wages, Price liberalization, UN World Food Program | Comments Closed

Kumgang Expansion

Wednesday, February 15th, 2006

According to the Korea Times, 02-10-2006, the Kumgang tourist zone is being expanded. Here are some stats:

The Extended tour zone will reach Wonsan (Where the Japanese Chongryun ships come in)
There are plans to finalize a “master plan” of development for the area (lakes, nursing homes, beaches).
Since opening in 1998, 1.2 million south Koreans have visited
Hyundai Asan hopes to channel 2.3 trillion won ($2.37 billion) into the project through domestic and foreign investors.
Besides the tour-related issues, the two sides also agreed on a payment of $400,000 to the three victims of a traffic accident that happened late last year. It wish I could track that $400,000. It will end up in interesting places for sure. The accident happened on Dec. 27 in the tourist area, and North Korea called at first for at least $1 million in compensation. In an earlier traffic accident that killed a North Korean soldier in June 2001, $6,000 in compensation was paid.

Posted in Chongryun, Foreign direct investment, Mt. Kumgang Tourist Special Zone | Comments Closed

China Trade Boosting DPRK GNP

Tuesday, February 14th, 2006

According to the Asia Times:

2/14/06

SEOUL – North Korea’s economy would have posted minus growth if it had not been for its rapidly growing trade with China, the South Korean central bank’s research unit said Monday.

North Korea-China trade has been rising by an average 30% every year since 2000, boosting the communist state’s economic growth by 3.5% every year, according to the Institute for Monetary and Economic Research.

As of 2004, the bilateral trade accounted for 39% of the North’s total trading volume, and also made up 77% of annual increase in the North’s trade volume, the institute said. North Korea’s economic growth could have dipped below zero if it were not for such a sharp increase in its trade with China, the institute said. Such a sharp increase in bilateral trade is the result of North Korea’s low production capacity and cheap prices of Chinese goods, it said.

Geographical proximity also boosted the trade. The fast growth of the Chinese economy will result in increased trade with North Korea and induce more market elements in the Stalinist state in the coming years, the institute predicted.

As a result, the inclusion of China in South Korea’s economic cooperation with the North will be one of the options that the government could consider in its policy, it added.

Posted in China, International trade | Comments Closed

Sinuiju SAR back on?

Monday, February 13th, 2006

According to the Daily NK (2006-2-13):

A high-level internal source in North Korea reported on the 12th that North Korea is in the process of restarting the development of Shinuiju Special Administrative Region.

According to the source, a mass number of residents were moved to rural areas, plans were set to move administrative offices and plans were carried out to build the road to Dandong, China is under expansion construction. They are also coming up with measures to better control the usage of cellular phones as well as other political measures.

Such recent development activities in Shinuiju mainly took place after Kim Jong Il’s visit to China, which seems to be part of North Korea’s reformation and liberalization plan.

Driving Out the Residents and Their Number

The source reported, “They are planning to move the Shinuiju residents of about 7,000 families (25,000 to 30,000 people) to close cities and rural areas. Their plan is to strictly sort out those from “bad families” and those who have committed political errors (wrongdoings) and move them to Chulsan-gun [Cholsan], Donglim-gun [Tongrim], Yomju-gun, and Taechun-gun[Thaechon] of North Pyongan province.”

In September of 2002, North Korea announced Shinuiju as the Special Administrative Region and nominated Yang Bin, president of Ouya Group at the time, who was the invited minister of the Shinuiju Special Administrative Region. He said, “We will move the current 200,000 Shinuiju residents to another place.”

At the time, the North Korean government started to build 3 m high fence around the designated region, which clearly showed its preparation to make Shinuiju an isolated Special Administrative Region.

Kim Eun Chul, president of Backdu-Halla Association, a young adults defectors organization and a former Shinuiju resident, said, “Chulsan-gun, Donglim-gun, Yomju-gun, and Taechun-gun are agricultural areas where there is no military or manufacturing production facilities, thus they are adequate places to move the residents.”

“There have been rumors about moving those people with unclear backgrounds out of the region every time they talked about making the Special Administrative Region.”

Provincial Administrative Offices to be Moved

The source reported, “The provincial offices located in Shinuiju city are rebuilt in South Shinuiju and roads to Dandong, China are under construction to be expanded.”

Shinuiju’s administrative offices refer to provincial offices of North Pyongan Province, including Provincial Party (office), People’s Committee, and Administrative Committee. Plans to move these offices to South Shinuiju had been announced when the government announced the plan for the Shinuiju Special Administrative Region in September 2002. South Shinuiju is located about 3 km away from downtown Shinuiju and when Shinuiju becomes a Special Administrative Region, administrative work will be divided and South Shuinuiju will take charge of provincial administrative work.

Yet another source said, “Among the Shinuiju residents, rumors are spreading that Kim Jong Il’s visit to China was for iron and oil trade.” Shinuiju relied on Chinese aid or trade for most of the industrial facilities and as an example, currently, Baekmawon Oil Factory in Shinuiju is receiving oil aid of 1,500,000 tons per year from China.

Additional posts on the Sinuiju SAR can be found here.

Read the full story here:
Shinuiju Special Administrative Region Plan Propelled Once Again
Daily NK
Kwon Jeong Hyun
2006-2-13

Posted in China, Economic reform, Sinuiju Special Administrative Region | Comments Closed

Japan threatens to tighten the screws (again)

Monday, February 13th, 2006

According to Yahoo News:

Highlights:

Kyodo) _ Japan plans to apply regulations tightly to issues related to North Korea to put pressure on Pyongyang after bilateral talks made little headway on the abduction and other bilateral issues — without imposing economic sanctions for the time being, government sources said Monday.

The government has urged municipalities which provide tax breaks for a pro-North Korean organization’s facilities to consider whether such preferential treatment is appropriate, according to Abe.

The government may also study tightening customs screening of travelers who take souvenirs back to North Korea under a system to allow simplified customs checks for souvenirs worth up to 300,000 yen, the sources said.

Posted in International trade, Japan | Comments Closed

American Koreans reunited with family in the DPRK

Thursday, February 9th, 2006

According to the Seattle Times: (By Barbara Demick, Los Angeles Times)

An American Foundation is working to reunite Korean families in the US with their relatives in the DPRK. From the article:

One of the most active U.S. charities working in North Korea announced Wednesday it will try to fill [the communication] void with a program it hopes will eventually lead to family reunions. The Eugene Bell Foundation, which operates out of Washington and Seoul supporting tuberculosis clinics inside the North, said it will start by collecting family information from Korean-Americans who belong to separated families.

“These people are in their 70s and 80s, and there are fewer and fewer of them every year. Many of them don’t speak English well and don’t understand the system well. They need our help if they will ever see their relative again,” said Alice Jean Suh, Washington office director of the Eugene Bell Foundation and the head of the campaign.

Posted in Communications, USA | Comments Closed

DPRK denies counterfiting operations

Thursday, February 2nd, 2006

Acording to the BBC:

North Korea is no longer forging US dollars, contrary to US claims, South Korea’s intelligence agency has said.

The agency had no evidence Pyongyang has made forged, so-called “supernotes” since 1998, a lawmaker briefed by the National Intelligence Service said.

US sanctions imposed in connection with the alleged forgery have stalled talks on the North’s nuclear ambitions.

Posted in Counterfeiting, Fiscal & monetary policy, USA | Comments Closed

North Korean Grain production up 5.3% in 2005

Wednesday, January 25th, 2006

According to Financial Express:

North Korea’s grain production rose 5.3 per cent to 4.54 million tonnes in 2005, helped by better harvests and fertilizer shipments from South Korea, South Korean data showed today.

The 2005 harvest was still far short of the impoverished country’s annual demand, estimated at six million tonnes, South Korea’s unification ministry said in a report. North Korea received 500,000 tonnes of rice from South Korea last year, together with humanitarian food aid from the World Food Programme (WFP) and other international agencies.

UN’s food aid to North Korea, however, ended on December 31 after Pyongyang said it no longer needed emergency shipments from international agencies. Instead, Pyongyang called for long-term development assistance to end its chronic food shortages. But some experts regard the shift to development-oriented assistance as a tactic to dodge the WFP’s request for transparency in food distribution.

Posted in Agriculture, Foreign direct investment, Public Distribiution System (PDS), UN World Food Program | Comments Closed

Private business in Hamheung province

Tuesday, January 24th, 2006

According to the Daily NK:

Recent testimonies came out stating that 90% of the families in Hamheung City of South Hamkyung province maintain their living by running private businesses and due to the given reality, distribution of phones has been rapidly on the rise. It is a well known fact that the North Korean factories in work are still below 20% and it is the women who are the main breadwinners of the North Korean homes. This is the first time the testimony came out saying that 90% of women in Hamheung City run businesses. Lee said that although she does not sell at a stall in a jangmadang, she does have a business of providing necessary items to a number of regulars. She started this medication business in 1995, when her relatives(Korean-Chinese) living in China helped her by providing 500,000 Won ($250).

Lee said that instead of going to the workplace, she pays 10,000 won ($5). Because she is not working, they do not give her food tickets, but they stamp her attendance card. If she neither works nor pays, she has to go to a labor detention facility (Nodong Danryeondae).

“Although state enterprises say they will give 10,000 won ($5) to the workers, after taking out fees for the People’s Army, savings, and other fees to the state, the money you end up with is only about 2,000 Won ($1). With this, you cannot live. This is why I started my own business,” said Lee.

Kim Jin Chul (male, age 26) from Shinuiju testified, “Most of the families I know of in my town, Dongsang-dong, Shiuiju, have their own businesses. They mostly sell manufactured goods such as shoes, hats, glasses, gloves and food such as candies, ramyun, and liquor.”

“More than 90% of the Dongsang-dong residents live by running their own businesses. They buy goods by making profits by exchanging foreign currency to the trade companies in China, and they sell them in jangmadang,” said Kim.

Posted in China, Economic reform, General markets (FMR: Farmers Market), International trade, Price liberalization, Private property | Comments Closed

US accuses DPRK of more illicit activities

Friday, January 20th, 2006

According to Yonhap:

“An investigation by the Bush administration has found that North Korea’s government officially sanctions criminal products such as counterfeit American currency, narcotics and counterfeit cigarette brands,” the report said.

“The administration is divided over how to use this information, whether to pressure North Korean leaders to give up nuclear weapons, or give up power,” it said.

Years of U.S. investigations, involving 14 federal agencies, have found that the illicit activities are now generating more than half a billion U.S. dollars for Pyongyang, according to NPR.

North Korea is counterfeiting not only the greenback but also the Japanese yen, and well as producing heroin, methamphetamines, fake pharmaceuticals such as Viagra and Marlboro and other cigarettes brands, the report said.

The regime was even counterfeiting tax stamps attached to American cigarette packs.

“You name it, they are pretty much in it,” David Asher, former State Department official who was deeply involved in the North Korean investigations, told NPR.

Mitchell Reiss, who led the probe during his two years at the State Department policy planning office under the first Bush administration, said the scale and scope of North Korea’s illicit activities “surprised” him.

Posted in China, Illicit activities, Japan, USA | Comments Closed

North Korean Economy Watch