North Korean Economy Watch

According to Yonhap (via Global Post):

North Koreans carrying diplomatic passports were caught smuggling medicine by Mongolian customs officials, a report said Tuesday.

The UB Post monitored in Seoul said two people caught were on an international train running between Beijing and Ulan Bator. It gave no names, but said inspectors discovered large amounts of products in their baggage, including a thousand boxes of injection medicine, 12 boxes of bear spleen products and 20 bottles of alcoholic beverages.

The English language newspaper said those implicated in the illegal transport could not be identified as being incumbent North Korean diplomats.

The cash-strapped North has used its diplomats in the past to smuggle goods. From 2009 onwards, three cases have been reported with the last scandal involving a diplomat stationed in Pakistan, who was caught trying to sell alcohol.

A diplomatic observer said if the two people who are currently being questioned by Mongolian police are real diplomats it could sour relations between Pyongyang and Ulan Bator.

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North Koreans with diplomatic passports held for smuggling in Mongolia
Yonahp
2013-7-23

According to Yonhap:

The United Nations has decided to provide North Korea with US$6 million in emergency aid by the end of this year, a report said Thursday, in a bid to relieve fund shortages at U.N. agencies operating in the isolated country.

The U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) told the Washington-based Voice of America that U.N. bodies operating in the North will receive this aid through a pool of reserve funding known as the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF).

The CERF was established in 2006 to provide quick assistance to countries in severe humanitarian crises. Funded by donations from governments, the private sector, foundations and individuals, it already allocated $7 million to North Korea this January in an attempt to boost humanitarian efforts in neglected countries.

Under the new plan, the six U.N. agencies operating in North Korea will negotiate with the resident coordinator of the U.N. Development Programme in Pyongyang to come up with a detailed list of expenditures, the report said.

The announcement comes after five out of the 14 food processing factories in the impoverished country were reportedly shut down in June due to grain shortages, hurting ongoing efforts to nourish people in the communist country.

As of May, OCHA said it had received just over 17 percent of the $147 million needed to operate U.N. agencies in the North this year. In 2012, it allocated a total of $12.92 million from its CERF funding to North Korea.

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U.N. to send US$6 mln in emergency aid to N. Korea
Yonhap
2013-7-18

According to Yonhap (via Global Post):

The Washington-based Voice of America said the U.N. Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has set aside US$1.07 million this year for repairing 14 schools and kindergartens in the communist country, in addition to buying textbooks and school supplies for 350,000 North Korean children.

“Our school is 33 years old and has not had any large-scale renovations,” Ri Kyong-hui, a school principal in North Hwanghae Province, was quoted as saying. “Thanks to the new windows (supplied by UNICEF), our classrooms are 5 degrees warmer in the winter, which the students really appreciate.”

North Korea was slapped with tougher U.N. sanctions earlier this year for conducting a satellite launch in December and a nuclear test in February, stoking concerns that the move may affect relief efforts there.

Danish humanitarian group Mission East, however, said the health of 750 children at three orphanages in North Hwanghae Province has significantly improved following its food assistance program that began last summer.

Earlier this month, the German branch of the international Catholic relief group Caritas said it has vaccinated 430,000 North Korean children against Japanese encephalitis, with the French government weighing in with its own $500,000 aid this year.

Some humanitarian groups, however, reported roadblocks in carrying out relief efforts in the isolated country.

The World Food Program told Radio Free Asia earlier this week that a lack of donation has pushed it to scale down its food aid to North Korea by 85 percent. The U.N. food agency has halted operations in June at five of its 14 food factories in the North due to grain shortages.

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Int’l community continues aid to N. Korea despite sanctions
Yonhap (via Global Post)
2013-7-17

According to Yonhap (via Global Post):

The number of North Korean escapees who are living in the United States is tallied at 159, a U.S. radio station reported Saturday.

The U.S. began accepting North Korean refugees after adopting the North Korean Human Rights Act in 2004. Their number rose from nine in the 2006 fiscal year to 37 in 2008 and 22 last year, the Washington-based Radio Free Asia (RFA) said in a report, monitored in Seoul.

The report, written with data provided by the Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration at the U.S. State Department, said that from last October to the end of 2012, 13 North Koreans had obtained refugee status and were allowed into the country.

It did not give information on the number for this year.

The report said that the number of North Korean escapees allowed into the U.S. is very small, compared with more than 1.42 million other Asians who have been accepted by Washington.

One reason for the small number of North Korean refugees in the U.S. is because relatively few of them have sought asylum in the U.S., it said, adding that a long waiting time also turns them away to South Korea and other countries.

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N. Korean refugees in U.S. total 159: report
Yonhap (via Global Post)
2013-7-13

It appears the US Central Intelligence Agency has updated its “World Fact Book” data on North Korea (right after the Bank of Korea published their data on the North Korean economy).

According to Yonhap (via Global Post):

North Korea has a population of 24.72 million as of this month, a media report based on data provided by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) showed Saturday.

The numbers released by Radio Free Asia named the communist country as the 49th most populous country in the world among 239 states checked.

It showed that 43.8 percent of the North’s total population was between 25 to 54 years of age, with those under 14 making up 21.7 percent. The CIA report added that those between the age of 15 to 24 accounted for 16 percent of the all people in the country with those over 65 making up 9.5 percent.

The report said the North’s population grew 0.53 percent on-year and that the rate of increase is generally slower than the other countries it checked. It added the country’s birth rate was below average, although the life expectancy of a North Korean reached 69.5 years, up from 69.2 years in 2012. The average life expectancy of a North Korean man stood at 65.6 years, while corresponding numbers for women hit 73.5 years.

Compared to the average life expectancy of people living in South Korea, which stands at 79.5 this year, a North Korean can expect to live 10 years less than a person living in the South.

The findings by the intelligence agency, meanwhile, counted 300,000 more people than figures provided by the Bank of Korea that estimated the North’s population at 24.42 million.

Pyongyang’s official census released last December showed the population standing at 24.05 million as of 2008.

Here is coverage in the Daily NK:

North Korea’s total population as of this month was 24,720,000, according to the CIA, which publishes regular country studies. The figure ranks the North Korean population 49th out of a global total of 239 states. In December last year, the “2012 Chosun Central Yearbook” cited a population of 24,052,000, a figure that it said was correct as of 2008.

43.8% of the current total population falls into the 25-54 age group, the CIA report notes. The 0-14 age group contains 21.7% of the total, while the 15-24 demographic incorporates 16%. According to the CIA, the North Korean population has risen 0.53% over the last year. This population growth rate ranks North Korea at 148th overall, and its relatively low birth rate puts it at 137th.

The life expectancy of a North Korean citizen grew 0.3 years to 69.5 years over the last year, up from last year’s 69.2 years, indicating a trend of steady upward growth. The life expectancy for North Korean males is now 65.6 years, and females 73.5 years. Compared with 2010, the life expectancy of a male has risen by four years, and six for a female. In comparison, a South Korean male born in 2011 could be expected to live for 77 years, and a female 84 years.

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N. Korea population estimated at 24.7 mln: report
Yonhap (via Global Post)
2013-7-13

North Korean Population and Life Expectancy Rising
Daily NK
Park Seong Guk
2013-7-15

According to Bloomberg:

China banned its fishing fleet from working in waters off North Korea’s east coast after the totalitarian regime demanded Chinese vessels buy fuel from North Korean suppliers.

The North decreed late last month that Chinese ships, which previously made their own fueling arrangements, had to abide by the rule, China’s Agriculture Ministry said in a June 28 announcement that was posted to its website today.

“Fishing boat owners and and businesses believe that the North Korean decision will have a serious effect on production and operations and job security, causing huge potential risks,” the ministry said.

The statement reflected Chinese concerns after North Korea seized a Chinese fishing boat and its crew on May 5 and demanded a 600,000 yuan ($97,800) ransom. The ship and crew were freed later in May after Chinese diplomats negotiated their release, the official Xinhua News Agency reported.

Here is coverage in The Guardian.

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China Bans Its Fishing Fleet From Waters Off Eastern North Korea
Bloomberg
2013-7-8

Institute for Far Eastern Studies (IFES)
2013-7-5

Economic cooperation between North Korea and Mongolia is increasing. In July 2013 alone, Mongolian authorities made two trips to North Korea, actively displaying exchanges between the two states. According to North Korean media, on July 3, 2013 a Mongolian delegation representing information and technology, postal, and communication industries signed an agreement with North Korea to promote exchanges and cooperation in the IT sector.

On July 15, Lundeg Purevsuren, national security and foreign policy advisor to the Mongolian president, and Avia Baatarhuyag, director general of the Mongolian News Agency, visited North Korea. Last month, Mongolian oil trading and refining company HB Oil JSC acquired a 20 percent stake in the North Korean state-run entity operating North Korea’s Sungri Refinery, representing the first purchase by a Mongolian-listed company of a foreign asset.

In particular, one of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s focal projects is the development of the Sepho tableland (in Gangwon Province) into a large-scale stockbreeding base. North Korea is reportedly cooperating with Mongolian experts in the livestock industry in this regard.

North Korea and Mongolia are strengthening economic cooperation as national interests of the two states overlap in many areas. As Mongolia is a landlocked country, Ulaanbaatar wants to take advantage of North Korea’s Rajin Port as a conduit to export Mongolia’s natural resources to foreign countries since access to the East Sea via use of the port can significantly reduce transportation costs.

In November 2012, when North Korea’s Supreme People’s Assembly Chairman Choe Tae Bok visited Ulaanbaatar, Chairman of the Mongolian Parliament Zandaakhuu Enkhbold expressed interest in cooperating with North Korea in trade, IT, and people-to-people exchanges and affirmed Mongolia’s interest in use of the harbor. In response, Chairman Choe also conveyed North Korea’s interest in leasing the harbor, as well as in cooperating with Mongolia in the coal and mining industries. North Korea is promoting the development of Rajin Port as an international harbor to attract foreign investment, including Mongolian investment.

In addition, as a means of earning foreign currency, North Korea sends a large number of workers to Mongolia to work at construction sites. Radio Free Asia (RFA) reported on July 3 that there were 1,749 North Korean workers dispatched to Mongolia as of April — the second largest group of foreign laborers in Mongolia (second only to the Chinese at 5,976 workers), which has a total of 12,064 workers from 103 countries.

North Korea and Mongolia established diplomatic relations in 1948. Pyongyang closed its embassy in Ulaanbaatar in August 1999 for economic reasons, but re-opened it in August 2004.

According to Yonhap (via Global Post):

Foreign direct investment (FDI) in North Korea has steadily increased over the past three years, but the investment amount still remains at one of lowest levels in the world, a news report said Thursday.

North Korea attracted US$79 million in FDI in 2012, up 41 percent from a year earlier, the Washington-based Voice of America said, citing an annual world investment report by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development.

In 2009, a total of only $2 million flowed in to the North, but the number jumped to $38 million the next year, according to the report.

Despite the latest three-year growth, the amount marks one of lowest levels in the world and the majority of the FDI inflow represents investment from China, by far North Korea’s biggest ally, the report said.

A few countries in sub-Saharan Africa or small countries in the Oceania and the Caribbean logged FDI smaller than North Korea, the report noted.

As of the end of 2012, the total inflow of FDI to the North stood at $1.61 billion, it also said.

Although the article does not mention it, the information comes from the “World Investment Report: 2013” (PDF).  Some of the data comes from a table on page 214. The report was published by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development.

Lots of other economic statistics on my Economic Statistics Page.

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Foreign direct investment in N. Korea gains for 3rd year
Yonhap (via Global Post)
2013-7-4

According to Yonahp (via Global Post):

A total of 1,749 North Koreans are working in Mongolia with most of them employed in the construction sector, a news report said Wednesday.

The number of North Korean workers, tallied at the end of April, accounts for the second largest foreign workers’ group in the central Asian country, after the Chinese, the Washington-based Radio Free Asia said, citing Mongolia’s labor ministry. The figure represents North Koreans legally working in the country.

Chinese workers in Mongolia stood at 5,976 as of end-April, it said.

Given that most foreign workers in Mongolia are employed in the construction industry, the majority of the North Korean workers are presumed to also work in the sector, the report said.

A previous report by a Mongolian newspaper has quoted a North Korean laborer in the country as saying that an average North Korean worker receives US$600-700 in monthly wages there.

The report reflects the two countries’ recent efforts to tighten economic ties.

The Mongolian oil firm HBOil JSC announced last month that it has acquired a 20 percent stake in the North Korean oil refinery Sungri. Mongolia also expressed its hope to rent a North Korean seaport while Choe Thae-bok, the chairman of the Supreme People’s Assembly, was visiting the country in November last year.

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Yonhap News AgencyJuly 2, 2013 23:01
More than 1,700 N. Korean workers employed in Mongolia: report
Yonahp (via Global Post)
2013-7-3

According to Yonhap:

Trade between North Korea and China contracted 2.3 percent on-year in the first five months of 2013 mainly due to Pyongyang importing less from its neighbor, a report showed Tuesday.

The report by the Korea International Trade Association (KITA) showed two-way trade at US$2.45 billion in the January-May period, with North Korea’s exports to China growing 6.5 percent on-year to $1.12 billion. The North’s imports from China, however, dropped 8.5 percent to $1.33 billion.

The trade association said the North shipped $613.6 million worth of coal, making it the top export commodity for the communist country, followed by such raw materials as iron and lead ores.

In exchange, the North bought $265 million worth of crude oil, a decrease of 5 percent from January-May of 2012. The country imported $52 million in large cargo-hauling vehicles, as well as flour and soybean oil from its neighbor.

KITA did not elaborate on the reason for the decrease in overall trade volume and the drop in crude oil imports from China.

Related to economic developments in the North, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said in a report that food conditions in the isolationist country remain one of the most precarious in all of Asia.

In its 2012-2013 food security report, which inspected 22 countries in the region, the North came in at the bottom with Afghanistan and Yemen.

The findings, which are used as reference material for food aid provisions by Washington, claimed that while the North was able to produce 7.5 million tons of grain annually up until the early 1990s, this has since plunged to around 4.3 million tons in 2012.

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N. Korea-China trade drops 2.3 pct: report
Yonhap
2013-7-2