North Korean Economy Watch

According to Business Week:

Gaeseong, which is within sight of South Korean and U.S. guard posts along the Demilitarized Zone, was developed as a joint special economic zone in 2005 and now employs about 50,000 North Koreans, according to the Unification Ministry in Seoul.

More than 120 South Korean companies, including Daewha Fuel, underwear maker Good People Co. and watchmaker Romanson Co. (026040) paid the North Korean government about $60 million to $70 million last year to cover labor costs for workers, said Park Soo Jin, the deputy spokeswoman at the Unification Ministry. Authorities in Pyongyang then paid the employees in local currency and vouchers, she said.

Trade Minister Bark Tae Ho said on March 14 that he will try to persuade the U.S. and European Union to recognize products made in Gaeseong as South Korean.

Singapore Tariffs
The EU and South Korea have agreed to establish a committee this year to examine the issue, Tomasz Kozlowski, ambassador for the EU delegation in Seoul, said in an e-mailed statement. Aaron Tarver, a spokesman at the U.S. Embassy, said in an e-mail that the trade pact does not include any products from North Korea, including those from Gaeseong, without commenting further.

Singapore has reduced tariffs covering more than 4,000 products from Gaeseong under its bilateral trade pact with South Korea, said Lee Sang Mok, Deputy Director at Korea Customs Service. Some products are also covered by agreements with the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations, India, Peru and the European Free Trade Association consisting of Switzerland, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway, Lee said via e- mail and telephone.

The value of output from Gaeseong jumped from $14.9 million in its first year to $402 million in 2011, according to the Unification Ministry. During the past seven years, its production totaled $1.5 billion. That compares with $40 billion for North Korea’s annual gross domestic product, according to the CIA World Factbook.

“The U.S. seems to want more progress in North Korean nuclear and human rights issues before including Gaeseong in FTA,” IBK’s Cho said.

…

Yoo of Daewha Fuel Pump said he plans to spend 1 billion won ($885,000) this year to boost capacity in Gaeseong by 50 percent and forecasts sales to jump to 65 billion won this year from 45 billion won in 2011. His company, which also makes parts in plants in South Korea, supplies automakers including Hyundai Motor Co., Honda Motor Co. and Nissan Motor Co., he said.

The minimum monthly base salary paid by companies at Gaeseong is about $64, according to the Unification Ministry’s Park. Yoo, who was speaking at Incheon near Seoul, estimated labor costs would be 20 times higher in South Korea and three times higher in China.

“The security issue is of course a big risk but every business has a risk,” Yoo said. “Gaeseong has survived all the clashes and threats, including the sinking of a warship and the shelling of a South Korean island”.

Read the full story here:
North Korea’s Gaeseong Pushed for Inclusion in FTA
Business Week
Eunkyung Seo and Sangwon Yoon
2012-3-22

The Congressional Research Service (CRS) is the research branch of the US Congress and the number one information source for congressional staff. CRS is responsible for maintining updated research publications on numerous policy concerns and this year they have published two reports on the DPRK:

North Korea’s Nuclear Weapons: Technical Issues (PDF)
Congressional Research Service
Mary Beth Nikitin
February 29, 2012

North Korea: US Relations, Nuclear Diplomacy, and Internal Situation (PDF)
Congressional Research Service
Emma Chanlett-Avery
January 17, 2012

I have archived these and many other CRS reports on the DPRK here.

Pictured above (Google Earth): (L) Unnhasu Theater in Pyongyang where the Unhasu Orchestra normally performs.  (R) The Salle Pleyel in Paris where the Unhasu played their first overseas concert.

You can listen to the performance here.

You can watch the performance here.

Here is KCTV coverage of the performance.

Media on the performance below.

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Pictured above: (L) The location of the new Haedonghwa Center under construction in Pyongyang (Google Earth), and (R) a representation of the building’s exterior

The Korea Pyongyang Haedanghwa Foodstuff Company (조선평양해당화식품회사는)  has launched a new web page  on the Naenara portal providing content in English, Korean, and Chinese.

This new web site hosts pages of information not just on the company, its subsidiaries, its employees, and its products, but also on Korean food, culture and health. Among the more interesting claims made on the page:

Our service workers come from normal families, and they are not ones grown in the special environment or conditions.

The web page also provides addresses and maps of the subsidiary restaurants and factories in China and the DPRK.

Using information from the web page I was able to locate the position of the Haedanghwa Center (pictured at the top of this post).  It is obviously still under construction.  The lot on which the center is being built has been empty for the last dozen years and lies directly across the Taedong River from the new construction on Mansudae Street.

Following the US – DPRK nuclear / food deal announced at the end of February, the DPRK has decided to reject humanitarian assistance from private South Korean organizations. According to Yonhap:

North Korea has apparently decided not to accept humanitarian aid by South Korea’s private relief agencies that comes with monitoring, aid officials here said Monday.

North Korea has said it will only accept “pure” humanitarian aid from South Korea, in an apparent rejection of aid with strings attached, an aide official said of his recent contact with his North Korean counterpart.

Another South Korean private aid official also made a similar comment. The two spoke on condition of anonymity, citing policy.

The North’s move came as North Korean and U.S. officials held talks in Beijing last week to work out details of 240,000 tons of U.S. food aid reached in their recent nuclear deal.

South Korea has called for monitoring of its food aid to the North to ensure that the aid reaches its intended beneficiaries in the isolated country.

…

In November, North Korea allowed a South Korean official to travel to the North for a rare monitoring of flour aid by a South Korean private organization.

Last year, South Korean civic groups donated nearly 3,000 tons of flour to North Korea and some of the civic groups sent monitors to the North to try to ensure the transparency of the distribution of their food aid.

Despite the North’s alleged rejection of aid with strings attached, a private aid official said his group plans to send food aid to the North this year.

“We plan to conduct monitoring in an appropriate manner through consultations with North Korea,” the official said. He asked not to be identified, citing policy.

The North has relied on international handouts since the late 1990s when it suffered a massive famine that was estimated to have killed 2 million people.

Read the full story here:
N. Korea said to reject S. Korean food aid with strings attached
Yonhap
2012-3-12

UPDATE (2012-3-15): Ironically, we have coverage of the photo exhibit from the Associated Press:

“Daily life is really what I try to focus on when I’m there. … It’s unscripted, it’s candid,” said AP Chief Asia Photographer David Guttenfelder, who took some of the photographs in the show, and who has made who has made many reporting trips to North Korea since 2010.

“For people to see their own life in other people’s lives, I think it has a lot of power to break down barriers.”

“Windows on North Korea: Photographs From the DPRK,” is a joint exhibition by The Associated Press and the state-run Korean Central News Agency, and features a mix of archival and contemporary images.

The show was timed to open before the 100th anniversary of the birth of the nation’s founder, Kim Il Sung, on April 15, and comes two months after the AP expanded its operations in Pyongyang to include writers and photojournalists. The AP became the first international news organization to have a full-time presence in the secretive communist country when it opened a video bureau in 2006.

The photographs “give us rare views of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, a nation of great interest to the world, though little known,” said Kathleen Carroll, executive editor of the AP.

North Korea and the United States have never had formal diplomatic relations, and the two nations have experienced tensions over the years, particularly over Pyongyang’s nuclear ambitions. North Korea has tested two atomic devices in the past six years.

Tensions had recently eased somewhat. Late last month, the United States and North Korea announced an agreement that calls for Pyongyang to freeze its nuclear activities in exchange for food aid. But a surprise announcement by the North Koreans on Friday that they plan to blast a satellite into space on the back of a long-range rocket could jeopardize that agreement.

The exhibit’s organizers said they hoped the show would help foster better understanding between the two countries.

“My expectation is that this will be the first step in some peaceful reconciliation, and in a few years there will be trade, cultural exchange and tourists from each country coming to (the) other,” said Donald Rubin, who co-founded The 8th Floor gallery hosting the exhibit.

Images on display included a 1953 KCNA photograph showing residents helping to rebuild Pyongyang’s central district after the Korean War, AP photos documenting visits by such prominent foreigners as Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton and Madeleine Albright, as well as everyday scenes ranging from sunbathers at the beach to shoppers inside a modern department store.

“It is our hope that this exhibition would give exhibition-goers visual understanding of the people, customs, culture and history of the DPRK, thereby helping to deepen mutual understanding and improve the bilateral relations,” Kim Chang Gwang, KCNA’s senior vice president, said in an address at the show’s opening.

“In this exhibit, we are offered two perspectives of the DPRK — as viewed by her native daughters and sons from KCNA and by AP journalists visiting to chronicle news and daily life there. We can appreciate the different styles and techniques and points of view,” Carroll said. “These photographs also show us that different people can find common ground.”

The show also includes images taken by KCNA journalists who participated in a joint workshop in October led by AP instructors. It runs from March 15 to April 13 at The 8th Floor gallery, which was established to promote cultural and philanthropic initiatives.

The AP, an independent news cooperative founded in New York and owned by its U.S. newspaper membership, has operations in more than 100 countries and employs nearly 2,500 journalists across the world in 300 locations.

ORIGINAL POST (2012-3-10): According to Yonhap:

A group of North Korean journalists left for the United States Saturday to attend a photo exhibition set to open next week, marking the centenary of the birth of the North’s late founding leader, Kim Il-sung, the country’s media said.

The North’s delegation, led by Kim Chang-gwang, vice director of the Korean Central News Agency, will attend the opening ceremony of the photo exhibition scheduled for March 15, the news agency said in a report.

The photo exhibition, to be jointly organized with The Associated Press, is scheduled to run until April 13, two days before the late leader’s 100th birthday, the American news agency said in its Web site.

…

The photo exhibition is part of joint programs being pushed by the KCNA to promote its nascent relations with the U.S. news agency. The AP opened a bureau in Pyongyang in January, the first international news agency with a full-time presence in the reclusive country to dispatch texts, photos and video.

The KCNA said the New York exhibition will showcase photos archived by two news agencies, including the North’s late founding leader and his deceased son Kim Jong-il who died of heart failure in December last year, as well as people and life in the communist state.

Additional information:

1. Here is the coverage of the KCNA delegation’s departure from Pyongyang reported by KCNA.

2. Here is the web page of the exhibit.

3. Extensive comments and additional information at OFK.

4. Foreign Policy writes about the conditions under which the aP operated in the DPRK.

5. How the AP selected its North Korea reporter

According to the AFP:

North Korea’s main nuclear negotiator on Wednesday held talks with US academics in New York as part of a private visit amid new hopes of disarmament progress after the isolated state agreed to freeze its weapons program.

Ri Yong-Ho, a vice foreign minister and chief envoy to international nuclear talks, held talks with the academics at a New York hotel.

The talks were part of a forum organized by Syracuse University which South Korea’s nuclear envoy Lim Sung-Nam was also to attend. No details on the talks have been given.

It was not immediately known, however, whether Ri would go to Syracuse in New York state or what other meetings he would have. Ri has been the North Korean lead negotiator at six nation talks on North Korea’s nuclear weapons program, which have been suspended since April 2009.

His three-day visit, however, comes after a breakthrough agreement that will provide US food aid to the North in exchange for the suspension of its nuclear program.

North Korea and the United States are discussing the delivery of 240,000 tons of food aid after Pyongyang agreed to freeze nuclear and missile tests and its uranium enrichment program.

The Hankyoreh offers more information.

Read the full story here:
N. Korea nuclear negotiator meets US academics
AFP
2012-3-8

Sheena Chestnut Greitens writes in the New York Times:

What kind of deal do you make with a 20-something who just inherited not only a country, but also the mantle of one of the world’s most sophisticated crime families? When Kim Jong-un, who is thought to be 28 or 29, became North Korea’s leader in December after the death of his father, Kim Jong-il, he became the de facto head of a mafia state.

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According to Yonhap:

North Korea’s trade volume with China jumped nearly 20 percent in January, compared to the same period last year [January 2011], a report said Friday, indicating sustained bilateral economic relations.

Citing data released by China’s Ministry of Commerce, U.S. broadcaster Voice of America said trade between China and North Korea reached US$418 million in the cited month, up 18 percent from a year ago.

The North’s January exports to China reached $139 million, an on-year increase of 7 percent, while imports expanded 24 percent to $278 million, according to the report.

Coal was the North’s biggest export item for the Chinese market, totaling $70 million, it added.

Here is a link to the original VOA article.  Hat tip to a friend.

Read the full story here:
N. Korea-China trade jumps 18 pct in Jan.: report
Yonhap
2012-3-2

UPDATE 7 (2012-4-18): The IAEA now states that it is not likely to send an inspection team to the DPRK. According to the Voice of America:

The International Atomic Energy Agency says it is now unlikely to send a delegation to North Korea, after Pyongyang stated it is no longer bound by an agreement with the United States not to test missiles and nuclear devices.

Spokeswoman Gill Tudor made the announcement late Tuesday, ending hopes for the visit for which IAEA officials began negotiating with North Korea in March.

Earlier in the day, Pyongyang said it was breaking off a bilateral agreement to halt its nuclear activities and allow IAEA inspectors to enter the country after the U.S. suspended much needed food aid. Washington said North Korea did not keep its end of the bargain when it carried out its failed missile launch on Friday.

North Korea’s Foreign Ministry vowed to continue trying to fire a long-range rocket into space to place what it said was a weather satellite into orbit. It also vowed unspecified retaliation now that the agreement with the U.S. is no longer in place.

State Department spokesperson Mark Toner said Tuesday that Pyongyang’s statement was “not surprising, given their recent behavior.” He said he could not predict whether North Korea is laying the ground work for a future nuclear test, as some fear.

UPDATE 6 (2012-4-17): North Korea announced that it has scrapped the “Leap day deal“. According to KCNA (2012-4-17):

Thirdly, as the U.S. violated the Feb. 29 DPRK-U.S. agreement through its undisguised hostile acts, we will no longer be bound to it.

UPDATE 5 (2012-4-17): Following the launch of the Unha-3 rocket in April of 2012, the US has scrapped the “Leap Day Deal” to provide food aid for a suspension of the DPRK’s nuclear program. According to the Los Angeles Times:

The Obama administration announced shortly after the launch Friday that it was scrapping a Feb. 29 agreement to send 240,000 metric tons of food to North Korea, a promise made as inducement for Pyongyang to abide by previous U.N. resolutions and suspend its nuclear programs.

UPDATE 4 (2012-3-31): The DPRK attacks the US decision to suspend food assistance. According to Bloomberg:

North Korea criticized a U.S. announcement that it would suspend food aid if the Asian country carries out a planned “peaceful” satellite launch, calling it an overreaction “beyond the limit.”

Suspending food aid “would be a regrettable act” scrapping the entire Feb. 29 agreement between the two nations, North Korea’s state-run Korean Central News Agency said, quoting a foreign ministry spokesman it didn’t name.

North Korea drew rebukes from nations including the U.S. earlier this month when it revealed plans to launch an “earth observation satellite” in April to mark the 100th anniversary of the birth of state founder Kim Il Sung.

U.S. President Barack Obama, who visited Seoul for a Nuclear Security Summit this week, warned North Korea that its plan to fire a long-range rocket undermined prospects for future negotiations, while South Korea’s military said Kim Jong Un’s forces had moved the missile to a launch site.

North Korea’s announcement of a mid-April launch will make it difficult to move forward with the aid deal and broader efforts to get the regime back to negotiations on its nuclear weapons program, Obama said.

UPDATE 3 (2012-3-28): Food aid deal will be suspended if DPRK goes through with April rocket launch.  According to the American Forces Press Service:

Concerns that North Korea would resume provocative behavior on the international stage in 2012 have proven true, so the United States has suspended plans to provide nutrition aid to the impoverished nation, senior defense officials told Congress today.

“Our suspicions … were confirmed when North Korea announced on March 16 that it plans to conduct a missile launch between April 12th and 16,” Peter R. Lavoy, acting assistant secretary of defense for Asian and Pacific security affairs, told members of the House Armed Services Committee. “This grand launch is highly provocative, because it manifests North Korea’s desire to test and expand its long-range missile capability.”

Army Gen. James D. Thurman, commander of U.S. Forces Korea, testified alongside Lavoy in a hearing examining the security situation on the Korean Peninsula.

After a series of U.S.-North Korean discussions in late February, the North Korean government agreed to implement a moratorium on long-range missile launches — then announced plans for the launch just two weeks later, Lavoy explained.

The United States had agreed during the February talks to provide nutritional aid to North Korea. The World Food Program in November 2011 recommended targeted high-nutrition aid as critical to 3 million North Koreans most at risk for starvation.

Lavoy and Thurman both confirmed the United States will not deliver the planned nutrition aid.

“During those discussions, the United States made it very clear that a satellite launch would be a deal-breaker,” Lavoy told the panel.

Both men said U.S. officials have worked to “delink” humanitarian aid and political concerns, but defended the decision to suspend nutritional aid.

“The fact that North Korea so brazenly violated commitments that it just so recently agreed to … indicates that they’re not reliable,” Lavoy said. “We cannot expect them to meet … the commitments that they’ve agreed to that are associated with the provision of nutritional assistance to the needy population in their country.

“It’s regrettable that the food aid is not moving forward,” he added. “The North Korean population really needs nutritional assistance. And we’re prepared to provide that to North Korea.”

Thurman said officials are working closely with allies and other partners in the region to try to discourage North Korea from launching the missile. Meanwhile, the general added, “we have been forced to suspend our activities to provide nutritional assistance to North Korea.”

Lavoy said the threatened launch would be in direct violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions 1718 and 1874, which prohibit North Korea from conducting any launches that use ballistic missile technology.

The launch would involve a North Korean-made Kwangmyongsong-3 polar-orbiting Earth observation satellite to mark the 100th birthday of late President Kim Il Sung, a spokesman for the Korean Committee for Space Technology said in a statement.

The late president’s birthday is April 15.

Lavoy said North Korea’s authoritarian government, founded by Kim Il Sung and subsequently led by Kim Jong Il and Kim Jong Un — his son and grandson, respectively — seeks to provoke other nations militarily as a means of demonstrating power to its people.

“Political successions are extraordinarily difficult when you don’t have a representative government, which is the case there, of course,” he noted. Kim Jong Un took power after his father’s death in December.

“What we’re seeing now and what we anticipate is provocative behavior, because, unfortunately, this seems to be the only way that the North Korean regime can try to demonstrate its bona fides to a population that is suffering terribly,” Lavoy added.

Thurman said North Korea’s “military first” policy diverts national resources away from food and essential services to the people.

“They maintain the fourth-largest conventional military force in the world, the world’s largest special operating force, and significant long-range artillery capabilities,” the general said. “Over 70 percent of their combat powers are arrayed within 90 miles of the demilitarized zone.”

South Korea, home to some 28,500 forward-based U.S. troops, is “a vibrant democracy, economic success and global security partner, currently serving beside us in Afghanistan and off the Horn of Africa,” Thurman said.

“In stark contrast, one of the world’s poorest, most closed and
most militarized countries, North Korea, lies less than 20 miles from the northern districts of Seoul, a city of over 24 million people,” he added.

The United States and South Korea have for 60 years maintained a close partnership aimed at deterring North Korean aggression and maintaining stability on the peninsula, Thurman noted.

“We are prepared to defend the peninsula and can do that,” the general said. “And we can repel any type of attack should the North Koreans decide to do that.”

UPDATE 2 (2012-3-23): North Korea has announced it will conduct another “Satellite” Launch (aka ICBM test).  Jeffrey Lewis writes about the unwinding of the “Leap-day deal” at Arms Control Wonk.

UPDATE 1 (2012-3-15):  The Choson Ilbo reports that the DPRK has agreed to allow more monitoring of food aid distribution:

The North apparently agreed during the latest meeting with U.S. officials in Beijing to increase the number of monitors to 70. Their task will be to check that the food reaches civilians who need it and is not diverted to the military. A diplomatic source in Seoul said the U.S. has decided to send monitors who are fluent in Korean to the North when it takes delivery of 20,000 tons of food aid per month over a year, as agreed.

Robert King, the U.S. special envoy for North Korean human rights, met on March 7 and 8 with An Myong-hun of the North Korean Foreign Ministry and agreed the terms, the source said.

North Korea accepted most U.S. demands, the source added. Washington apparently insisted that Pyongyang must accept U.S. requests to dispatch monitors to a particular regions at 24 hours’ notice.

After the talks, King said he was “very satisfied” with the results. The U.S. will brief the World Food Programme in Rome on the outcome on Thursday. The WFP then handles the provision of food aid along with five other aid groups based in the U.S. The aid, which takes the form of nutritional supplements rather than rice, will go to North Korean children between the ages of five and seven as well as pregnant women.

ORIGINAL POST (2012-2-29): According to the Associated Press (Via Washingotn Post):

The United States says North Korea has agreed to suspend uranium enrichment and agree to a moratorium on nuclear and long-range missile tests.

State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland also said Wednesday the North has agreed to allow International Atomic Energy Inspectors to verify and monitor the moratorium on uranium enrichment and confirm disablement of its nuclear reactor at Yongbyon.

Her statement says the U.S. will meet with North Korea to finalize details for a proposed package of 240,000 metric tons of food aid.

The Washington Post provides additional information:

The agreement is the result of talks between U.S. and North Korean negotiators late last week in Beijing — the first such negotiations since the death of North Korean leader Kim Jong Il and the elevation of his son Kim Jong Eun.

…

While U.S. leaders have insisted that the food aid for the impoverished country and nuclear disarmament are separate issues, North Korean officials have tied the two in past negotiation

Here is the official statement by the State Department:

U.S.-DPRK Bilateral Discussions

Press Statement
Victoria Nuland
Department Spokesperson, Office of the Spokesperson
Washington, DC
February 29, 2012

A U.S. delegation has just returned from Beijing following a third exploratory round of U.S.-DPRK bilateral talks. To improve the atmosphere for dialogue and demonstrate its commitment to denuclearization, the DPRK has agreed to implement a moratorium on long-range missile launches, nuclear tests and nuclear activities at Yongbyon, including uranium enrichment activities. The DPRK has also agreed to the return of IAEA inspectors to verify and monitor the moratorium on uranium enrichment activities at Yongbyon and confirm the disablement of the 5-MW reactor and associated facilities.

The United States still has profound concerns regarding North Korean behavior across a wide range of areas, but today’s announcement reflects important, if limited, progress in addressing some of these. We have agreed to meet with the DPRK to finalize administrative details necessary to move forward with our proposed package of 240,000 metric tons of nutritional assistance along with the intensive monitoring required for the delivery of such assistance.

The following points flow from the February 23-24 discussions in Beijing:

The United States reaffirms that it does not have hostile intent toward the DPRK and is prepared to take steps to improve our bilateral relationship in the spirit of mutual respect for sovereignty and equality.

The United States reaffirms its commitment to the September 19, 2005 Joint Statement.

The United States recognizes the 1953 Armistice Agreement as the cornerstone of peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula.

U.S. and DPRK nutritional assistance teams will meet in the immediate future to finalize administrative details on a targeted U.S. program consisting of an initial 240,000 metric tons of nutritional assistance with the prospect of additional assistance based on continued need.

The United States is prepared to take steps to increase people-to-people exchanges, including in the areas of culture, education, and sports.

U.S. sanctions against the DPRK are not targeted against the livelihood of the DPRK people.

Here is the statement in KCNA:

DPRK Foreign Ministry Spokesman on Result of DPRK-U.S. Talks

Pyongyang, February 29 (KCNA) — The spokesman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea on Wednesday gave the following answer as regards questions raised by KCNA concerning the result of the latest DPRK-U.S. high-level talks:

Delegations of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) and the United States of America (U.S.) met in Beijing, China on 23rd and 24th of February for the third round of the high-level talks between the DPRK and the U.S.

Present at the talks were the delegation of the DPRK headed by Kim Kye Gwan, the First Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs, and the delegation of the U.S. headed by Glyn Davies, the Special Representative of the State Department for the DPRK Policy.

The talks, continuation of the two previous DPRK-U.S. high-level talks held respectively in July and October, 2011, offered a venue for sincere and in-depth discussion of issues concerning the measures aimed at building confidence for the improvement of relations between the DPRK and the U.S. as well as issues related with ensuring peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula and resumption of the six-party talks.

Both the DPRK and the U.S. reaffirmed their commitments to the September 19 Joint Statement and recognized that the 1953 Armistice Agreement is the cornerstone of peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula until the conclusion of a peace treaty.

Both the DPRK and the U.S. agreed to make a number of simultaneous moves aimed at building confidence as part of the efforts to improve the relations between the DPRK and the U.S.

The U.S. reaffirmed that it no longer has hostile intent toward the DPRK and that it is prepared to take steps to improve the bilateral relations in the spirit of mutual respect for sovereignty and equality.

The U.S. also agreed to take steps to increase people-to-people exchanges, including in the areas of culture, education, and sports.

The U.S. promised to offer 240,000 metric tons of nutritional assistance with the prospect of additional food assistance, for which both the DPRK and the U.S. would finalize the administrative details in the immediate future.

The U.S. made it clear that sanctions against the DPRK are not targeting the civilian sector, including the livelihood of people.

Once the six-party talks are resumed, priority will be given to the discussion of issues concerning the lifting of sanctions on the DPRK and provision of light water reactors.

Both the DPRK and the U.S. affirmed that it is in mutual interest to ensure peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula, improve the relations between the DPRK and the U.S., and push ahead with the denuclearization through dialogue and negotiations.

Both sides agreed to continue the talks.

The DPRK, upon request by the U.S. and with a view to maintaining positive atmosphere for the DPRK-U.S. high-level talks, agreed to a moratorium on nuclear tests, long-range missile launches, and uranium enrichment activity at Nyongbyon and allow the IAEA to monitor the moratorium on uranium enrichment while productive dialogues continue.

Evan Ramstad analyses the differences be3tween the DPRK and US State Department statements in this Wall Street Journal article.

The New York Times offers some caveats:

North Korea has agreed in the past to halt its nuclear program only to back out, demanding more concessions or accusing the United States of reneging on its obligations. And the statement Tuesday from the North’s official Korean Central News Agency appeared to give the country’s leaders wiggle room again this time, saying that Pyongyang would carry out the agreement “as long as talks proceed fruitfully.”

Still, North Korea’s agreement to allow inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency to return to the country appeared to be a significant concession. After years of negotiations, North Korea expelled inspectors and went on to test nuclear devices in 2006 and 2009. American intelligence officials believe the country has enough fuel already for six to eight weapons.

If the North lives up to its agreement to stop uranium enrichment, it could help ease some anxieties in Washington over the program at a time when the administration, in an election year, is consumed with halting Iran’s nuclear program before Israel decides to stage an attack.

For the relatively young and inexperienced Mr. Kim, the agreement could be crucial to solidifying his hold on power and the backing of the powerful military, analysts in South Korea said. He needs to show in the early months of his rule that he is improving people’s lives after years of food shortages and a devastating famine. Bringing in 240,000 metric tons of food aid from the United States will surely help.

CNN reports (sorry, no link) that the details of this agreement were largely negotiated before Kim Jong-il passed away.

Additional Information:

1. Here are Scott Snyder’s thoughts on the agreement. Here are Joel Wit’s comments. Here are Gordon Flake’s.

2. Here is coverage in the Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, The Guardian, and Stratfor.

3. Joshua Stanton (OFK) posted a transcript of the entire State Department briefing. Here is the State Department Briefing transcript from State.

4. I have kept a collection of significant news and satellite imagery of the DPRK’s nuclear facilities.  You can see the information here.

5. The DPRK lobbied very hard for food aid from the international community throughout 2011.

6. Here is a list of US – DPRK engagement in 2011. Fox News also reports that an American ship has arrived in North Korea to assist in the search for the remains of Korean War MIAs.

7. More on the talks that preceded the announcement of the deal here

Read the full stories here:
U.S. says N. Korea has agreed to suspend uranium enrichment, moratorium on nuclear, missile tests
Associated Press (Via Washingotn Post)
2012-2-29

N. Korea agrees to suspend uranium enrichment, nuclear tests
Washington Post
William Wan
2012-2-29