Joong Ang Daily
6/22/2006
In the ground floor ballroom of the Yanggakdo Hotel annex in Pyongyang, the North Korean Chamber of Commerce hosted a trade information and investors’ relations conference on May 16. Senior North Korean trade ministry officials gave presentations on North Korea’s economic policy and investment climate. Rim Tae-dok, chief counselor of the trade ministry, said Pyongyang protected property rights of foreign investors and guaranteed the independence of their management. The North Korean official stressed that foreign investors would enjoy tax benefits and that the legal process of establishing companies in the North has been largely simplified.
Another senior North Korean official, Kim Ha-dong, also gave a presentation about Pyongyang’s export policy. Mr. Kim, a senior researcher at the trade ministry, said the communist country had been issuing permits for exports and imports after only a short review process. He encouraged investors to participate in trade.
The North Korean presentations were not very different from those given in any capitalist country, but the concept of “self-reliance” was prominent.
“We will build a self-reliant economy of Koreans and carry out trade on top of that,” Mr. Kim said. He added that North Korea’s self-reliance must not be damaged or controlled by foreign economies through trade.
During the JoongAng Ilbo’s 10-day survey of the reclusive communist country’s economic sites, Pyongyang’s dilemma ― self-reliant socialism versus economic development by attracting foreign investments ― was apparent. Some North Korean officials showed skepticism about China’s model of partially opening its economy, claiming that their country had to be run in a different manner.
“I have toured special economic zones in China several times,” said Ju Tong-chan, the North’s chairman of the National Economic Cooperation Committee. “But we have different ways of managing our economy than China, and I believe we should run our special economic zones in different ways. We are still researching our options, but we will not do it that [Chinese] way.”
China was able to expand its economy at high speed after the central government opened up the economy. It gave local governments enough independence to run business autonomously in their areas and attract foreign investment. But Mr. Ju was obviously unconvinced by the success of China’s model. The opening of the economy could boomerang, becoming a threat to the North’s system, he worried.
On factories and farms, North Koreans were still caught up – or at least gave the outward appearance of being caught up ― in a personality cult centered on the nation’s founding family. At cooperative farms and factories, the senior managers’ introductory briefings were always about the lessons taught by Kim Il Sung, North Korea’s first president, and Kim Jong-il, who succeeded him but did not assume the title of national president. These managers’ presentations began with the number of visits by the Kims to the site. There were always paeans to the communist regime’s “military first” policy and slogans to that effect were emblazoned everywhere, making it clear that the military and politics take priority over the economy.
North Korean officials were also reluctant to lay out all pertinent information to investors and journalists.
Kim Yong-il, 45, the manager of the port at Nampo on the country’s west coast, refused to cite specific numbers about the port’s freight-handling capacity. He said only that it could deal with “large amounts” of cargo.
Mr. Rim, the trade ministry chief counselor, said North Korean politics were extremely stable, which guaranteed the security of foreign investments. He gave no data or examples to support that claim of stability, however, and completely ignored the question of North Korea’s nuclear programs and how they might or might not affect stability.
Reacting to the journalists’ remarks that South Korean firms were reluctant to invest in the North because it has been difficult to make profits there, Mr. Ju, the chairman of the National Economic Cooperation Committee, said, “Why is money the priority? Inter-Korean business must be about something more than just monetary calculations.”
He was also visibly upset about Seoul’s policy on economic cooperation. “We made extremely sensitive military restricted areas at Mount Kumgang and Kaesong available to the South,” Mr. Ju said. “But the South has just given us a lot of excuses and failed to cooperate.”
He continued, “To nurture the Kaesong Industrial Complex into a world-class production facility, electronic and advanced technology industries are crucial. But labor-intensive industries are the majority in Kaesong. In this information era of the 21st century, the South has failed to bring in computers for administrative use in Kaesong.”
He also vented some spleen about the United States, asking the journalists why Seoul was so careful not to irritate Washington. He cited the U.S. restrictions on the re-export without prior approval of so-called “dual-use” goods, those with civilian and military applications, to countries it has blacklisted, including North Korea. Other international accords, such as the Wassenaar Agreement, also prevent South Korea from providing the North merchandise and commodities that have “strategic” applications.
But Mr. Ju sounded firm about continuing operations at Kaesong. “It is the nucleus of inter-Korean economic cooperation, and we must make it a success first. Then we can move on to other projects.”
He also dismissed the U.S. concerns that workers in Kaesong were laboring under harsh working conditions, but seemed to sidestep the basic question. “It is a matter that we should deal with,” Mr. Ju said. “Since we manage businesses differently, we are trying to come up with the best resolution to make direct [wage] payments to the workers.”
South Korean economists and businessmen who listened to similar presentations and looked at some of the North’s accounts were troubled by Pyongyang’s rigidity in opening up the economy. That, they said, coupled with the simmering nuclear weapons problem, is the most serious obstacle to attracting foreign investments. Unless U.S. diplomatic ties with North Korea are established, investing in facilities in North Korea and selling “made in North Korea” products on global markets would be difficult and risky, they agreed.
“If a foreign investor wants to visit a factory in the North that he has put money into, he has to obtain an invitation every time, and his schedule and movements in the North are strictly controlled,” said Kwon Yeong-wuk, the trade promotion director at the Korea International Trade Association of Seoul. “Under such circumstances, the North should not expect much in the way of foreign investments.” He said Pyongyang had a “my way or the highway” approach to the economy: If you’re here, follow our rules. The rigidity, he reiterated, is a serious obstacle to investors.
Other experts and businessmen in South Korea said Pyongyang’s attitude toward inter-Korean business in particular makes it hard to earn profit. They complain about the stress North Korean officials put on the concept that business between the two Koreas should be based on the maxim “blood is thicker than water” and not on market principles. An official at North Korea’s National Reconciliation Council argued that South Korean conglomerates should make large investments there based on that concept.
A South Korean businessman who has been looking for business opportunities in the North said he has run into a series of dead ends. “South Korean firms are doing businesses in the global market,” he said. “The largest market is the United States, and not many people would want to give that up to do business with the North.” He added that North Korea’s cheap but skilled manpower is an attractive point, but that poor infrastructure, extremely low purchasing power and the difficulty of obtaining raw materials make China and Vietnam much more attractive investment locales. Kim Yeon-chul, an academic at Korea University in Seoul, agreed with that assessment. “Large companies in South Korea have already automated their production facilities, so labor costs are not important in deciding on investments,” he said. “North Korea must improve other conditions instead of stressing the merits of its manpower or blaming outside causes.”
