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Daily NK reports on DPRK food prices

Sunday, February 13th, 2011

According to the Daily NK:

Overall average prices in North Korea have doubled since the end of last year.

Sources say that the reason behind the price rises is insufficient supplies within North Korea coupled to the effect of relatively strict crackdowns on the smuggling of goods in from China.

Rice is now reportedly 2,000 won per kilo (as of the 11th). Late last year it was between 900 and 1,000 won.

In late January, rice even reportedly reached 3,000 won in some areas. A source explained why, “There were rumors that state rice stores were empty, because even those people who are targeted for state distribution didn’t get any food in late January in some areas.” So, he went on, “Around that time, wholesalers colluded to fixed the price at 3,000 won.”

Thereafter, the source said, “Now, rice has dropped to around 2,000won,” explaining that, “When the price went up, the supply increased, so the price was amended again.” According to the latest research by The Daily NK, rice is now selling for 2,000 won in Pyongyang and Shinuiju, while in Nampo it is 1,900 won and 1,800 won in Hyesan..

Corn, which generally costs half as much as rice, now sells for between 1,000 and 1,200 won, which is exactly double the price at the end of last year. Pork, which sold for 3,500 won per kilo in December last year, now goes for 6,500 won.

Sugar is even worse, having tripled: late last year it was 1,700 won per kilo, but has now reached more than 5,000 won. Red chilli pepper powder has also gone up from 7,000 won per kilo to 15,000 won.

Even though the North Korean authorities emphasized improving light industrial and agricultural production in the New Year’s Common Editorial, in reality the country is experiencing serious inflation due to a lack of goods in the markets. Therefore, it seems inevitable that people’s lives will get harder.

Read the full story here:
Inflation on the Rise in 2011
Daily NK
By Park Jun Hyeong
2/13/2011

Posted in Agriculture, Fiscal & monetary policy, Food, Price liberalization | 1 Comment »

Research round-up: DPRK minerals, military, and agriculture

Wednesday, February 9th, 2011

Three items popped up on my radar this afternoon so in the interest of time I thought I would post them all together. All three are worth checking out:

—

Status and Future of the North Korean Minerals Sector
The DPRK Energy and Minerals Experts Working Group Project at the Nautilus Institute
Edward Yoon
Download paper here (PDF)

The minerals industry is of great importance to the economy of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), accounting for about 15.2% of its exports in 2005. (Chung, Woo Jin 2007, p. 3). In particular, the iron and coal mining industries have been priority industries for DPRK economic development since the 1970s (Korea Mining Promotional Corporation report, 2005). Minerals industries in the DPRK have been played prominent roles in North Korean National exports as shown in Table 1, below. The DPRK holds the great bulk of the total known minerals deposits on the Korean peninsula. It is estimated that some 200 of the minerals found in the DPRK have economic values. The value of North Korea’s known minerals deposits was estimated to be nearly thirty times of that of South Korea’s as of 2005.

Mining industries are very important to the DPRK. The mining subsector of the DPRK’s industry accounted 8.3% of the North Korean GDP and about 15.9% of total export revenues in 2005. The minerals production sector in North Korea has, however, been struggling because of poor central planning and a lack of modern technology and equipment, as well as a shortage of electricity. For these reasons, North Korea needs to rebuild its production lines by obtaining proper equipment and technology (ibid, p.14). As a result of the problems noted, minerals production in the DPRK has declined sharply in the past two decades. It is estimated that production in 2002 was between one third and one half in comparison with output data obtained during 1989 (ibid, p. 12, and private source, 2010). In the decade from 1997 to 2007, DPRK authorities have allowed foreign investors to participate in selected mining projects. The Government plans to continue its effort to consolidate heavy industries, and at the same time to develop light industries.

—

KPA Journal Vol.2, No. 1
Joseph Bermudez, military analyst for Jane’s Intelligence Review and author of The Armed Forces of North Korea, has published the next issue of his very fascinating KPA Journal. Topics include: Wartime underwater bridges, KPA involvement in Burundi, Kim Ok Biography (Michael Madden), Type-63 107mm MRL.

The full issue can be downloaded here (PDF) and past issues can be downloaded at the journal’s home page.

—

CIA Assesses Flooding in the DPRK
CIA analysts studied data on major floods due to rainfall in North Korea since 1996 in order to devise a framework for evaluating the significance of such floods and their likely consequences for North Korean agriculture. The analysts identified four principal variables: the intensity of the rainfall, the location of the rainfall, the time of year, and damage to non-agricultural infrastructure.

“Rainfall intensity and geography of flooding appear to be key variables with the most impact,” their report (pdf) said. “Critical periods in the agricultural growth cycle — for sowing, growing, and harvesting — and the scope and severity of infrastructure damage are compounding variables that can magnify the impact of major floods in key food producing areas.”

All four elements were present in 1996 and 2007, when flooding produced the most severe agricultural impact. But using the methodology described, analysts judge that the cumulative impact of two instances of heavy rain in 2010 “has been relatively low.”

FAS has posted a copy of the paper here (PDF)

Posted in Agriculture, Food, Korean People's Army, Military | 4 Comments »

More DPRK efforts to boost food production

Monday, February 7th, 2011

Punjiman Tideland
In November of last year, the North Koreans announced that they had dammed up the Punjiman Tideland (bay) in Ongjin County to expand the quantity of arable land, build fish farms, and extract sea salt. Here is a picture of the project on from DPRK television:

Thanks to a friend for translation help.

According to KCNA:

November 9 (KCNA) –The project for reclaiming Punjiman Tideland in Ongjin County of South Hwanghae Province was completed.

The reclaimed tideland is the country’s another asset of eternal value created in its western coastal area thanks to President Kim Il Sung’s great idea of remaking the nature and under the wise leadership of Kim Jong Il.

The reclamation of hundreds of hectares of tideland will help achieve an advance in the nation’s agricultural development and the improvement of the standard of people’s living.

A ceremony for its completion took place on Nov. 9.

KCNA does not offer much information on the project. Here is a rough sketch of the project on Google Earth:

Before on top. After on bottom.

The area in yellow represents expanded farm land. The area in red represents new fish farms. The area in white represents a new salt farm.

According to Google Earth the width of the bay (east-west) is approximately 3.74km (2.33 miles). The bay is 1.98km (1.23 miles) tall (North South)–so appx. 3.7 sq km. I did not grow up in the agriculture business, so I have no idea what the project is capable of producing. If any readers are qualified to make those calculations, I would be happy to hear them.

Chongdan County Land Reclamation
On December 28, 2010, the DPRK held a ground breaking ceremony for the Ryongmae Island (룡매도) land reclamation project on the coast of Chongdan County in the Haeju Bay. The scale of the project is enormous. The surface area of the reclamation project is larger than the city of Haeju. Below are pictures from North Korean television and Google Earth:

There is not much information on this project in KCNA either. From Top to bottom, the project is nearly 20km (12 miles) long. Although the groundbreaking was in December, the project has been in the works for some time. Development of the project was first announced in 1998. The Project is supposed to be completed by 2012. According to KCNA:

Pyongyang, July 10 (KCNA) — More than 26,600 hectares have been reclaimed from the sea on the western coast and are now ready for agriculture. This was the result of a nationwide win-soil-from-the-sea campaign launched a decade ago to gain additional agricultural land. From Pidan island at the northwestern tip of Korea at the mouth of Amnok River to the middle of west coast Rimhan-ri of Phanmun county sea walls have been erected to bring tidal flats into active agricultural use and thus create new highly intensive granaries. More than 100 islands and islets have been linked with the mainland to reduce the length of coastline by more than 500 kilometres, thus pushing the coastline 12 kilometres offshore. In the newly-reclaimed land, dozens of reservoirs and many salterns, fish-culture ponds and chemical-fibre producing centres, as well as the state and cooperative farms and workteams, have come into being. The drive to reclaim tidal flats, initiated by the DPRK government and the Workers’ Party of Korea, reached a high-water mark in the 1980s. More and more sea walls were erected to link one peninsula with another and islands with the mainland. To take a few examples, a dozens-of-kilometre-long dike connecting the Tasa islet in Yomju county and Rihwa-ri, Cholsan county to create a new granary of 8,800 hectares, Taegye islet, 68-km long dikes across the sea off Haeju connecting Kumhak, Chongdan county and Ryongmae islet to create new areas of agricultural use covering 2,500 hectares, 5,200 hectares in Kangryong, 3,300 hectares in Kumsong, 3,200 hectares in Unryul, 2,600 hectares in Kwaksan and 1,000 hectares in Chongsu islet. The lands thus won from the sea are equivalent to the total arable land of five counties.

UPDATE 1: According to KCNA (2011-8-13):

A tideland reclamation project has made progress around Rongmae Islet, opposite to the Haeju Bay on the south coast. The islet belongs to South Hwanghae Province.

Since the project was launched in January, the South Hwanghae Provincial Tideland Reclamation Complex moved about 250 000 cubic meters of earth and laid some 76 000 square meters of stones to build up a 2 100 meter-long embankment on the sea.

It was very cold when the project started. But the complex pushed ahead with it, overcoming difficulties.

It has also applied new reclamation methods suitable to geographical condition of the area.

Recent heavy rainfalls severed roads and bridges there. The builders are working on rebuilding them, while carrying on the project as scheduled through tunneling and blasting.

When the project is finished, a new arable land as large as that of a county will appear on the tideland.

UPDATE 2: According to KCNA (2011-8-15), the DPRK claimed that it did not fire on South Korea but was detonating explosives for this project.

Posted in Agriculture, Food, Google Earth | 2 Comments »

2010 DPRK grain production estimates inconsistent

Monday, February 7th, 2011

Institute for Far Eastern Studies (IFES)
NK Brief No. 11-02-07
2/7/2011

Evaluations of North Korea’s grain output for 2010, and predictions for 2011, varied considerably between international organizations and South Korean agricultural experts. A recent report from the Korea Institute for National Unification (KINU) evaluating North Korea’s economy for 2010 and examining the outlook for 2011 revealed that the World Food Program (WFP) and the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) estimated a 3.1 percent growth in North Korea’s 2010 grain production over the previous year, at 5.53 million tons. Based on this estimate, the two international organizations stated, “Because North Korea used more fertilizer than in the previous year, and an improved fuel situation [allowed] the use of more agricultural equipment, harvest conditions have improved.”

These international organizations believe that North Korea’s 24.43 million residents need an annual total of 5.35 million tons of grain, estimating that 4.25 tons (148kg per person) are needed for food while an additional 1.1 million tons are needed to seed future crops, for use in industrial manufacturing, and for livestock feed. Therefore, it was predicted that North Korea’s domestic production will fall 870,000 tons short in 2011. Since Pyongyang is expected to be able to import 330,000 tons of grain this year, it will be left with a 540,000 ton grain deficit.

On the other hand, the (South) Korea Rural Economic Institute and experts from other South Korean agricultural research institutions believe that unfavorable weather conditions in 2010, just like those seen in the South, as well as flooding in North Korea meant that grain production fell off last year, especially since the adverse weather and low temperatures struck during prime growing seasons. Therefore, South Korean agricultural experts estimate that North Korean grain production for 2010 was about 200,000 tons less than the year prior. Increased fertilizer distribution accounted for an additional 100,000 tons, but the damage from flooding cost the North the same in crops, and the shortage of assistance meant an additional 200,000 ton shortage.

South Korea’s Rural Development Association estimates North Korea’s 2009/2010 crop yield at 4.11 million tons, and predicts the 2010/2011 yield will drop to 3.9 million tons. South Korean experts also predict that even with international aid and continuing private-sector grain exports to North Korea, Pyongyang will fall 1 million tons short of grain this year. Not only that, the chances that the North’s grain situation will grow even more severe are significant. Rising international grain prices will heavily burden Pyongyang, and while food prices in North Korea’s traditional markets appear stable following the fall harvest, they have risen steadily, and as the lean season approaches, there is a high likelihood that prices will skyrocket soon.

KINU predicts that if there isn’t any significant domestic political upheaval or any serious clashes with other countries in 2011, North Korea’s industrial sector may be able to boost production. As long as international sanctions continue to be enforced against North Korea, Pyongyang’s reliance on China will continue, but that the forced efforts at self-sufficiency and indigenous development are unsustainable.

Posted in Agriculture, Food, Institute for Far Eastern Studies, UN Food and Agriculture Organization, UN World Food Program | Comments Closed

DPRK uses KCNA for preemptive “Food CYA”*

Monday, February 7th, 2011

UPDATE 2: KCNA posted its second food “CYA” story on March 16th:

A UN special rapporteur for food issue on Mar. 8 expressed concern about worldwide food price rise.

The rapporteur said that the world is facing the same serious food crisis as in 2008 amid the rise of food prices for eight months on end, adding that this is attributable not only to the natural disasters but to speculation in the financial field.

UPDATE 1: I offered a rhetorical analysis. Haggard has some data.

ORIGINAL POST: Here is the article from KCNA:

Pyongyang, February 7 (KCNA) — Price of foodstuff is skyrocketing worldwide, sparking serious concern.

The monthly world foodstuff price indices have gone up 3.4 percent in the period from December last year to January this year, said FAO of the United Nations on Feb. 3 quoting a survey data.

This is an all-time high since 1990 when foodstuff price survey kicked off. The price of foodstuff is expected to continue to soar in the coming months.

It is true that global food prices are rising. Here it seems the North Korean government is both warning its people and deflecting blame for the problem. Although few North Koreans will have access to the FAO report, KCNA is careful to highlight the foreign source (not Pyongyang). Of course making the announcement will set off a wave of hoarding in the DPRK leading food prices to increase even more.

Despite its claims, the DPRK government does have the power to improve food prices for the North Korean people. The DPRK could shore up confidence in market institutions; give farmers greater individual incentives rather than emphasizing collective farming; make it easier for food shipments to travel internally, and ease border crossings for food shipments from China.

Marcus Noland and Stephan Haggard recently posted data on food price increases in the DPRK.

*”CYA” is “Cover your ass” (‘arse’ for our British friends).

Posted in Food, UN Food and Agriculture Organization | Comments Closed

“Marketization” diminishing importance of leader’s birthday

Wednesday, February 2nd, 2011

According to the Choson Ilbo:

The most important dates for North Koreans born since the 1970s are the birthdays of former leader Kim Il-sung on April 15 and present leader Kim Jong-il on Feb. 16. North Koreans may forget their parents’ birthdays but they always remember the leaders’, because that is when gifts of food and other daily necessities are doled out and a festive mood prevails throughout the country.

But now, due to international sanctions and the spread of grassroots capitalism, the traditional “gift politics” may be coming to an end as the regime can no longer afford to dole out grace and favor.

Gift Packages

The candy and cakes that were doled out on Kim Il-sung’s birthday were traditionally much better quality than those available in ordinary shops. Nylon and tetron fabric were also distributed, much more highly prized than the normally available synthetic cotton, mixed-spun or vinalon fabrics that shrink in the wash. Parents who can barely afford to clothe their children have no choice but to be grateful to Kim Il-sung.

On the two birthdays, a bottle of liquor, five eggs, two day’s supply of milled rice, 1-2 kg of meat, and cigarettes are distributed to every household. These are precious commodities not normally available to everyone. Thanks to these gift packages, the birthdays of Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il have long become established as major holidays.

The elite of the Workers Party are given luxurious houses, luxury cars like Mercedes and Swiss-made Omega gold watches. Quality wristwatches are given to ordinary people who have distinguished themselves meritorious and are preserved as heirlooms.

Economic Changes

But amid a food shortage and international sanctions, the regime is having to rethink the practice. And markets are booming there now despite the regime’s attempt to suppress them, so North Koreans can buy Chinese-made candies and cakes and other necessities without much difficulties. This makes the leaders’ birthday gifts look not so special any more.

The quality of gifts is also falling year by year. Senior officials, unable to live on gifts and official supplies alone, enrich themselves through corruption. An increasing number of officials secretly hoard hundreds of thousands of dollars, and it is therefore natural that the leader’s gifts lose their luster.

January 8 was the birthday of Kim Jong-il’s son and heir Jong-un. Although there had been rumors that the regime would designate Kim junior’s birthday as a national holiday and hold lavish celebrations, it passed quietly.

The North designated Kim Jong-il’s birthday as a national holiday quite a few years after he made an official debut in 1974. It was also only when his power base was cemented that he began to dole out gifts to celebrate his birthday. While Kim Il-sung was alive, he gave gifts only to close associates as a gesture of courtesy to his father. So long as Kim Jong-il is alive, therefore, chances are that there will be no gifts to the public or nationwide celebrations on Jong-un’s birthday.

This story is reported every year for the leader’s birthday. Here is a link to previous posts on this topic.

Read the full story here:
N.Korean Regime’s ‘Gift Politics’ Starts to Lose Its Luster
Choson Ilbo
2/2/2011

Posted in Alcohol, Civil society, Food, General markets (FMR: Farmers Market), Political economy | 1 Comment »

DPRK food prices drop

Monday, January 31st, 2011

According to the Choson Ilbo:

The price of rice and foreign currency exchange rate in North Korea have both dropped drastically in a matter of a week, according to Radio Free Asia.

The radio station reported Saturday that rice in Hyesan, Yanggang Province was selling for 2,000 won per kg as of Friday, down from 3,300 won or nearly 40 percent from six days earlier. The Chinese yuan was trading for 400 North Korean won, down from 520.

A local source said that various rumors had prompted merchants to stockpile rice and then suddenly release it. The source also added that the rice requisitioned for the military, a key cause of recent price increases, is being siphoned off and sold, bringing the price down.

Read the full story here:
Rice Prices in N.Korea Plunge 40%
Choson Ilbo
1/31/2011

Posted in Food, Price liberalization | Comments Closed

Lankov on the state of the North Korean economy

Monday, January 31st, 2011

Andrei Lankov writes in the Korea Times about the state of the North Korean economy. Excerpt below:

The existing statistics are remarkably untrustworthy, being essentially educated guesses by analysts. Nonetheless, these statistics indicate a moderate growth of the North Korean economy.

But the present author talks to North Koreans quite frequently. So I don’t need statistics to confirm what becomes clear from my talks with refugees, smugglers, migrant workers and those Koreans who have illegal Chinese mobile phones. Throughout the last ten years the economic situation in the country has improved, even though this improvement was very moderate.

What does “improvement” in this context exactly mean? First of all, few if any North Koreans now face the threat of starvation, though malnourishment remains a widespread problem. Many (perhaps, a majority) of North Koreans don’t have enough to eat in spring. This has a seriously negative impact on their health and is especially bad for children. Nonetheless, unlike the 1990s, it seldom leads to death.

The average North Korean meal is a bowl of boiled corn with a few pickles. Meat or fish are eaten only on special occasions or by affluent people.

Indeed the last decade was a time when material inequality increased in leaps and bounds. Some of the new rich are officials who take advantage of their positions while others are successful entrepreneurs running all kinds of private businesses.

A successful North Korean entrepreneur nowadays might even openly own a car. For instance in a relatively small borderland city with a population of some 90,000 people there are officially three private cars. Much more frequently well-to-do North Koreans prefer to register their cars with state agencies. At any rate, ten years ago a private car was almost unthinkable.

The less successful entrepreneurs or craftsmen are still doing quite well as indicated by significant increase in the number of consumer durables owned by North Koreans. Fifteen years ago a fridge was a sign of exceptional luxury, almost as rare as a private jet in the U.S. Now it’s a bit like a luxury car, an item that 10-20 percent of households can afford.

What is also interesting is the spread of computers, including privately owned ones. In most cases these are old, used computers which are imported or smuggled from China. They are quite outdated but they are computers nonetheless. Recently I interviewed a group of school teachers from the countryside, and they said that nowadays every high school, even in remote parts of the country, is likely to have at least one computer (admittedly, this wonderful contraption is seldom switched on).

This does not mean of course that North Korea has become a consumer paradise. In spite of some improvements, the gap between the North and its successful neighbors continues to widen. However in absolute terms the North Korean economy is not shrinking any more.

There have been serious setbacks, the currency reform early last year is a perfect example. For a while, this failure almost paralyzed the economy and created serious food shortages across the country.

But what brought about this moderate growth? It seems that there are three major contributing factors.

First, North Korea has been quite good at begging and blackmailing the outside world into providing aid. The aid was initially provided by South Korea and the U.S., but now it comes almost exclusively from China.

Second, North Korea’s technocrats have learned how to run the country in its new situation. They are not very efficient at this, but, to quote Marcus Noland, “they are muddling through.”

The present author is inclined to believe that it is the third reason which is the most important of all. Over the last decade a relatively powerful private economy has developed in North Korea. North Koreans did not merely learn how to trade privately, they now produce privately as well and this growth of industry invisibly and privately, seems to have contributed to the growth described above.

The growth is moderate, and no breakthrough is likely. Nonetheless, it is real and palpable.

Read the full story here:
Between myths and facts
Korea Times
Andrei Lankov
1/30/2011

Posted in Automobiles, Black markets, Civil society, Economic reform, Food, Transportation | Comments Closed

US and DPRK begin another round of food diplomacy

Monday, January 31st, 2011

UPDATE 3: The JoongAng Daily (2/12/2011) reports on comments made by Robert King:

King explained that in the past, the U.S. had agreed to give North Korea 500,000 tons in food aid, but was only able to give 170,000 tons as North Korea refused the rest and ordered foreigners who had entered North Korea to deliver the aid to leave.

The envoy also said that it has not yet been decided whether the U.S. will grant food aid to the North and that three prerequisites must be fulfilled if it does.

The three conditions, he explained, are whether a real demand for food truly exists in North Korea, whether the North’s need for food is on the same level as other countries in need of aid, and whether monitoring of the aid will be securely guaranteed. Only when these three prerequisites are met can the U.S. grant aid, King said.

UPDATE 2: According to the JoongAng Daily (2/9/2011) the North Koreans have made an official request for food aid to the US government:

North Korean deputy ambassador to the UN, Han Sang-ryol, requested U.S. food aid last month through Robert King, the U.S. special envoy for North Korean human rights, a diplomatic source told the JoongAng Ilbo yesterday.

Local analysts suspect that King, who is currently in Seoul, informed the South Korean government of the request and is discussing a joint response to it.

“Ambassador Han met King in New York on Jan. 14 and requested large-scale U.S. food aid for the North,” said the diplomatic source in Washington.

It is the first time in years that a behind-the-scenes diplomatic discussion between Pyongyang and Washington on aid has come to the surface. U.S. food aid to the North has been suspended since March 2009 after the Kim Jong-il regime rejected a U.S. proposal to increase the number of Korean-speaking food-distribution monitors to make sure aid was getting to the public.

Han told King that the North was willing to enhance international monitoring of food aid “as much as the U.S. wants,” the source said.

King, who came to Seoul on Sunday, started meetings with Seoul officials yesterday, including Wi Sung-lac, the top envoy on North Korean nuclear issues. At a brief media conference after the meeting with Wi, King did not elaborate on the purpose of his visit or his discussion with the South Korean envoy, saying only it was “very good, very serious and a very thoughtful discussion.”

When asked whether food assistance to the North was on the agenda, King said they “talked about a lot of issues.”

“[It is] extremely important for the U.S., as we pursue our policies toward North Korea, to coordinate with the government of South Korea,” King said. “We have a close working relationship, we are able to work together well on issues, we share our analysis, we share our ideas in terms of making progress.”

The official United States stance, as U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Kurt Campbell said earlier this month, is that it does not have a plan to resume food aid to the North for now.

“The U.S. does not think the North has met conditions to get U.S. food aid,” the source said.

And even if Washington decides to resume aid, it will take time because of congressional procedures, the source said. But some analysts see the possibility of change, citing some opinions in the U.S. State Department in favor of engaging the North with aid to sway its attitude on other issues, including denuclearization.

UPDATE 1: According to the Donga Ilbo (2/6/2011):

The U.S.-based Radio Free Asia says the U.S. government and nongovernmental organizations are discussing the resumption of food aid to North Korea.

Quoting diplomatic sources in the U.S., the broadcaster said Washington has not decided to resume food aid to Pyongyang but is having many talks and discussions on the issue.

Voice of America said Friday that the World Food Program and the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization, both of which are under U.S. influence, also plan an additional survey of the North`s food situation for about a month from Feb. 10.

In an interview, Dr. Kisan Gunjal of the food organization said he will survey the North’s food security and crop situations from Feb. 10 to March 12 at Pyongyang’s official invitation.

In a phone interview with The Dong-A Ilbo, an official at a South Korean aid group said, “The U.S. has asked South Korean non-governmental organizations about North Korea’s crop and food supply situations in 2011 since the North’s artillery provocation on Yeonpyeong Island in November.”

Washington, however, remains officially cautious. U.S. State Department spokesman Philip Crowley told a news briefing Monday that the U.S. government has no immediate plans to provide humanitarian aid to the North.

ORIGINAL POST: According to the Donga Ilbo (1/31/2011) the US and DPRK are talking food aid once more:

The U.S. and North Korea have begun their third round of food diplomacy, with Washington considering resuming food aid to Pyongyang.

The U.S. has halted food aid to the North twice since its first provision in 1996 after blaming Pyongyang for diverting the aid.

The North has always asked for food aid first since North Korean leader Kim Jong Il confronted a series of crises in the early 1990s, when the former Soviet Union and China stopped economic assistance to the Stalinist country.

His father and the North`s founder Kim Il Sung died in 1994. When the North was devastated by floods and other natural disasters nationwide, Kim Jong Il ordered state cadres to beg the U.S. for help.

The North Korean Foreign Ministry then formed a committee for flood damage and went hat in hand to Washington. The Clinton administration provided 19,500 tons of food through the World Food Program in 1996, expecting the North to implement the 1994 Agreed Framework and be docile in talks for the repatriation of remains of American soldiers killed in action in the Korean War.

Washington increased its food aid from 177,000 tons in 1997 to 695,000 tons in 1999. In 2000, a joint communiqué between the North and the U.S. was signed.

North Korea, however, diverted the food aid in ignoring U.S. and international principles for humanitarian aid.

As public opinion in the U.S. worsened over the assistance, the George W. Bush administration slashed the aid volume from 350,000 tons in 2001 to 40,000 tons in 2003. The U.S. Congress demanded greater transparency in the distribution of the food aid in 2004, when it passed the North Korean Human Rights Act.

Rejecting the demand, Pyongyang expelled World Food Program staff in 2005. Washington opted not to provide food aid to Pyongyang in 2006.

Flexing its muscles in November 2006 by conducting its first nuclear test, North Korea again requested U.S. aid in 2008. The Bush administration, which was nearing the end of its term, chose to sit at the negotiating table with the North and offered 500,000 tons of food aid through the World Food Program.

The North received 169,000 tons of food by expanding the areas where food distribution is monitored and agreeing to allow more Korean-speaking monitoring personnel.

In early 2009, Pyongyang decided to test the newly inaugurated Obama administration by launching a long-range rocket and preparing for a second nuclear test. In March that year, the North expelled humanitarian aid groups, saying it would not be able to keep its promise of distribution transparency.

In fall last year, North Korea unveiled its uranium enrichment program and showed its centrifuges to the U.S. in a virtual threat to conduct its third nuclear test with uranium bombs if Washington failed to provide food.

What the U.S. will eventually do is attracting interest since South Korea is opposed to aid to the North.

Read the full stories below:
Pyongyang asks U.S. to restore food aid: source
JoongAng Daily
Kim Jung-wook, Moon Gwang-lip
2/9/2011

US, N. Korea begin 3rd round of food diplomacy
Donga Ilbo
1/31/2011

Radio Free Asia: US, NGOs discussing food aid to NK
Donga Ilbo
2/6/2011

Posted in Food, Foreign aid statistics, International Aid, UN Food and Agriculture Organization, UN World Food Program, USA | 1 Comment »

Weekend fun: Iron Facebook curtain, DPRK at night, Photoshop fun

Friday, January 28th, 2011

Three sets of pictures related to the DPRK:

Iron Facebook Curtain: The first image obtained via Aid Watch presents a December 2010 map of Facebook connections. Notice anyone missing? (Egypt is there!)

You can see a high resolution version of this image here.

DPRK at night and economic growth: The second image obtained from Aid Watch compares growth in electricity coverage at night between the two Koreas. This is the first image I have seen like this which makes side-by-side comparisons:

Click image for larger version

I overlaid these images to Google Earth to determine areas of relative growth and decline. Surprisingly, Pyongyang and Chongjin showed dimmer and smaller electricity signals, indicating lighting was more prolific in 1992 than in 2008. I would have expected their electricity signals to be just as, if not more, pronounced in 2008.

The areas of growth, where electricity signals are more (modestly) pronounced, include Kaesong (개성), Huichon (희천), Songgan (성간), Thaechon (태천), and Anju (안주). Most of these are somewhat expected since they have received much publicized foreign (Kaesong) and domestic investment, particularly in power station development.

Also worth noting are the growth of lighting in South Korea and China.

Photoshop Fun: The third set of interesting images come from a Chinese reader who sends along these images from Korea magazine, the monthly picture magazine published by the DPRK (See e-version here). The images have been altered to give the impression of plenty. Below see images of photoshopped goats, swimmers, and bread: