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DPRK local “elections” completed

Tuesday, July 26th, 2011

Pictured above: Photos from Korean Central Television of Kim Jong-il and Kim Jong-un voting.

KCNA is now reporting the completion of the DPRK’s “elections” to local peoples assemblies.

According to Yonhap:

The Korean Central News Agency said 99.97 percent of all registered voters voted for a total of 28,116 candidates for deputies in people’s assemblies across the country.

In North Korean elections, turnout is usually near 100 percent and candidates, hand-picked by the ruling party, are elected with absolute support.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-il also cast his ballot at a polling station in Pyongyang, along with his heir-apparent son Kim Jong-un and a senior party official, according to the KCNA.

According to the APF:

During their four-year term, the local assemblies convene once or twice a year to approve budgets and endorse local leaders appointed by the communist party.

Analysts have said this year’s elections were aimed at revamping official bodies before a major political event next year to mark the 100th anniversary of the birth of founding president Kim Il-Sung.

According to Itar-Tass (Russia):

Foreign reporters – correspondents of Itar-Tass, the Chinese Xinhua news agency and Chinese central television – were invited to polling station No.134, located at the North Korean National Economy University. The chairman of the North Korean Central Election Commission told Itar-Tass that “our country will mark the centenary of Kim Il-Sung’s birth date when the country will flung open its doors to the building of the mighty and prosperous state”.

Therefore, the present elections, he continued, “are called upon to consolidate people’s power and to demonstrate the nation’s unity”.

The chairman said that any candidate over 17 had the right to participate in the campaign. In compliance with the republican Constitution, the term of office of deputies of local bodies of self-rule who are called here “servants of people”, is four years. Sessions of these bodies of power, called once or twice a year, confirm local budgets and an economic action plan as well as elect chairmen of people’s and administrative committees, judges and assessors.

Here are KCNA articles about the election: here, here, here, here, and here.

Posted in Kim Jong Un, Political economy | Comments Closed

Official activities of Kim Jong-il centered on economy while Kim Jong-un focused on military

Thursday, July 21st, 2011

Institute for Far Eastern Sudies (IFES)
2011-7-19

Kim Jong Il has made a total of 63 official activities in the first half of 2011, focusing mainly on providing field guidance at economic related facilities. On contrast, only one onsite inspection was given at a military base.

According to an official report from the Ministry of Unification, Kim Jong Il was witnessed to have made 63 official appearances this year thus far, already reaching 80 percent of total activities made last year, a record all-time high in the number of official activities for Kim

Specifically, he has made 28 economic related activities which encompassed 45 percent of the entire official activities. Only 14 military related activities were made, the lowest number ever recorded. Out of the 14 military activities, 9 consisted of attendance at military performances and only one trip was entirely associated with military inspection. Alongside these inspections, Kim also made 7 foreign-related activities.

The monthly breakdown of Kim’s official activities was 15 in January, 11 in February, 9 in March, 13 in April, 10 in May and lastly, 5 in June.

Since 2009, Kim made consistent official appearances and the reports of his official activities were found regularly on a bi-weekly basis, except for June when his activities were not reported for two weeks between 14th to 30th.

Kim is accompanied by several officials on his official activities, in which 54 officials were recorded to have accompanied this year. Kim Kyong Hui escorted Kim the most at 48 times. Following Kim Kyong Hui; Jang Song Taek, vice chairman of National Defence Commission (NDC) accompanied 45 times; Kim Ki Nam, secretary of Workers’ Party of Korea (WPRK) accompanied 43 times; Tae Jong Su, secretary of WPK made 43 trips; Ju Kyu Chang, Director of WPK 38 times; Kim Jong Un, vice chairman of Central Military Committee of WPK 35 times; Park Do Chun, secretary of WPK 29 times; Choi Tae Bok, secretary of WPK, 27 times; Hyun Chul Hae, director of Korean People’s Army 26 times; Moon Kyong Duk, Pyongyang, secretary of Pyongyang City Party Committee 25 times; and lastly, Lee Myong Su, director of People’s Safety Ministry made 25 trips.

After making his appearance at the KWP Convention on September 28, 2011, Kim Jong Un has made a total of 73 official activities, and 35 of these activities took place this year.

In detail, Kim Jong Un made 20 military, 18 economic, and 7 foreign-related activities. Monthly breakdown of activities are 2 times in September, 16 times in October, 11 times in November, 9 times in December, 5 times in January, 9 times in February, 8 times in March, 7 times in April, 4 times in May and 2 times in June.

Kim Jong Un’s activities were chiefly military related in which 86 percent comprised of accompanying senior Kim on his visits to political and military sectors. This is a natural outcome, considering his official position as the vice-chairman of Central Military Committee of WPK. The high number of military activities is in sharp contrast with his father, who began to focus mainly on economic activities since 2008.

The New Year’s Message delivered at the beginning of this year placed “improvement of North Korean people’s lives and development of light industry” as the top agenda for the nation. Correspondingly, Kim Jong Il official activities were mainly economic-related to light industry and agricultural sectors.

Kim Jong Il’s official activities are noteworthy indicator which exhibit the direction of leadership and the changes occurring amongst the main elites

Posted in Institute for Far Eastern Studies, Kim Jong Un, Political economy | Comments Closed

Some new publications on the DPRK

Monday, July 11th, 2011

A couple of new publications came out on the DPRK by some well known scholars:

“Hitting Below the Belt: Pyongyang Spills the Beans on Secret Summit Talks”
38 North
Aidan Foster-Carter

“Political Change in the DPRK: An interview with Stephan Haggard and Daniel Pinkston”
National Bureau of Asian Research

Posted in Political economy | Comments Closed

DPRK unveils 2011-7-24 election posters

Thursday, July 7th, 2011

Last night on the KCTV evening news (July 6), the DPRK unveiled the propaganda posters for the upcoming elections:

Click on the image for a larger version*.

The slogan at the bottom of the painting reads “일심단결의 위력을 시위하자”. Thanks to a helpful reader, this translates to “Let’s demonstrate the power of single-hearted unity”.

Click on image for a larger version*.

The slogan at the bottom of the painting reads “모두다 찬성 투표하자”. Again with thanks to a reader, this means “Let’s all vote yes”.

See translated KCTV footage here.

Marcus Noland writes about the elections as a form of social control.

The Daily NK has more on the elections:

North Korea has confirmed the date of the country’s next local People’s Committee elections. According to a report put out by Chosun Central News Agency (KCNA) today, the poll is set to take place on the 24th of next month.

Citing a June 13th release put out by the Standing Committee of the Supreme People’s Assembly, KCNA reported this morning, “According to Article 139 of the Socialist Constitution of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and the decision of local People’s Committees, province, city and county People’s Committee delegate elections will proceed on July 24th.”

North Korea’s constitution demands that it conduct elections to local committees every four years. The last, which occurred almost exactly four years ago, in July, 2007, saw 26,635 delegates elected to various committees.

At the end of May, The Daily NK cited an inside North Korean source as suggesting that the elections were likely to be in June, and that the authorities were involved in the process of voter registration.

However, such elections are a formality, while the process of voter registration is used partly as a way to threaten the families of defectors. One inside source, reporting on the contents of a people’s unit meeting in late May, cited a security official, “He said, ‘We will punish or exile families who either fail to take part in or miss it because they are not here. Contact people who have gone to China for trade or gone to live there illegally and tell them to come back without fail.”

According to the Voice of Russia, the election campaign is aimed at drawing the maximum turnout which in 2007 was officially 99.82% voters.

* Originally I used the images from KCTV, but since Yonhap later published better versions, I ammended the post to include them.

Posted in Art, Political economy | 4 Comments »

Kim Jong-il guidance focused on economy in 2011

Thursday, July 7th, 2011

According to Yonhap:

North Korean leader Kim Jong-il has focused his inspection tours on economic facilities in the first six months of the year, an official said Wednesday, indicating that he wants to improve his country’s faltering economy ahead of next year’s landmark centennial anniversary of his late father’s birth.

Kim made 63 public appearances during January and June, the largest number ever compared to the same period in previous years.

On 28 of the outings, the North Korean leader inspected economic facilities, Unification Ministry spokeswoman Lee Jong-joo told reporters.

Kim “has been increasing activities on economic areas since 2008,” she said.

The North has vowed to improve light industries and agriculture as part of its stated campaign to build a prosperous and powerful nation next year, the centennial of the birth of the country’s late founder, Kim Il-sung, the father of current leader Kim.

The move comes amid doubt about whether the North can make any economic breakthrough by next year.

North Korea has built some 500 houses in its capital of Pyongyang, far short of its goal of building 100,000 houses by next year, according to the National Intelligence Service, Seoul’s spy agency.

…

During the first half of this year the North Korean leader inspected just one military unit and made 13 other military-related public appearances, including art performances, Lee said.

Meanwhile, Kim’s son and heir apparent, Kim Jong-un, accompanied his father on 35 inspection trips, more than 80 percent of which were related to the military.

This year I have actually been keeping a spreadsheet of KJI’s guidance trips. I have a list of 80 public appearances by Kim Jong-il and 47 could be considered economic. It is kind of hard to determine since many facilities are actually dual-use and provide goods for both the civilian and military economies. Also, many “cultural” activities in which Kim Jong-il partakes are actually military-related since he attends them with KPA leaders. Anyway, I have provided the full list of KJI’s public appearances and links to the relevant KCNA stories in this Excel spreadsheet. You can do your own calculations.

Posted in Political economy | Comments Closed

DPRK stepping up investigations of border patrol

Friday, June 3rd, 2011

According ot the DailyNK:

The North Korean authorities are conducting an extensive investigation into the actions of soldiers attached to border guard units, based on the presumption that such guards are frequently guilty of aiding and abetting defection. Those found to have done so are being arrested and severely punished.

A source from Yangkang Province explained the news yesterday, “For the third time they are conducting an investigation along the border in Kim Jong Eun’s name, but this time it is focused on the soldiers.”

“The decree says to arrest and severely punish soldiers who have aided and abetted in defection, to pull out the roots; so the investigation has been harsh from the very beginning.”

The two previous investigations into defection from the border region, both said to have been launched in the name of the successor, happened in February and April this year, as reported by The Daily NK. However, this is the first time that attention has turned away from defectors themselves and towards those soldiers who help facilitate a lot of the escapes.

“There are two members of an investigation team from Defense Security Command going to every guard post, and they are questioning the soldiers one by one,” the source said.

It is well known both within and without North Korea that border guards are commonly bribed to turn a blind eye to defection. Through very serious questioning and the threat of severe punishment, the authorities are presumably hoping to kill two birds with one stone; both hindering further defections and re-instilling military discipline.

However, the new investigation has already inspired at least two guards from one post to desert instead of face censure, according to the source.

“Two men from a guard post in the Hyesin-dong area of Hyesan took their weapons and deserted, so now they are in the middle of a house-to-house investigation,” the source explained, adding, however, “People are saying, ‘They’ve already fled to China, why the hell would they still be in the country?’”

Although nobody knows why the two men chose to desert, the source said he had heard that they were indeed involved in defections, and feared punishment.

Across the Tumen River in Changbai, China, meanwhile, there is also an unusually intense investigation going on, according to sources there. It is suspected that the two events are related.

A source explained, “Public security officers and soldiers are stopping and investigating cars one by one. I heard that soldiers from North Korea deserted with their guns, so maybe it is because of that.”

Of course, the investigation is hurting small traders, too.

“Big-time smugglers are not having problems,” the Yangkang Province source explained. “But day-to-day small scale smugglers are complaining about the investigation. Border guards are telling them to put up with it just a little more.”

Read the full story here:
Border Investigators Turned on Soldiers
Daily NK
Lee Seok-young
2011-6-3

Posted in Black markets, Emigration, International trade, Kim Jong Un, Military, Political economy | Comments Closed

Lankov on the rise of China and Korean unification

Monday, May 23rd, 2011

Andrei Lankov recently wrote a paper on the rise of China and the implications for Korean unification for a Korean-language publication.

You can download a PDF of the paper in English here.

Abstract
The rise of China can be seen as the single most important strategic problem which Korea faces currently. In the late 1970s, China entered a phase of high-speed economic growth, which still seems to be almost unstoppable. According to World Bank estimates, the average annual increase in China’s GDP in the years 2000-2009 was 9.7%. This is the world’s highest growth rate. Perhaps for the first time in modern history, the country which has the highest growth rate is the country with the largest population.

The future of Korea depends on its ability to find how to handle the Chinese challenge. It is going to be difficult, but there are hopeful signs, too: Chinese political elite may be remarkably realist, even Machiavellian, in their outlook but also rational and averse to adventurism. This gives Korea some hope that compromises with China will be possible. Without such compromises no unification of Korea will be possible in a new world where China is bound to be a major player.

Posted in China, International trade, Political economy | Comments Closed

KJI’s no 8. trip to China

Monday, May 23rd, 2011

UPDATE 7 (2011-5-30): According to the Choson Ilbo, the Hwanggumpyong Island groundbreaking ceremony was cancelled without any announcement.

UPDATE 6 (2011-5-27): According to the Irrawaddy, KJI’s delegation visit to Beijing overlapped with a Myanmar delegation. Maybe the two met?

UPDATE 5 (2011-5-25): According the Choson Ilbo, Kim Jong-il’s security in China is facing an all new challenge: Yoku!

UPDATE 4 (2011-5-25): According to Yonhap and the Choson Ilbo, Kim Jong-il’s consort, Kim Ok, is traveling with him.

UPDATE 3 (2011-5-25): KJI is now in Beijing for talks with PRC President Hu Jintao (Yonhap). According to a colleague, Xinhua claims KJI also met with Singapore’s Lee Kuan Yew in Beijing.

UPDATE 2 (2011-5-24): China confirms that Kim Jong-il is in the PRC (Nanjing on Tuesday). China usually waits until KJI has returned to the DPRK before announcing his visits. See the Wall Street Journal: China Real Time, Yonhap, AFP.

UPDATE 1 (2011-5-23): More coverage is coming out on KJI’s trip to the PRC:

1. Aidan Foster-Carter writes about Kim Jong-il’s previous trips to China in 38 North.

2. China claims Kim’s trip is focused on economic issues (WSJ): “China invited North Korean dictator Kim Jong Il, who began his seventh trip there on Friday, to learn more about its economic development, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao told South Korean President Lee Myung-bak Sunday.”

3. PRC-DPRK trade up significantly in the last year (Bloomberg): “North Korea’s trade with China jumped 30 percent last year even after the United Nations stepped up sanctions following its second nuclear test in May 2009, according to China’s commerce ministry.”

4. Yonhap reports that Kim Jong-il will possibly attend a groundbreaking ceremony for development of the Hwanggumpyong Island (see more here) . This ceremony is supposedly scheduled for May 28th.

5. The Hankyoreh has an update of KJI’s travel itinerary as of today.

ORIGINAL POST (2011-5-20): This morning there were dozens of conflicting stories about whether Kim Jong-il and/or Kim jong-un had traveled to China. Right now, the emerging view seems to be that Kim Jong-il is definitely in China and Kim Jong-un is possibly (probably not) in China.

So let’s back up a couple of days. Kim Jong-il was just reported to have given on the spot guidance visits to the Ryongjon (룡전과수농장) and Toksong (덕성과수농장) Fruit Farms on May 18th. The Ryongjon Fruit Farm is located in Pukchon County (북청군, 40.172649°, 128.338476°) and the Toksong Fruit Farm is located in neighboring Toksong County (덕성군, 40.325806°, 128.262423°). Those are the coordinates of the farms themselves if you want to check them out on Google Earth.

These farms lie on railway lines that indicate KJI was traveling north to cross into China at either Manpho (만포시) or Namyang, Onsong County (남양로동지구, 온성군).

So was Kim Jong-un traveling with Kim Jong-il? Maybe, but I don’t think so…

KCNA reports from Kim’s guidance tours:

[Kim Jong-il] was accompanied by Kim Ki Nam and Choe Thae Bok, members of the Political Bureau and secretaries of the C.C., WPK, Thae Jong Su, alternate member of the Political Bureau and secretary of the C.C., WPK, and Kwak Pom Gi, chief secretary of the South Hamgyong Provincial Committee of the WPK.

Now I know that Kim Jong-un has reportedly accompanied his father on guidance trips without being listed as part of the official entourage and that he could have been omitted from official coverage precisely to hide his presence on the train to China. In these situations I generally look to occam’s razor for the answer, and the razor says “no”. Now I will just wait to be proven wrong.

The Wall Street Journal has more.

Here is coverage of the trip in the Washington Post.

Here is a headline (but no story) from Yonhap.

Posted in China, Kim Jong Un, Political economy | 1 Comment »

Is a generation change coming to the Supreme People’s Assembly?

Thursday, May 19th, 2011

The Choson Ilbo reports:

North Korea’s Workers Party has started a generational shakeup in the Supreme People’s Assembly by appointing large numbers of young delegates in their 20s and 30s. The rubber-stamp parliament consists of delegates with a five-year term from various organizations including the party and the military.

A North Korean source said the Workers Party recently ordered municipal, provincial, and county party committees to force elderly members to quit for health reasons and fill the vacancies with people under 40.

“The North Korean leadership is seeking to replace a larger number of elderly members with younger people next year,” which it has declared as the year when the country becomes a “powerful and prosperous” nation, the source said. The regime “also ordered officials to lower the educational level of the delegates, but raise the ratio of female delegates to more than 30 percent.”

The average age of the 687 SPA delegates is 57. Those with college or higher degrees account for 92.8 percent, and women for 19.3 percent, according to the source. The moves are believed to be part of the regime’s efforts to consolidate the succession of leader Kim Jong-il’s third son and heir Jong-un, who is in his late 20s.

Liberty Forward Party lawmaker Park Sun-young backed the story. “I was told by a North Korean source based in a Southeast Asian country that the regime has recently issued instructions for a generational change in the SPA,” she said. “The party is trying to strengthen Kim Jong-un’s control” at a time when the lower echelons of the party, which has a membership of 4.5 million nationwide, have become unreliable since a botched currency reform in late 2008.

“Once the SPA has more delegates in their 20s and 30s who are Kim Jong-un’s loyal cadres, the regime will probably get tough, including launching more provocations against the South,” Park added.

The 12th Supreme People’s Assembly just held their 4th session.

Read the full story here:
N.Korea Pushes Generational Change in Parliament
Choson Ilbo
2011-5-20

Posted in Cabinet, Kim Jong Un, Supreme Peoples Assembly | Comments Closed

Some cynical DPRK humor

Tuesday, May 10th, 2011

The Daily NK reports on how popular propaganda slogans are becoming cynical jokes in the DPRK:

Of course, North Koreans have made use of many other official slogans. “The collective farm field is my vegetable garden” (1987) is one other good example.

Originally, by alluding to the collective farm as being public property, this saying dressed labor up as an act leading to personal benefit and encouraged solidarity. However, as rations failed, workers stole grains from farms under the aegis of that very slogan, because after all, “Since this is my farm, my taking from it is not theft.”

“With 1,000ri [one ri being approximately 0.393m] of tribulation comes 10,000ri of happiness,” (1990) is another slogan aiming to suppress unrest by emphasizing unity. However, in response to the country’s continued economic frustrations, it was re-interpreted and turned into, “With 1,000ri of tribulation awaits another 10,000ri of struggle.”

Similarly, “Though the road ahead may be perilous, let’s travel it laughing,” (1998) has been changed to, “Let them laugh as they go, why are they making us go along?” and “[Life] is no laughing matter, so how are we supposed to laugh?”

“Comrades Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il are a great sun for the people,” has been turned into “They are indeed the sun; if you go too close you burn to death and freeze if you go too far away.”

According to defectors, this slogan is popular for it’s accuracy; you can get rich and warm by fawning to the Kim family, but you can also get seriously burned by doing so. On the other hand, should you distance yourself from or oppose the regime, you are likely to find yourself in prison (in North Korea, prisons are known “the cold room”), where you can easily die.

“Let’s live in our own way,” (1998) is used as, “In the Party, we live well for ourselves no matter what you say.” As state propaganda continues to divorce itself from reality, the way it is interpreted offers good evidence of growing dislike of the Kim Jong Il regime.

I have also heard that North Koreans refer to people they can’t rely on as “8.3” (August 3rd) after the economic adjustment policy that sought to promote small scale, semi-private light industry.

Read the full story here:
Slogans Reveal the Real North Korea
Daily NK
Kang Mi-jin
2011-5-10

Posted in Art, Civil society, Political economy | Comments Closed

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