Statistics « North Korean Economy Watch

Archive for the ‘Statistics’ Category

Rice on the way, but still no tangerines

Wednesday, January 7th, 2009

Although the South’s annual tangerine shipment to the DPRK has been ~~suspended~~ reduced (and Seould has suspended direct financial support), food aid from other South Korean groups continues unabated. According to Yonhap:

The Korea Peasants League said they have arranged to have a ship collect rice from across the country at ports along the coast. The boat left the southern island of Jeju on Monday and will depart from the port of Incheon, west of Seoul, on Friday. It will likely arrive at the North Korean port of Nampo on the same day if weather conditions at sea are normal, they said.

Non-governmental aid has continued amid the political stalemate. The South Korean government suspended its customary food and fertilizer aid to the impoverished state last year as North Korea cut off dialogue and intensified an anti-Seoul media tirade.

A Seoul-based Buddhist organization, the Jungto Society, shipped food aid worth 380 million won (US$293,436) intended for mothers and children in North Korea last week.

This week’s shipment by the Peasants League includes some 60 tons of rice donated by the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, a labor umbrella group. The union group and the farmers are calling for legislation that would implement the regular delivery of rice aid to North Korea.

Read the full article here:
S. Korean farmers to send rice to N. Korea amid frozen relations
Yonhap
1/7/09

Posted in Agriculture, Agriculture statistics, Food, Foreign aid statistics, Jungto Society, Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, Statistics | Comments Closed

Status of US food aid deliveries to North Korea

Tuesday, December 30th, 2008

(UPDATE BELOW)
Press Statement by Sean McCormack
December 30, 2008
US Department of State web site

Question: Will you please provide an update on the deliveries of food aid to North Korea?

Answer: To date, over 143,000 metric tons of U.S. food (wheat, corn, and soybeans) has been delivered to North Korea. Of that amount, the latest shipment of 25,000 metric tons of corn and soybeans arrived in North Korea on November 23 and has completed unloading for distribution by the U.S. NGOs. The latest shipment of food aid (totaling 21,000 metric tons), which was expected to arrive by the end of December, is now expected to arrive in the DPRK on January 2, due to recent rough seas.

The United States has not stopped food aid to North Korea. Under the terms of our agreement with the DPRK, there is to be no limit imposed on the Korean language capabilities of the World Food Program (WFP) and U.S. NGO staff implementing the food aid program. The lack of sufficient Korean speakers on the WFP program is one of the key issues in ongoing discussions. The issuance of visas for Korean-speaking monitors for the WFP program is another issue currently being discussed, along with other technical issues. A delegation that recently visited North Korea, identified problems in the implementation of the world food program portion of the food aid program. Those problems are not yet resolved.

Under the most recent agreement reached at the six party talks, the US has committed to sending 500,000 tons of food assistance to North Korea within the 12 months beginning in June 2008. So far the US has shipped 143,000 tons.

South Korean civil society is also contributing:

Two South Korean charities say they’ve shipped food and fuel to impoverished North Korean families suffering in the cold.

A shipment of food for babies and their mothers worth about $302,300 is to be distributed in Hoeryong by the Seoul-based Jungto Society, a Buddhist group, Yonhap News Agency reported Tuesday.

Families in Hoeryong are particularly vulnerable because the town sits on the remote northeastern tip of North Korea and and receives less assistance from other regions, said Kim Ae-Kyung, a Jungto spokesman.

The shipment includes dried seaweed powder, flour, milk powder, sugar and salt for 2,500 mothers and 6,300 infants and children.

Another South Korean charity, Briquet Sharing Movement, said it has delivered 50,000 charcoal fuel briquets to North Korean border towns Kaesong and Kosong.

In all, the two towns have received 800,000 briquets from the charity this year, enough to help heat 3,200 homes, Yonhap reported.

(UPDATE) From the Korea Times:

[T]he “Easter Star” was en route to the reclusive country with 21,000 metric tons of corn and will soon arrive at the port of Nampo.

American NGOs, such as Mercy Corps, World Vision and Global Resource Service will distribute the aid in Jagang and North Pyeongan Provinces, the official added. The State Department originally expected the aid to reach the port by the end of this month.

It will be the sixth shipment of the 500,000 metric tons of promised food aid. In May, the U.S. agreed to resume the aid in June for 12 months. The United States given 143,000 metric tons of food assistance so far, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack told reporters in Washington last week.

The NGO official also said 4,940 metric tons of a corn-soya blend and corn oil will be separately shipped to North Korea in mid-January as the seventh shipment, and NGOs will distribute them in the same regions.

NGOs have been a regular channel for Washington to distribute its promised assistance. The World Food Program under the United Nations has also distributed food assistance on the U.S. government’s behalf.

The shipment will be the first aid package reaching North Korea after talks on dismantling the North Korean nuclear program came to an abrupt end without substantial agreement in early December.

In spite of the stalemate on the nuclear issue, McCormack said, “Our humanitarian program will continue.” U.S. attention is now shifting to stationing Korean-speaking staff working with the WFP and NGO programs at the point of distribution.

Read the full articles here:
Charities send food, fuel to North Korea
UPI News
12/30/2008

US Corn Aid to Arrive in North Korea Jan. 3
Korea Times
Kim Se-jeong
12/28/2008

Posted in Agriculture statistics, Briquet Sharing Movement, Food, Foreign aid statistics, International Aid, Jungto Society, Statistics, UN, UN World Food Program, USA | Comments Closed

DPRK to continue economic slide

Saturday, December 27th, 2008

Quoting from The Nation:

“North Korea had a little boost this year, due largely to its farm, mine and electricity and gas sectors,” the Hyundai Research Institute (HRI) said in its 2009 report on the communist nation’s economy.

North Korea’s farm production increased by 7.5 per cent, from 4.01 million tonnes in 2007 to 4.31 million tonnes forecast for 2008, according to South Korea’s Rural Development Administration (RDA).

“This year, North Korea’s weather conditions have enabled modest harvest growth,” said Ha Un-Gu, a researcher at RDA.

The delivery of energy aid from the United States, China and Russia was cited by the HRI report as a boost for North Korea’s gas and electricity sectors.

In 2008, North Korean trade with China has grown at a pace strong enough to offset its shrinking trade with Thailand. “So North Korea is forecast to post a record trade volume of 3 billion US dollars in 2008,” the HRI said.

However, North Korea’s 2012 target is becoming elusive, as the country’s trade volume is forecast to slide back from its peak of 3 billion dollars in 2008.

Liquidity problems of key trading partners China and Thailand will make it hard for them to maintain their economic ties with North Korea.

North Korea’s business ties with China were forecast to undergo a particularly steep decline, the HRI said.

North Korea’s trade volume with China increased by 25 per cent to 1.19 billion dollars during the January to June period in 2008, compared to same period in 2007, according to Shin Jeong-Seung, the South Korean ambassador to China.

Download the study (PDF in Korean) here.

Read the full article here:
North Korea’s economy is forecast to resume its slide
The Nation
12/27/2008

Posted in 2012 Strong and Prosperous Nation (Kangsong Taeguk), Agriculture, Agriculture statistics, Foreign aid statistics, International Aid, International trade, Mining/Minerals, Statistics, Uncategorized | Comments Closed

Inter-Korean trade falls for second straight month

Saturday, December 20th, 2008

Quoting from the Korea Times:

Inter-Korean trade fell 27.7 percent in November from a year earlier to $142.72 million, according to the ministry data posted on its Web site.

“Payments to North Korea are mostly made in dollars or euro, so the weak Korean currency has been the primary reason behind the falling trade,” a ministry official was quoted as saying.

More than 80 South Korean firms produce watches, shoes, clothes and kitchenware at a joint industrial complex in the North’s border town of Gaeseong. North Korea also exports sand to the South.

In October, South and North Korea traded goods and services worth $163.06 million, down 23.2 percent from a year earlier.

Meanwhile, inter-Korean trade from January to November reached $1.69 billion, an increase of 3.7 percent from the same period in 2007.

And According to the Hankyoreh (h/t OneFreeKorea):

According to a report, seven companies have canceled their contracts to build facilities at Gaeseong complex since October. Three of the seven bought space at a site reserved for machinery and metal cooperatives in June, and were in the process of constructing or designing factories. The report was submitted to Rep. Chun Jung-bae of the main opposition Democratic Party by the division supporting the Gaeseong Industrial Complex at the Ministry of Unification.

Two companies are in situations unrelated to the breakdown in inter-Korean relations, one had a fire last summer and another is suffering from losses incurred as a result of investment in KIKO, “knock-in knock-out” currency options trading.

The remaining five companies were believed to have abandoned their plans because of the deterioration in inter-Korean relations. An official at one of the five companies, which canceled its investment contract in December, said, “Although the economic crisis was one of the reasons why we canceled the contract, the main reason was that business prospects have darkened due to strained inter-Korean ties. Other companies that moved to (the Gaeseong complex) at the same time also decided to cancel their contracts for the same reason.”

In canceling their contracts, the seven companies forfeited their initial investments, which ranged from 17 million won (US$12,500) to 70 million won each. Land at the Gaeseong Industrial Complex was sold at 45,000 won per one square meter and the companies paid 10 percent of that price as part of their deposit.

Seven other companies also canceled their contracts last year, but they did so after an on-site feasibility study was conducted and it was determined that their businesses were not financially viable. All seven companies were able to receive their deposits under a special provision on contract cancellation, which allows companies to receive their deposits if the contract is canceled within six months of when it was signed.

The companies that canceled their contracts this year were not able to take advantage of the provision because they canceled over six months after signing their contracts.

There are growing concerns that more companies may be canceling their contracts as well. The head of Company “H,” who signed a contract to build a facility at the Gaeseong complex last year, said, “Though I would lose my initial investment of several millions of won, I’m considering canceling the contract because the tensions inter-Korean relations are likely to continue for another five years.”

Read the full story here:
Inter-Korean Trade Falls for Second Straight Month
Korea Times
12/20/2008

More companies cancel contracts at Gaeseong complex
Hankyoreh
12/17/2008

Posted in Economic reform, Foreign direct investment, Joint Ventures, Kaesong Industrial Complex (KIC), Light Industry, Manufacturing, South Korea, Special Economic Zones (Established before 2013), Statistics, Trade Statistics | Comments Closed

North Korea between collapse and reform

Friday, December 19th, 2008

Asian Survey Vol. 39, No. 2 (Mar. – Apr., 1999), pp. 287-309
Kongdan Oh and Ralph Hassig

Download PDF here or download from Jstor.org here

The refusal of North Korea’s letters to institute serious economic reforms has frustrated those who study the country and those who seek to alleviate the suffering of the North Korean people. Two French medical aid organizations have withdrawn from the country complaining that the Pyongyang government interfered with their work. This is but one sign of a growing donor fatigue. The muddling through plan that the Kim regime has adopted involves soliciting foreign aid, bargaining with its military and nuclear products, making minimal unofficial changes in the domestic economy, and waiting for the international environment to become more favorable—perhaps even expecting a resurgance of international communism. Equally important, Kim and his ruling cohorts are willing to sacrifice the economic health of their nation for the security of their regime, just as other dictators, both communist and non-communist have done. The painful difference in North Korea’s case is that it is half of a divided nation, posing an immediate humanitarian dilemma for the millions of Koreans in the Southern half of the penninsula whose families are suffering in the north. For this reason more than any other, the future of North Korea cannot be ignored.

Posted in 1990s Famine, 2002 Economic reforms, Agriculture statistics, Arduous March, Black markets, Demographics, DPRK Policies, Economic reform, Emigration statistics, Food, Foreign aid statistics, GDP statistics, General markets (FMR: Farmers Market), Juche, Rason Economic and Trade Zone (Rajin-Sonbong), Special Economic Zones (Established before 2013), Statistics, Trade Statistics | Comments Closed

Assessing the economic performance of North Korea,1954–1989: Estimates and growth accounting analysis

Friday, December 19th, 2008

Journal of Comparative Economics, 35 (2007) 564–582
Kim, Byung-Yeon, Kim, Suk Jin, and Lee, Keun

PDF of paper here

Abstract: This paper adjusts the official data from North and South Korean sources, taking into account hidden inflation to estimate North Korea’s GNP growth rates from 1954 to 1989. The factors of economic growth are decomposed subsequently into changes in inputs and factor productivity. Finally, a panel cointegration technique is used to assess the level of productivity in the North Korean economy in comparison with that of the former Soviet Union. We find that the average of annual growth rates of North Korean GNP and GNP per capita from 1954 to 1989 was 4.4 and 1.9%, respectively. The results from decomposition suggest that the prime cause of slow economic growth was extremely low or even negative total factor productivity. According to the panel cointegration estimation, productivity in North Korea was lower than that of the Soviet Union by 33%.

JEL classification: P27; E01; O47
Keywords: North Korea; Growth; Growth accounting; Panel cointegration

Posted in Agriculture statistics, Demographics, Emigration statistics, GDP statistics, Statistics, Trade Statistics | Comments Closed

Kuwait funding DPRK water and sanitation projects

Wednesday, November 26th, 2008

UPDATE: According to the Pyongyang Times:

The Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development has decided to loan on the updating of sewage treatment facilities in Pyongyang.

The ceremony for signing a loan-giving agreement took place on November 19 at the People’s Palace of Culture, which was attended by a delegation from the Ministry of City Management led by Deputy Minister Ri Kang Hui and a delegation from the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development headed by Deputy General Director Hesham Ebraheem Alwaqayan.

The fund will provide long-term low-interest loan for the technological renovation of sewage facilities in Pyongyang.

The loan will be spent on upgrading dozens of pumping stations.

The agreement was inked by Ri Kang Hui and Hesham Ebraheem Alwaqayan.

The Kuwait fund had loaned on the Pyongyang drinking water service reconstruction in 2003.

The DPRK ministry spent the loan on upgrading water purification plants, increasing water production capacity, updating and expanding drinking water service networks and establishing information system on drinking water service and completed the project in February last year.

ORIGINAL POST (2008-11-26): Although the DPRK is doing its best to chase away South Korean investment, the Kuwaiti government is providing Pyongyang with a USD$21.7 million loan to construct water and sanitation facilities.

The Kuwait Fund for Economic Development (KFAED) stated here on Sunday that it will sign a loan agreement with North Korea in a few days which is valued at KD 6.2 million (USD 21.7 million) to help in financiaing a sanitation system project.

In a statement to the media FKAED added the suggested project contributes in improving a the environment and public health by raising the performance of city sewage systems.

With this second loan, KFAED financing to North Korea is to come to KD 12.4 million (USD 43.4 million), going into development projects in water and sanitation sectors. This is in addition to technical assistance of KD 153.5 thousand (USD 537,000).

I am unsure what exactly Kuwait’s play is here. Altruism is well and good, but an unconvincing motive for such a hefty sum of money. The only other narrative that I can imagine is awfully cynical: If these sanitation projects are constructed by Kuwaiti contractors and engineers using Kuwaiti parts and supplies, then international development officials should be aware that the DPRK offers many opportunities to channel development funds into the coffers of supporters back home—you just have to make sure Pyongyang gets its cut.

Does anyone else have a theory?

Read the full story here:
Kuwait News Agency
11/16/2008

Posted in Foreign aid statistics, Foreign direct investment, International Aid, Kuwait | 5 Comments »

Chinese-DPRK trade shrinks

Wednesday, November 19th, 2008

The Hong Kong daily newspaper Ta Kung Pao (excerpted in the Donga Ilbo) did some field work on the China-DPRK border which helps us get a better idea of how trade between the two nations has fared in the latest financial crisis.

Quoting from the article:

The volume of border trade between North Korea and China has plunged in the wake of the global financial crisis, the Hong Kong daily Ta Kung Pao said yesterday.

Trading in the market along the border line and approved by the Chinese government has effectively stopped, the report said. Such trading is also not categorized as international trade.

“We found such a result after inspecting 1,334 kilometers from Dandong down the Yalu River to the Tumen River over 20 days,” the daily said.

The trade of mineral resources was hit hardest. The price of yellow copper has fallen from 60 yuan (around 12,000 won) in March to 12 yuan. That of red copper has dropped from 100 yuan (around 20,000 won) per kilogram in April to 24 yuan.

Over the same period, the price of iron ore has plummeted nearly 70 percent from three to four yuan to 1.2 yuan.

The daily said North Korea’s largest copper mine in Hyesan suspended production as prices of mineral resources for export have fallen.

North Korean exports to South Korea via China have also sharply decreased.

A trader in Longjing said, “The global financial crisis has significantly affected border trade since last month. It is hard for North Korean merchants to bring goods to Chinese markets. But it is far harder to find North Korean merchants who cross the border to buy goods in China.”

Read previous posts on this topic here.

Read the full article above here:
N. Korea’s Border Trade With China Plunging
Donga Ilbo
11/19/2008

Posted in International trade, Statistics, Trade Statistics | 1 Comment »

North Korea statistics

Sunday, November 16th, 2008

I get many requests for North Korea’s economic statistics. In order to make these things easier to find, I have created a page on the menu to the right called “North Korea Economic Statistics.” This resource provides links to the most frequently quoted and cited statistics. It is not yet complete, but I will be continually expanding it.

I believe these should be taken with buckets of salt, but here they are nonetheless.

Also on the menu are links to the following information:
North Korea Academic Resources
North Korea Blogs
North Korea Books
North Korea CRS Reports
North Korea Films

If you have anything to add to any of these resources, please let me know.

Posted in Agriculture statistics, Demographics, Emigration statistics, Foreign aid statistics, GDP statistics, RoK Ministry of Unification, Statistics, Trade Statistics | Comments Closed

South Korean priest to operate mission out of Pongyang hemp factory

Sunday, November 9th, 2008

Sometimes the headlines write themselves.

According to the Union of Catholic Asian News (excerpt):

For the first time in almost 60 years, a Catholic priest will stay in North Korea, and look after the welfare of local workers.

Franciscan Father Paul Kim Kwon-soon says he will stay in Pyongyang, probably beginning in late November, and serve as a “social worker” for factory workers in the first joint North-South business venture.

Returning to South Korea from a visit, Father Kim told UCA News on Nov. 4 that North Korea is allowing him to run a newly built welfare center in Pyongyang that houses a soup kitchen, a free clinic and a public bath, even though “they know I am a Catholic priest.” As a visitor, he will have to renew his visa every two months.

According to Father Kim, the three-story welfare center he will manage is within the factory premises and will provide the workers with services such as medical checkups, meals and haircuts. It will have the capacity to offer free meals to up to 1,500 workers a day.

“I can say that the center will be a turning point in the humanitarian aid to the North,” the priest noted. “We only could send aid materials” in the past, he pointed out, whereas he can now bring aid materials to the North and provide direct service.

Saebyol General agreed last February to establish the center after three years of “great efforts” on the part of his Order of Friars Minor, Father Kim explained.

During the four-day visit to the North, Bishop Lazzaro You Heung-sik of Daejeon presided at the opening ceremony of the center on Oct. 30, the priest reported.

On Nov. 1 Bishop You, former president of Caritas Corea, the Korean bishops’ social service organization, celebrated a Mass at Changchung Church, the only Catholic church in North Korea, to thank God for opening the center. About 50 South Korean Catholics including eight priests and four Religious took part. No North Korean Catholics attended.

Father Michael Lee Chang-jun, secretary of Caritas Corea, accompanied Bishop You. He told UCA News on Nov. 5 that he wished “the center could provide its service not only for the workers, but other North Korean people in the neighborhood.”

Cecilia Lee Seung-jung, North Korea program manager for Caritas Internationalis, the worldwide confederation of Caritas organizations, earlier called the agreement on the center a significant development. She pointed out that inter-Korean exchanges have been limited since the current government in Seoul assumed office last February.

Records of South Korea’s Unification Ministry show aid to North Korea from the South Korean government and civil groups amounting to US$63.6 million from January to September 2008, while in 2007 it totaled US$304.6 million.

According to Church sources, North Korea maintains that 3,000 Catholics in North Korea practice their faith at “home worship places” across the country, with no residing priest or nun. Between 1949 and 1950 all priests and nuns who remained in the North were executed or disappeared.

It is very interesting that the mission will be operated out of a South/North joint venture company rather than North Korea’s Changchung Cathedral in eastern Pyongyang. There are countless reasons why concerned parties believe this to be a superior arrangement.

To learn more about Pyongyang’s new hemp factory, click here.

To read the full story mentioned ablove, click below:
Catholic Priest To Work In North For Social Welfare
Union of Catholic Asian News
11/6/2008

Posted in Foreign aid statistics, International Aid, Joint Ventures, Pyongyang Hemp Textiles Co., Religion, Saebyol General Company, South Korea | 1 Comment »

North Korean Economy Watch