A visitor to the DPRK has photo-shopped an image of the old and new Kim Il-sung statues on Mansu Hill standing next to each other:
The new is on the left…the old on the right.
Thanks, Ray!
Friday fun: New vs. old on Mansu Hill
November 15th, 2012North Korea’s Cabinet and Worker’s Party decide to enhance economic cooperation
November 15th, 2012Institute for Far Eastern Studies (IFES)
2012-11-15
The Choson Sinbo, a Japan-based pro-North Korean newspaper, reported on November 9 that the role and the authority of the North Korean cabinet are increasing, especially in the planning and implementation of North Korea’s economic policies.
“North Korea is establishing new order and actions to maximize the potential of its national economy. The cabinet-government system and the cabinet-oriented system are being strengthened as economy-related matters are decided in cooperation with the cabinet,” the newspaper said.
The newspaper also commented that many North Korean news outlets are reporting on DPRK Premier Choe Yong Rim’s activities in detail, including his frequent visits to economic units, saying that “the central and regional party committees are committed to provide support and encouragement to the cabinet and various administrative and economic institutions so the workers can assume responsible roles in the economy.”
Putting the cabinet in charge of the economic sector is a major break from the past, where the Workers’ Party of Korea (WPK) enforced strict restrictions and control over all administrative and economic institutions.
In addition, the news also suggests that the recent economic revitalization efforts are being stressed at a different level than in the past. The report also mentions that North Korea is promising to “boldly go forward with all projects beneficial to the people of North Korea.”
Many high ranking economic officials from the cabinet are quickly moving in to take high-ranking positions in the WPK. Typically, economic experts remain in the cabinet for many years to develop their expertise.
However, this is quickly changing, as can be witnessed from recent appointments in the WPK. Han Kwang Bok, the former vice premier and minister of electronics industry was recently appointed as a director in the central committee of the WPK. Kwak Bum Ki, who was the vice premier of the cabinet (from September 1998 to June 2010) was recently promoted to the position of party secretary and director of the WPK’s Finance and Planning Department (since this past April’s Party Conference).
These recent promotions in the economic departments of the WPK show that people are being replaced by high-ranking and experienced officials from the cabinet, particularly in the departments of light industry, finance and planning, and science and education.
These changes and promotions of economic experts suggest that heavier emphasis is being placed on economic development and improvement of the people’s livelihoods.
North Korea’s recent changes in the cabinet and the WPK — although limited only to the economic sector — indicates a major shift in the decision-making process. The WPK normally creates policy and the cabinet executes it. However, by placing officials equally across these two bodies, it appears as though efforts are being made to minimize the friction between the two organizations and increase the effectiveness of the economic policy through cooperation.
Russia delivers more food aid
November 15th, 2012According to Relief Web:
On 9 October 2012, H.E. Alexander A. Timonin, Ambassador of the Russian Federation to DPRK, visited Pyongyang Biscuit Factory to formally hand over a generous donation of Russian wheat flour to WFP’s work in the country.
The donation of 6,000 metric tons of wheat flour is valued at US$5 million. Wheat flour is an essential ingredient in the production of nutritious biscuits that are distributed to well over a million children in nurseries, kindergartens and primary schools, as part of WFP’s project to address chronic undernutrition in DPRK.
Wheat flour is also used in DPR Korea to produce Supercereal – a specialised nutritious blended food – for pregnant and nursing mothers.
During the ceremony, Ambassador Timonin confirmed Russia’s engagement in assisting the most vulnerable in DPRK through its contribution to the work of WFP.
“We are very interested in the activities of WFP in DPRK and are very satisfied with its production of fortified food for children and mothers with the wheat flour donated by Russia,” he said. “The Russian Federation will continue to provide humanitarian contributions to WFP, supporting it`s activities in DPRK.”
Previous posts about aid to the DPRK in 2012 can be found here.
Previous posts about Russia can be found here.
DPRK arrivals in the ROK down in 2012
November 14th, 2012According to the Daily NK:
The number of North Koreans entering South Korea has dropped to its lowest level in many years, with the 2012 total unlikely even to reach 50% of the 2011 figure.
A government official met with reporters today to explain the background to the sharp drop, declaring, “Surveillance of defectors has been stepped up a lot, and the authorities have really cracked down on the major routes used as defection paths across the river to China.”
“That’s not all; overall monitoring and control of defectors in North Korea has been strengthened, and the same is true in China, notably in the three northeastern provinces,” he added.
Just 1,202 defectors have entered South Korea this year to date,, the official revealed. As such, the Ministry of Unification estimates that the total for 2012 will be just 1,400, only half of last year’s 2,706. It will certainly be the first time since 2006 that the number of defectors has not reached 2,000.
Previous posts on this topic can be found here 2012, 2011.
Read the full story here:
2012 Defector Numbers Just 50% of 2011
Daily NK
Jeong Jae Sung
2012-11-14
DPRK ships missile parts to Syria
November 14th, 2012According to the Korea Herald:
A shipment of graphite cylinders usable in a missile program and suspected to have come from North Korea was found in May aboard a Chinese ship en route to Syria in what appears to have been a violation of U.N. sanctions, diplomats said Tuesday.
South Korean officials seized the shipment of 445 graphite cylinders, which had been declared as lead piping, from a Chinese vessel called the Xin Yan Tai, U.N. Security Council diplomats told Reuters on condition of anonymity.
South Korean authorities stopped the ship at the South Korean port of Busan, the envoys said, adding that the cylinders were intended for a Syrian company called Electric Parts.
South Korean officials informed the Security Council’s North Korea sanctions committee about the seizure on Oct. 24, the envoys said, adding that China had offered to help investigate the circumstances surrounding the incident.
“It appears the cylinders were intended for Syria’s missile program,” a diplomat said.
“China assured us they will investigate what looks like a violation of U.N. sanctions.” Diplomats said the graphite cylinders appeared to be consistent with material usable in a ballistic missile program and that South Korea would investigate the case with China.
The shipment to Syria was arranged by a North Korean trading company, diplomats said. One diplomat said the Syrian company that was to have received the cylinders may be a subsidiary of the North Korean trading firm.
North Korea is barred from importing or exporting nuclear and missile technology under U.N. Security Council sanctions imposed on Pyongyang because of its nuclear tests in 2006 and 2009.
Read previous posts about the DPRK and Syria here.
Read the full story here:
Suspected N.K. missile parts seized en route to Syria
Korea Herald
2012-11-14
Noland DPRK trade statistics compendium (2012)
November 14th, 2012This fall Marcus Noland has posted three blog entries which feature DPRK trade statistics with China, the European Union, and Russia. I have put the graphs from these posts here as both an archive and as a quick reference for myself. See Dr. Noland’s original posts (linked above) for his analysis.
Chinese Luxury Goods Exports to the DPRK (Published 2012-9-17):
European luxury exports to North Korea (Published 2012-10-18):
Russian luxury good exports to North Korea (Published 2012-11-14):
UN FAO/WFP crop and food security assessment report
November 12th, 2012An FAO/WFP Crop and Food Security Assessment Mission (CFSAM) visited the DPRK from 2012-9-24 to 2012-10-18 (25 days). They assessed the 2012 main crop harvest; forecasted the 2013 production of winter and spring crop; estimated cereal import requirements for the 2012/13 marketing year (November/October); assessed the household food-security situation and estimated food assistance needs.
Read the full report here (PDF).
It is full of data/statistics and well worth reading. You can find even more information on my DPRK Economic Statistics Page.
Here is media coverage of the report: Associated Press 1, Associated Press 2, Yonhap 1, Yonhap 2.
North Korea diversifying tourism programs to earn foreign currency
November 8th, 2012Institute for Far Eastern Studies (IFES)
2012-11-8
North Korea is developing its tourism industry as a way to increase its foreign currency earnings. Recently, there appear an increasing number of tour packages targeted attracting Chinese visitors to the DPRK, with new tour packages actively being promoted.
The Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported on October 8 that there are new professional tour programs that are gaining international attention. In the article, new and creative tours were featured, including Mount Paektu tours with [Air] Koryo Airlines and bicycle tours. Mini-golf tours are also reportedly scheduled for next year.
Along with North Korea, Chinese tour companies are also taking interest in this effort and are developing various tour packages via air, land, and sea routes. In June, charted plane tours from Shenyang started, and now new tours from Dalian to Mount Kumgang are also being launched.
Across the border from the North Korean city of Sinuiju is the Chinese city of Dandong, where there are over ten travel agencies that operate daily train tours between the two cities. In fact, during holidays and weekends, more and more Chinese tourists are flocking to the China-North Korean Friendship Bridge that traverses the Yalu River, connecting the two cities.
The recent rise of Chinese tourists to North Korea is attributed to the aggressive marketing schemes of the North Korean government. The State Tourism Bureau teamed up with a Chinese travel company to run a tour to Mt. Paektu. North Korea, faced with international economic sanctions, has limited means to earn foreign currency. The new Kim Jong Un regime is actively seeking ways to earn foreign capital through the tourism industry. Chinese companies are responding positively and swiftly to this change and are coming up with new tourism programs.
North Korea is utilizing its image as ‘closed country’ and ‘hermit kingdom’ to stimulate curiosity among tourists. More and more Chinese are able to enter North Korea without a visa (requiring only their passports) and this is adding to the spike in Chinese tourists to the country. Most Chinese travel agencies are able to make all the necessary travel arrangements to North Korea in less than a week once the interested person submits his/her passport and photos.
However, there are comments from returning visitors that tours are limited to historic and famous sites and somewhat insular as contact with the locals is prohibited. North Korean national security agents accompany all tour groups. Despite this fact, many experts expect the number of Chinese visitors to the DPRK will continue to increase in the future.
*NKeconWatch: For additional information, see “North Korean minders endure Chinese invasion” in the Asia Times (2012-11-8).
Inflationary coping mechanisms…
November 6th, 2012The Korea Times (Yonhap) reports the following:
The official North Korean won is increasingly giving way to the U.S. dollar and the Chinese yuan in asset holdings of North Koreans, as well as in North Korean markets, South Korean experts said Tuesday.
Circulation of foreign currencies is on the increase and a vast number of North Koreans are holding their assets, including banknotes, in foreign bills, University of North Korean Studies professor Yang Moon-soo and Kim Seok-jin, an analyst at the Korea Institute for Industrial Economics & Trade, said in a joint paper released at a conference in central Seoul.
Giving the reported simultaneous use of the major world currencies their own term of “dollarization,” Yang said, “It is almost becoming abnormal in the North to hold more than a certain amount of bank notes in North Korean won.”
High-value assets such as houses are being increasingly valued and traded in dollar terms while in the North Korean market, dealers are increasingly relying on dollar-based prices, the professor said.
Devaluation of their own currency due to steep inflation, coupled with fears of a potential government decision to confiscate won notes mainly fueled the “dollarization,” he said.
Read the full story here:
NK sees jump in dollar, yuan-denominated sales goods, assets: experts
Korea Times (Yonhap)
2012-11-6
KPA Journal Vol. 2, No. 9
November 4th, 2012
Joseph Bermudez, Senior Analyst with Digital Globe’s Analysis Center and author of The Armed Forces of North Korea, has posted the latest issue of KPA Journal.
You can download the PDF here.
Topics include:
“KPA Land-based MR-104 DRUM TILT Radar,” by Joseph S. Bermudez Jr.
A December 2010 DPRK propaganda video of a Korean People’s Army (North Korean Army) combined arms exercise contained a scene depicting a land-based variant of the former Soviet MR-104 drum tilt naval target acquisition and fire control radar. This is the first readily available open source image of the land-based variant.
“KPA 17th Tank Brigade (Tank Division, Mechanized Brigade, Mechanized Division), Part II,” by Joseph S. Bermudez Jr.
While much is now known concerning U.S. and U.N. units, organizations and operations during the Fatherland Liberation War (i.e., Korean War) very little reliable and detailed information is available concerning those of the Korean People’s Army (North Korean Army). Ths is especially true for its armored forces, which played a brief but important role during the first year of the conflict. This paper represents an initial e ffort to recount the organization and operations of one of the KPA’s first armored units—the 17th Tank Brigade.
“KPA Wartime Propaganda Leaflet”
Michael Webster, who contributed 4 images of the Han-gang bridges from his collection to the March 2011 (Vol. 2, No. 3) issue of KPA Journal, has provided a KPA propaganda leaflet from his Korean War collection.
“Unusual Visitor to Wonsan Airbase,” by Joseph S. Bermudez Jr.
On November 1, 2012 DigitalGlobe acquired an image of the Wŏnsan-si area, including the Korean People’s Air Force (North Korean Air Force) Wŏnsan Airbase. Aside from capturing the normal collection of MiG-17/-19s and MiG-21s stationed at the airbase the image also captured an An-24 coke taxiing for takeoff at the northern end of the main runway.
