Friday Grab Bag

October 21st, 2010

1. The Boston Globe puts together a great photo album of the celebrations attended by Kim Jong-un.

2. Pyonghwa Motors did a car show in Vietnam where several of their vehicle models are sold. Who would have thought that both the North Koreans and the Unification Church would approve of a showcase model! See the Pyonghwa Motors Wikipedia page here.

3. See the KPA’s “Funky get down Juche party” (Youtube).  It only works with audio!

4. Here is a group of North Koreans in China visiting Starbucks! (They were only seen outside the Starbucks, I cannot confirm they went in)

5. Recently I have posted a lot of pictures of North Koreans wearing Western brands (Jesus, Mickey Mouse, South Park, etc).  Today we see Jurassic Park (h/t to an anonymous colleague):

6. Fourjay Industries of Dayton, OH, might like to know that their products are helping to motivate swimmers at the Kim Il-sung University swimming pool (satellite image here).  I am willing to bet that the DPRK’s order (probably made through one or more intermediaries) did more good for the state than the stimulus package (zinger)!  I realize this picture proves nothing.  You just have to trust me that it came from Kim Il-sung University (Gag located the product web page here):

7. Finally, here is a good copy of a very famous picture:

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Posted in Automobiles | 3 Comments »

For the Kims, the weakest link is family

October 21st, 2010

(h/t to Leonid Petrov) Aidan Foster-Carter wrote an interesting article for the Asia Times.  Below is the last paragraph:

Even in Pyongyang the mask is slipping. The WPK conference and subsequent military parade seem to have passed off smoothly, but dissent is growing. One recent visiting group (which included a Korean-speaker) heard a full-scale row between their guides – it was evening, and drink had been taken – as to what right Kim Jong-eun had to be foisted on them as leader. That is still dangerous talk; but many more will be thinking it. The young general has much to prove, and may not have long to do so. Interesting times.

The full article is well worth reading here:
For the Kims, the weakest link is family
Asia Times
Aidan Foster-Carter
10/22/2010

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

More than 100 DPRK defectors in Japan

October 21st, 2010

According to KBS:

Japan’s State Secretary for Foreign Affairs Takeaki Matsumoto says there are more than 100 North Korean escapees in Japan.

Matsumoto made the assessment on Thursday in response to a question posed by Democratic Party of Japan legislator Yosihu Arita during a meeting of a special House of Councillors committee on Japanese abductees.

Arita said a dozen North Korean escapees are under the protection of Japan’s diplomatic mission in China. He said there are reports that some of the escapees have been unable to leave China for nearly two years and urged the Japanese government to promptly address the matter.

In response, Foreign Minister Seiji Maehara said Tokyo will seek the early departure of the escapees in line with the interests of related countries.

Read the full story here:
‘More than 100 NK Escapees Have Entered Japan’
KBS
10/21/2010

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Posted in Emigration, Emigration statistics, Japan | Comments Closed

KWP reps visit Chinese counterparts

October 21st, 2010

According to the Choson Ilbo:

The senior secretaries of all North Korea’s 11 metropolitan and provincial party committees paid a rare collective visit to a senior member of the Communist Party of China in Beijing on Tuesday.

The North Korean delegation led by Mun Kyong-dok, the senior secretary of the Pyongyang municipal party committee, met with Zhou Yongkang, a member of the Politburo Standing Committee who ranks ninth in the hierarchy, to discuss economic cooperation.

Zhou was quoted by the official Xinhua news agency as saying it was “the first time” in the history of bilateral relations that senior secretaries of the Workers Party’s metropolitan and provincial committees have visited China as a group. “I wish that you will expand exchange with various Chinese regions you’re visiting and achieve success from your tours.”

The North Koreans also met with their Chinese counterparts to discuss investment in development projects in the North. The Chinese officials were in Beijing to attend the fifth plenary session of the 17th Communist Party Central Committee.

A South Korean government official said, “The North Korean officials’ visit to Beijing is equivalent to all 16 South Korean metropolitan mayors and provincial governors flying to Washington as a group to discuss exchange and cooperation with ruling-party lawmakers and state governors in the U.S.” He said since Kim Jong-il’s son Jong-un was established as the official successor to the leadership, the North and China have increased the frequency of personnel exchanges “to discuss more substantive matters than before.”

The profiles of the Chinese delegation that attended the 65th anniversary celebrations of the North Korean Workers Party were also exceptional. It included senior officials of the three Chinese northeastern provinces — Sun Zhengcai, the secretary of the Jilin provincial party committee, Chen Xi, the deputy secretary of the Liaoning provincial party committee, and Du Yuxin, the deputy secretary of the Heilongjiang provincial party committee.

They were welcomed at Sunan Airport by Ju Yong-sik, the senior secretary of the party committee in Jagang Province, a border region. The senior secretaries of the party committees in all four North Korean provinces bordering China — Ju from Jagang Province, Ri Man-gon from North Pyongan Province, O Su-yong from North Hamgyong Province and Kim Hi-taek from Yanggang Province — attended a dinner that evening in honor of the Chinese delegation.

“There have recently been more signs of the North and China deepening and developing economic cooperation, including various development projects focusing on the border areas,” a Unification Ministry official said. “It seems that after the North’s Workers Party and the Chinese Communist Party finished talks at headquarters level, their provincial party committees have now begun concrete cooperation.”

Military exchanges are also increasing ahead of the 60th anniversary of the day the Chinese joined the Korean War on Oct. 25.

The official North Korean Central Broadcasting Station on Tuesday reported a delegation of Chinese People’s Volunteer Veterans led by Wang Hai, a former Air Force commander, and the People’s Liberation Army’s art troupe arrived in Pyongyang for the anniversary.

O Kuk-ryol, vice chairman of the National Defense Commission, and Pak Jae-kyong, vice minister of People’s Armed Forces, hosted a reception for them.

On Oct. 14, a North Korean Army delegation led by Pyon In-son, another vice minister of People’s Armed Forces, visited China, to tour PLA units. Quoting the North’s official Rodong Sinmun daily, Xinhua said, “Friendship bonded by blood in the previous generations is being handed down to the next generation.”

A South Korean security official said, “The North is apparently trying to counter the South Korea-U.S. military alliance, which has been strengthened since the sinking of the Navy corvette Cheonan in March, by intensifying military ties with China, as well as attempting to escape international economic isolation by leaning on China.”

Mike has more at NK Leadership Watch.

Read the full story here:
N.Korea, China Grow Ever Closer
Choson Ilbo
10/21/2010

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Posted in China, Foreign direct investment, International trade, Worker's Party | 1 Comment »

Hoeryong “Food Avenue” completed

October 20th, 2010

Hoeryong-food-avenue-2014-6-4

Above (UPDATED): Google Earth satellite imagery of “Food Avenue” in Hoeryong

According to the Daily NK:

A North Korean source from [Hoeryong] has reported that “Food Avenue”, a project designed to attract Chinese tourists to the city which began almost two years ago, has been completed.

According to the source, who spoke with The Daily NK on the 18th, “’Food Avenue’, below Kim Jong Suk University of Education in Nammun-dong, has just been completed, and now they are making a fuss about it as it will appear on television today. Several restaurants like Hoiryeonggak, a noodle restaurant, held opening ceremonies today, too.”

North Korea launched the construction project on orders issued by Kim Jong Il during a visit to his mother’s home town on February 24th, 2009, causing the provincial and city Party committees of North Hamkyung Province and Hoiryeong to launch a 150-day battle to complete the work between April 20th and September 16th.

However, even though workers, housewives and students were pressed into service during the period, the project was not even 50% complete by September. Although North Korea tried to attract Chinese investment, it did not work and the project finally limped to the finish line more than a year later.

The avenue starts from the front gate of Kim Jong Suk University of Education and ends in front of ‘Hoiryeong coal mining machinery factory’, a little more than a five minute walk away. Among other things, the restaurants on the street sell North Korean-style noodles, cold noodles, dog-meat soup and Chinese-style kebabs.

The authorities are hoping that by using the geographical location of Hoiryeong, on the border with the Chinese town of Sanhe, they will be able to attract tourists to Kim Jong Suk’s hometown and earn hard currency at the same time.

Needless to say, however, that while the North Korean propagandist media is busy advertising the glorious completion of Food Avenue, local citizens are looking on with disdain.

As the source put it, “I have no idea what the purpose of building this avenue is, since who on earth would come and eat here? Only a few officials from foreign currency earning enterprises who travel back and forth to China will come, so it is pathetic to even imagine that the businesses will be successful.”

“The restaurants on Food Avenue were as good as forced to open since they were assigned to individual enterprises,” he went on, before adding, “The people just ask, ‘Is there any way for businesses run by enterprises and the nation to be successful?’”

I have not seen any North Korean television this week, but if I see ground level pictures, I will post them.

Read the full story here:
Food Avenue Finally Complete in Hoiryeong
Daily NK
Yoo Gwan Hee
10-19-2010

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Posted in Food, Google Earth, Restaurants | Comments Closed

Report: DPRK-PRC tax-free market opens in Tumen

October 20th, 2010

Low-resolution satellite image of the Tumen-Namyang border.

UPDATE: Here is the original story in Asahi:

Goods from North Korea are being traded freely in a thriving market that opened last week in a Chinese city near the border with the reclusive state, according to sources from the region.

Marine products–frozen squid is a specialty–are prominently displayed, the sources said.

The market in Tumen, Jilin province, opened on Oct. 13. It appears to be the latest development in growing economic exchanges between Beijing and Pyongyang following a visit to China by North Korean leader Kim Jong Il in August and moves to secure a smooth transition of power to his third son, Kim Jong Un, the sources said.

Earlier this month, it was learned that Tumen is preparing to accept an influx of cheap labor from North Korea.

The market, which has a total space of about 10,000 square meters, is located on the banks of the Tumenjiang (Tumengang in Korean) river, which serves as the common border between the two countries.

Currently, the market is open twice a week, but there are plans for it to become a daily feature in the near future, the sources said.

According to the sources, Chinese residents in Tumen, which is located inside the Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture within Jilin province, can obtain travel permits to North Korea by presenting identification.

With entry permits in hand, the Chinese are able to cross the river to Namyang, where they are allowed to buy products at designated areas, provided they return to China the same day.

Purchases worth up to 8,000 yuan (about 96,000 yen, or $1180) are treated as duty-free and can be sold at the Tumen market.

The sources said about 150 people showed up at the market on Oct. 13, including merchants as well as ordinary citizens.

North Korean marine products, whose prices are considerably cheaper than Chinese products, dominated the goods on display.

A Tumen city official declined to provide details on the market, saying “it is still in the experimental stage.”

But sources suggest that the market is part of efforts to enhance commerce in northeastern China, which has trailed in economic development compared with coastal regions in the rest of the country.

The market also provides a crucial means for North Korea to earn hard currency by freely selling goods in China.

The idea of setting up such a market is not entirely new. In 2005, the Jilin provincial government authorized the opening of a market as a means to revitalize the border region. However, the project had to be shelved after an international uproar over an underground nuclear test conducted by North Korea.

The plan resurfaced after the region encompassing the Tumenjiang river district and the cities of Jilin and Changchun was designated in 2009 as a development and deregulation promotion zone, the first such national-level development project for a border region.

Jilin province has since taken strident measures to encourage exchanges with North Korea with which it shares a sprawling border.

Sun Zhengcai, a top Chinese Communist Party official from Jilin province, joined a delegation of party officials to North Korea this month on the occasion of the 65th anniversary of the founding of the Workers’ Party of Korea, and is believed to have engaged in talks with the North Korean side on boosting commerce.

The opening of the market follows reports that North Korean laborers may soon be able to work in Chinese factories in Tumen legally, and that Chinese businesses have acquired rights to use and develop wharf facilities at the ports of Rajin and Chongjin in northern North Korea.

Chinese businesses are also reportedly moving toward participating in the construction of infrastructure such as railways and roads to access the ports.

ORIGINAL POST: According to KBS:

A Japanese daily says a “free market” operated by North Korean and Chinese citizens has opened near the Tumen River, which flows between China and North Korea.

The Asahi Shimbun said Wednesday that the market was established in the city of Tumen in China’s Jilin Province a week ago.

The paper said the ten-thousand-square-meter market allows Chinese people to buy up to eight-thousand yuan worth of North Korean goods tax-free each day for resell in China.

The paper said that on the day the market opened last Wednesday, some 150 Chinese purchased tax-exempt frozen squid from North Koreans at the market for resell.

The Asahi said North Korea and China are apparently expanding bilateral economic exchanges following North Korean leader Kim Jong-il’s visit to China in August, citing Chinese firms’ recent move to employ North Korean workers.

Unfortunately high-resolution satellite imagery of the area is not yet available on Google Earth, but we do know that Namyang contains 1 of 4 railway links the DPRK maintains to China and 1 of 8 ground transportation crossings.  Besides Sinuiju, it is the only other DPRK border crossing with both rail and automobile bridges.

Read the full story here:
Market for North Korean goods opens in Chinese border city
Asahi
Daisuke Nishimura
10/21/2010

Asahi: NK-China Tax-Free Market Opens in Tumen City
KBS
10/20/2010

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Posted in China, General markets (FMR: Farmers Market), Google Earth, International trade | Comments Closed

North Korea’s market restrictions revisited

October 20th, 2010

Reuters published a concise report of the DPRK’s recent restrictions on market activity which is compiled from work by Marcus Noland and Stephan Haggard.  Here is the Reuters report:

Reclusive North Korea has imposed a series of measures since 2008 to rein in market activity, foreign trade, and activity across the border.

A Peterson Institute for International Economics policy brief published this year outlines some of the rules put in place:

2008
January – Women under 40 banned from trading in markets, followed by efforts to redeploy them to workplaces.

April – Wide-ranging Antisocialist Conscience Investigation of Sinuiju, the country’s main land port with China, including the books of trading organizations. Restrictions placed on carrying merchandise on bicycles and carts in Sinuiju.

July – Party, police, and market management office coordinate efforts to limit large sales in the Pyongsung market, an emerging wholesale center for the country in Pyongan province.

October – Nationwide ban on sale of shoes in markets and new restrictions limiting trade in foodstuffs to individually cultivated fruits and vegetables.

November – Major directive announcing the conversion of markets back to the more restrictive farmers’ market format. Markets to be open only on the 1st, 11th, and 21st of each month, and to be limited to retail sales of individually cultivated food; other foodstuffs and manufactures to be sold through the ‘public distribution system’ and state-run stores. Major cities, including Pyongyang, Hamheung, Soochun, Kaesung, and Chungjin, set up model farmers markets.

2009
January – National Security Agency special investigative unit scrutinizes names, number of family members, and livelihoods of households in the National Border Area suspected of involvement in border crossing and trade. Public education campaigns and increased punishment for border crossing.

March – New controls over lodging and movement without passes in National Border Area [and] imposition of strict movement controls in connection with the Supreme Peoples Assembly elections; intensified controls following the elections.

May – Announcement of 150-day campaign accompanied by renewed implementation of market restrictions on women under 40 and restricted items, including products of joint ventures, industrial goods, and American and South Korean products. Punishment of emergent back-alley markets and ‘sell and run’ sales. Public education campaigns against market activities.

June – Closure of Pyongsung market in Pyongan province.

July – Increased control and surveillance over households in National Border Area with defectors.

November – North Korea announces a reform to replace all currency in circulation with new bills and coins.

The Peterson Institute report mentioned in this article can be found here (PDF).

I should also point out that many of these dictates were uniformly unenforceable and many have been rescinded (including the 10-day rule) since the currency reform was implemented.

Read the full story here:
Factbox: How North Korea has tightened controls
Reuters
10/20/2010

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Posted in Black markets, Economic reform, General markets (FMR: Farmers Market), Peterson Institute | Comments Closed

ROK expanding efforts to censor DPRK web content

October 20th, 2010

According to Voice of America:

North Korean propaganda has emerged on popular Internet social media sites. It is not for domestic consumption as virtually no North Korean has Internet access. Rather it is targeted at other countries, especially South Korea. But in the democratic South, considered the world’s most connected country, the government blocks such content.

South Korea’s Internet censors are working harder these days to keep up with an expanding number of Web sites showing material from or sympathetic to North Korea.

South Korea blocks such sites under laws forbidding dissemination of false information or activities against the state.

Bloggers such as Kim Sang-bum, of the on-line community Bloter, which focuses on digital technology, calls the censorship an over-reaction.

“I don’t think it is necessary for our government to regulate citizens too tightly. South Koreans have become too sophisticated to fall for North Korean propaganda,” he said. “We consider that kind of propaganda as rather silly.”

South Korea’s Communications Standards Commission and the National Police Agency declined requests for interviews.

Jeon Kyoung-woong is the former director of the Korea Internet Media Association, and an on-line journalist. Jeon says pro-Pyongyang material needs to be restricted because it is not as innocuous.

“There are actually forces inside South Korea supporting the North Korean regime,” he said. “Some of them are in touch with North Korean spy groups. Thus the South Korean government sets restrictions on such on-line content.”

South Korean Internet users must register with their real names. On the most popular web sites, anyone posting comments must register with their national identity number.

“The adoption of real-name system shows that the current government is excessively sensitive about political opinion on the Internet. I think the situation has become worse since the current government came into power.”

Jeon, however, is less bothered.

“South Korean cyber police has been active for more than a decade,” said Jeon. “Recently it feels like the cyber police are becoming increasingly active but that is only because it’s being publicized by those subject to such restrictions. Political restrictions were actually tighter under the previous two governments.”

While South Koreans can freely argue about to what degree on-line content here should be regulated, that is not an option in North Korea. Only a few people there are allowed Internet access. And the country only recently established its first full connection to the Internet.

Here are previous posts about the North Kroeans moving into popular social media sites: Twitter, YouTube.

Read the full story here:
N. Korean Propaganda Appears on Popular Internet Social Media sites
Voice of America
10/19/2010

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Posted in Internet, South Korea | Comments Closed

ROK makes arrest in Hwang plot

October 20th, 2010

Only days after the South Korean government determined that Hwang Jang-yop died of natural causes they have announced the arrest of a North Korean defector who was planning to act against him. According to the Associated Press (via Washington Post):

Authorities in South Korea arrested a suspected North Korean agent for allegedly plotting to assassinate a high-profile defector who died of heart failure earlier this month, a prosecutor said Wednesday.

The alleged agent, Ri Dong Sam, was formally detained Tuesday on suspicion of plotting to kill Hwang Jang-yop, a former senior member of the North’s ruling Worker’ Party, the prosecutor said. Police said however that there was no connection between Hwang’s recent death and the charges against the agent.

The North Korean agent came to South Korea in August by posing as a North Korean defector and was caught during an interrogation process, the prosecutor said.

South Korean intelligence officials typically question defectors for several weeks before they are sent to a resettlement center.

He has admitted some of the charges, the prosecutor said. He declined to give any further details and spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to media on the continuing case.

The detention came after Hwang was found dead at his Seoul home on Oct. 10. Police said Wednesday that Hwang died from heart failure on Oct. 9, citing final autopsy results. Hwang’s body was buried at a national cemetery south of Seoul.

The 87-year-old Hwang, chief architect of North Korea’s guiding “juche” philosophy of self-reliance, was one of the country’s most powerful officials when he fled in 1997. He had tutored North Korea’s supreme leader, Kim Jong Il, on the ideology.

Hwang lived in Seoul under tight police security. He has written books and delivered speeches condemning Kim’s government as authoritarian.

North Korea had reportedly vowed revenge against Hwang, calling him “human scum” and a betrayer. Earlier this year, two North Korean army majors were each sentenced to 10 years in prison in Seoul in a separate plot to assassinate Hwang. North Korea has denied the plot.

Read the full story here:
SKorea accuses NKorean of plot to kill defector
Associated Press (via Washington Post)
Kwang Tae-kim
10/20/2010

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Posted in Juche, Military, Worker's Party | Comments Closed

Did the DPRK foil an explosive smuggling attempt?

October 19th, 2010

According to the Daily NK:

Three North Korean Senior Middle School students have been caught trying to carry explosives into North Korea, according to a Radio Free Asia (RFA) report today.

Citing a source from Hyesan, RFA reported, “On the 11th, immediately after Chosun Workers’ Party founding day, 15-year old Songbong Senior Middle School student Kang and two others were caught trying to bring explosives in from China,” adding, “As a result of this, the security authorities have been put on emergency alert and the border totally closed.”

The RFA report explains that the three crossed the border into China with the help of border guards and smuggled back 10kg of explosives in two bags, but were caught at the entrance to a village by a community watch guard unit consisting of workers.

According to another source, “I’ve heard a number of rumors, including that they brought the explosives to destroy the bridge that passes by Wangdeok Station.” However, the source added, “Whether this is true or not I cannot say.”

Wangdeok Station is among a number of stations in North Korea on lines reserved for the exclusive use of Kim Jong Il.

The North Korean authorities are apparently at a loss to explain the case, because the students were just the children of normal workers; they did not have criminal records and were only interested in literature and reading.

Since the event occurred, the Yangkang Province authorities have stepped up security, with provincial committee cadres and students from Hyesan Agriculture University patrolling in the area around Bocheonbo Combat Victory Monument and the local statue of Kim Il Sung. They have also dispatched tens of guards to idolization sites such as Hyesan Revolutionary Museum and Kim Il Sung Revolutionary Activities Institute.

The report also added information on further similar cases: in 1997, a group of people were arrested after smuggling explosives into the country, allegedly in order to blow up the city’s statue of Kim Il Sung, and there has also been an arson case involving Kim Jong Suk Art Theatre and persons with complaints against the Kim Jong Il system.

It should be stated that stories such as these should be regarded with some skepticism since almost all of the facts are unverifiable.

For what it is worth, here is a satellite image of the  Wangdeok Leadership Train Station in Hyesan ( 41.448124°, 128.277445°):

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Posted in Black markets, Google Earth, Railways | 2 Comments »

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