DPRK defector numbers

August 2nd, 2010

UPDATE: The Daily NK offers these numbers:

This September, the number of North Korean defectors living in South Korea is likely to pass 20,000. Hanawon, the resettlement education center for defectors located just outside Seoul, recently revealed that a total of 19,300 defectors were in South Korea as of 1 July, and forecast that the tally would surpass the 20,000 mark this coming September.

It is a number which has been rising steadily ever since eight people first crossed the border in 1993, with records for 2006, 2007, 2008, and 2009 showing 2018, 2544, 2809, and 2927 defectors reaching South Korean territory respectively.

ORIGINAL POST: According to the Donga Ilbo:

The [Unification] ministry said the number of North Koreans who arrived in the South in this year’s first half was 1,237, or 42.3 percent of last year’s figure of 2,927. The number for the second half is expected to decline further because the number of defectors awaiting entry into South Korea has dropped.

More than six months is normally needed for defectors to enter the South after fleeing the North. So the number of North Koreans to enter the South this year will reach an estimated 2,000, or two thirds last year’s figure.

This is a big change given that the number of defectors to South Korea had grown 10-30 percent every year. Had this pace been maintained this year, the number would have exceeded 3,000.

The number of defectors reaching South Korea was marginal through 1993, but increased to 52 in 1994. It exceeded 100 in 1999, 1,000 in 2002, and 2,000 in 2006.

The drop is largely due to the North’s stepped-up crackdown on defectors. The Stalinist country set up layered surveillance networks in border areas early this year shortly after its major security agencies — the People’s Security Ministry and the State Security Ministry — issued their first joint statement declaring war on defectors in February.

The People’s Security Ministry is in charge of maintaining public order and the State Security Ministry handles intelligence gathering. Unlike in the past, the two organizations are working closely together with military forces dispatched to border areas to prevent defections.

The North is known to have significantly strengthened its crackdown after its disastrous currency revaluation in December last year.

The punishment for defectors deported from China has also gotten tougher. In the past, North Koreans who fled their country were subject to labor if they left to earn a living but now face more than three years in prison without exception. In worst cases, public execution is their fate.

The heightened crackdown on defectors has raised the price of crossing a river to escape. The cost used to be tens of thousands of North Korean won (tens of U.S. dollars) in the past, but has soared to millions of won (hundreds of dollars). Even this amount, however, does not guarantee safe passage out of the North.

North Koreans who escaped to South Korea used to send money to the North to help their families flee, but it has gotten more difficult not only to send money, but also to contact their families in the North.

All of this is related to strained inter-Korean relations. The powerless defectors are victims of the bilateral confrontation that began with the inauguration of the Lee Myung-bak administration in 2008.

Read the full stories here:
No. of Defectors Drops Amid Heightened Crackdown
Donga Ilbo
8/2/2010

Rekindling Hope for North Korean Youth
Daily NK
Mok Yong Jae
8/6/2010

Share

Posted in Emigration, South Korea | Comments Closed

DPRK firms find Chinese partners to replace ROK revenues

August 1st, 2010

According to the AFP:

North Korea has found Chinese partners to make up for losses in trade with South Korean firms, weakening the impact of Seoul’s measures to punish the communist country, a report said Sunday.

South Korea banned most cross-border trade in May after a multinational investigation concluded that a North Korean torpedo sank one of Seoul’s warships with the loss of 46 lives.

Before the ban was announced, the North had produced goods after receiving raw materials from more than 500 South Korean firms, Yonhap news agency said.

“After the South Korean companies became unable to send the raw materials, North Korean factories have been manufacturing products ordered by China,” a source familiar with North Korean affairs told Yonhap.

Seoul partially lifted the ban to allow South Korean firms to proceed on deals which had been signed earlier.

“North Koreans said they already signed contracts with Chinese firms and told us they will manufacture the orders from the Chinese side first,” the source was quoted as saying.

Most of the goods made on consignment trade with China are for export to Europe, Yonhap said.

The ban would cost the impoverished North hundreds of millions of dollars a year, a state think-tank here said last month.

Washington announced further sanctions last month to stop the North from selling nuclear weapons or related material as well as blocking money laundering and other illicit activities.

Read the full story:
Trade ban prompts N.Korea to find Chinese partners: report
AFP
8/1/2010

Share

Posted in China, International trade, Manufacturing, South Korea | 1 Comment »

Flooding washes DPRK mines into ROK

August 1st, 2010

UPDATE: According to Yonhap:

South Korean soldiers have found a total of 91 land mines believed to have washed into the South from the North by heavy rains, military officials said Saturday.

ORIGINAL POST: According to the New York Times:

A man in the South Korean border town of Yeoncheon, northeast of Seoul, was killed Saturday when one of two land mines he had picked up from a stream exploded, the Defense Ministry said. A friend was seriously injured and hospitalized.

The scare came amid heightened vigilance against North Korea, following the March sinking of a South Korean warship in border waters that was widely thought to be caused by a North Korean torpedo attack. On Sunday, South Korea sent a message urging North Korea to prevent its land mines from washing downstream to the South, the Defense Ministry said in a statement.

The authorities also distributed pamphlets, which carried photos of the North Korean mines, warning people living near the border not to touch objects that look like the land mines.

In towns and islands downstream from North Korea, officials using megaphones urged villagers and vacationers to stay off the streams and beaches.

Soldiers with minesweepers were searching river beds where the floods have retreated. Since Friday, they have found 35 land mines. The mines, built in wooden boxes, were designed to explode when pressed or opened.

“The mines were apparently swept down from North Korea after torrential rains,” said an official from the Office of the Joint Chiefs of Staff who spoke on the condition of anonymity, citing his office’s policy. He said that the safety pins of some recovered mines were not removed, indicating that they had been in storage when they were swept away.

Read the full story here:
In Koreas, Floods Carry Land Mines
New York Times
Choe Sang-hun
8/1/2010

Share

Posted in Military, South Korea | Comments Closed

Why DPRK won’t close Kaesong

July 31st, 2010

According to the Choson Ilbo:

Despite increasing tensions between the two Koreas since the North sank the South Korean Navy corvette Cheonan in March, Pyongyang looks unlikely to close the joint Kaesong Industrial Complex, chiefly because it is a source of much-needed hard currency.

The salaries of some 40,000 North Korean workers there are not paid to them but to the regime, which keeps most of the money, making the industrial park a lifeline amid crippling international sanctions.

There have been fears that the North could take the South Koreans who work in Kaesong hostage, as it has already done once. “North Korea built the Kaesong Industrial Complex because it can earn cash and take a large number of people hostage if it wants,” said a former intelligence officer who defected to the South.

Kaesong has no other industry and is unsuited for farming because of military facilities, so if the industrial park is shut down, the 40,000 workers face starvation.

The monthly income of some US$4 million is no small sum. When the State Security Department picked the industrial park’s core manpower, it simply relocated Kaesong residents and brought in workers screened under strict standards from Pyongyang and other cities. Now they have got used to their positions, closure of the industrial estate could make them a headache for the North’s security forces.

A senior North Korean defector said the State Security Department “is now in trouble because the workers are now kindly disposed to the South Korean firms operating there.” Most of them are aware that they get only $2 or $3 out of every $60 their employers pay for each of them. Despite that, many North Korean workers are eager to go to the Kaesong complex, since most North Korean firms have stopped paying wages amid the economic malaise, but at Kaesong workers are at least still paid and they get perks that are worth even more.

Any North Korean workers who contact South Korean businesspeople or meet with them privately, however briefly, can be subject to security investigations or labeled political dissents. Hundreds are said to have already suffered this fate. “If the North shuts the industrial park first, the workers will get very restive,” said a defector from Pyongyang. Nor would it help the regime to take South Korean staff hostage as that would only expose its immorality and thus provoke even severer criticism, he added.

However, the North is building a huge industrial estate in the Rajin-Sonbong economic zone that could replace the Kaesong industrial park. A Korean Chinese businessman who recently visited Rajin said, “Hotels and industrial lots are under construction and roads are being widened, and the locals have either been driven out of the city or housed in temporary quarters.” But it is rare to meet foreigners there, he added. The North Korean authorities are wooing foreign investments through their overseas missions, but even Chinese businesspeople say it would be crazy to invest in North Korea now.

Attempts to attract Chinese tourists to make up for revenue lost from suspended South Korean group tourism to the Mt. Kumgang resort are also failing. The North is now inviting the Chinese veterans of the Korean War. But one Chinese tourist said visitors “are treated like criminals and not even allowed to take pictures.” A Chinese businessman commented, “North Korea is proposing to do something with China that it can’t even accomplish with South Koreans, but no one here believes it.”

Read the full story here:
Why N.Korea Won’t Shut the Kaesong Industrial Complex
Choson Ilbo
7/31/2010

Share

Posted in Finance, Fiscal & monetary policy, Foreign direct investment, International trade, Kaesong Industrial Complex (KIC), Labor conditions/wages, Rason Economic and Trade Zone (Rajin-Sonbong), Special Economic Zones (Established before 2013) | Comments Closed

DPRK embassy in Myanmar seize books about KJI

July 30th, 2010

According to Reuters Canada:

North Korean diplomats in Myanmar have confiscated hundreds of copies of a locally published biography on the Stalinist state’s reclusive leader, Kim Jong-il, the book’s author said Friday.

Prominent Burmese writer Hein Latt, 62, said two senior embassy officials visited his home and took away the remaining 300 copies of the book, which they said was “false and inaccurate” and could endanger ties between the two countries.

“I handed over these books just because I don’t want to take the trouble to sort out whatever consequences will appear,” Hein Latt told Reuters, adding he had not received any complaints from the authorities in military-ruled Myanmar.

There was no immediate explanation as to why diplomats were acting to confiscate books in a foreign country.

North Korea and Myanmar have developed a close diplomatic relationship, causing concern among Asian and Western countries fearful the two are cooperating on issues related to nuclear weapons technology.

North Korea’s Foreign Minister, Pak Ui-chun, is currently in Myanmar on a four-day visit.

Hein Latt, who has authored about 25 biographies, including books on U.S. President Barack Obama, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and former Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping, said about 700 copies of his book had been sold since it was launched two months ago.

He said the biography, entitled “Kim Jong-Il: The Dear Leader of North Korea,” had been approved by the Press Scrutiny Department of the Myanmar’s Ministry of Information. It was written in the Burmese language.

The embassy officials said it contained false information because it made references to other texts published in North America about Kim, son of North Korea’s late founder, Kim Il-sung, the country’s “eternal” president.

An interview with the author is here.

Read the full story here:
North Korean diplomats seize books on Kim in Myanmar
Reuters Canada
7/30/2010

Share

Posted in Myanmar | Comments Closed

North Korea expanding farming areas

July 30th, 2010

Institute for Far Eastern Studies (IFES)
NK Brief No.10-07-30-1
7/30/2010

North Korean media outlets are reporting large-scale development of tidelands as part of ongoing economic projects. There have been reports on a land reclamation project in the tideland area of Daekye-do, in North Pyongan Province, that was completed on June 30. The Korea Central News Agency (KCNA) and the Workers’ Party newspaper Rodong Sinmun both ran stories on July 1 stating that the Central Committee of the Workers Party sent a letter of congratulations to the construction workers and supporters of the project, calling it, “A massive project of reclaiming Mother Nature, no less significant than the construction of the West Sea Flood Gates.”

The project, completed at the end of last month, reclaimed tideland in North Pyongan Province from Dasa-do, off the coast of Yeomju and Cholsan villages, to Kacha-do, Soyondong-do, Daekye-do, Tokye-do, and the Cholsan peninsula. It comprises 13.7 km of shoreline and more than 87 million square meters of land.

On July 22, the Choson Sinbo reported that North Korea planned to reclaim more than 59.9 million square meters or farm land by the end of 2012. The story also noted that the second phase of the land reclamation project in North Pyongan Province was in full swing, and that the first phase of a second project around Ryongmae-do, South Hwanghae Province, was scheduled to be completed by 2012.

The massive Daekye-do project completed at the end of June would be more than 10 times the size of Seoul’s Yeoui-do area, with more than two thirds of the area being reclaimed land. As background for the article, the newspaper explained, “As one way to expand crop production in [North Korea], the focus is being placed on the expansion of farmland through tideland reclamation.”

Related to this, the KCNA reported on July 15 that Kim Jong Il had visited the Daekye-do project, and said, “Land reclamation is an important project in the nation’s rich and powerful development.” Such a statement is tantamount to ordering the expansion of reclamation activities. Kim Jong Il also called for focusing national interest on difficult and massive reclamation projects to be carried out in the future, demanding that “policies necessary to support these projects must be thoroughly implemented.”

It was reported that Kim expressed ‘extreme satisfaction’ over the successfully completed Daekye-do project. After inspecting the area, he stated that the reclaimed farm land needed to be used “to full effect,” while at the same time more land reclamation projects should be carried out in order to completely resolve the North’s food shortage. North Korean media reported that Kim Jong said, “What is important here is to continue strongly extending the land reclamation project.” The KCNA also reported that North Korean state authorities, Party and Cabinet ministers, and supervisors from central government agencies accompanied Kim Jong Il on his tour of the Daekye-do land reclamation site.

On July 4, Korea Central Television (KCTV) reported, “Power plants throughout the country produced 1.2 times more electricity in the first half of this year than they did last year,” and the KCNA emphasized increased production in a number of factories, stating that compared to production plans, “In the Bakchon Silk Factory, rug production was 101%, regular cloth production was 107%, and ramie cloth liner production was 130%” of production quotas. In addition, “Along with the Pyongyang Daily Goods Factory production increase of 120%, the Nampo Glorious Soldier Shoe Factory, Hyeechon Silk Factory, Pyongyang Textile Factory and others are all meeting production goals.”

Share

Posted in Agriculture, Energy, Institute for Far Eastern Studies | Comments Closed

2012 construction and safety issues

July 29th, 2010

According to the Daily NK:

There have been grievances reported amongst residents of provincial areas that are part of North Korea’s renovation efforts to become a “strong and prosperous state” by 2012.

North Korean authorities announced a plan last September to reconstruct old houses in regional cities. However, a lack of construction materials and electricity has pushed back the start date. After the currency redenomination last November, rumors amongst residents suggest that construction could end before a single plough dug into the ground.

Construction efforts were revitalized in April this year as authorities set specific targets for city construction teams and state owned enterprises to build large residential buildings holding ten to thirty households. October 10 was set as the deadline before which all construction was to be complete, the same day as the founding date of the Chosun Worker’s Party.

However without sufficient resources, including labor, it remains to be seen whether the project will finish. Furthermore, large and small accidents have raised some concerns amongst local populace.

On July 12 a three-story brick building at Sariwon, North Hwanghae Province, collapsed in the middle of construction. Seven workers were injured by the accident. A source cited the mixing of excessively brackish sand with cement was the reason behind the collapse.

North Korea is currently suffering from a lack of cement. Not only is supply from the authorities non-existent but following the construction of 100,000 houses in Pyongyang, the market no longer has any consistent supply. With prices rising, cement is being smuggled from regional construction sites and sold in markets. This is one another key reason for the shoddy construction.

A source stated that, “Construction workers pretend to work,” because there is no payroll to even feed them. This creates serious obstacles for workers, forcefully mobilized for construction, who cannot provide for their families.

The source added, “In a situation where selling on the jangmadang is a prerequisite to earning a living, you can only suffer losses if you are chosen to work on construction sites.”

Accidents arising from a lack of safety precautions are also a concern. A source said, “Many people that are brought to work become ill due to dust particles. When this is ignored, they end up coughing blood and taken to hospital.” With a chronic scarcity of medicine there is no cure for those suffering from respiratory illnesses.

Basic safety is also not being met due to lose security at construction sites leading to a passer-by being struck by a falling brick and injured.

Local residents have voiced their discontent regarding prolonged construction projects due to their relocation to neighboring households since April. At the time, North Korean authorities had promised to assign new houses to both the residents who were forced to move and the neighbors who had accommodated them but with no end of construction in sight, tensions between families are rising to the point where the People’s Safety Ministry has to intervene. The winter season will only add to the collective anxiety.

To make matters worse, residents living near construction sites must pay money for project support. Members of the people’s unit must always have 100 to 500 won on hand for project funding.

Local residents are increasingly worn out by the construction that has spanned for over twelve months, since last year’s 150-day Battle. Their suffering has increased due to the unsuccessful nationwide economic and social plan, implemented from April to September of last year by North Korean authorities to revive the failing and chaotic economy.

Read the full story here:
Residents Anxious of Accidents on Construction Sites
Daily NK
Park In Ho
7/29/2010

Share

Posted in 2012 Strong and Prosperous Nation (Kangsong Taeguk), Construction, Labor conditions/wages, Real estate | Comments Closed

DPRK issues rule on bank deposits

July 29th, 2010

According to the Daily NK:

North Korean authorities released a public announcement that they will exchange deposits, consigned to the Chosun (North Korea) Central Bank during the currency redenomination in November last year, into new bills at the rate of 100:1 within the limit of 500,000 won.

Last November the North’s authorities announced that they will exchange the existing denomination, to a limit of 150,000 won per household, to the newly issued bills at the rate of 100:1. They urged people to deposit their remaining cash into the bank.

However, many citizens have refused to follow the instructions after previous experiences with forfeited deposits during the country’s fourth redenomination in 1992.

This measure is designed to work towards curing the hardships of residents caused by the decline in value of individual property since the last redenomination. There are hopes that it will stimulate market activity by increasing the amount of money in circulation, particularly since a downturn in purchasing power amongst the people led to an economic depression.

However, even after the Central Bank’s announcement the people remain apathetic. A source said that, “Prices have risen to similar levels as before the redenomination. Rice now costs over 1,000 won per kilogram; when you get back your deposit of 5,000 won you can only buy five kilograms of rice. It’s meaningless.”

If the state-designated price of rice, around 24 won per kilogram in procurement stores, had been maintained then this measure would be significant. Now the prices have multiplied by 50 and the people say that the measure is nothing but a play on words.

In addition, February saw the authorities hand down a decree to raise all state-designated prices by 100 times to levels known before the redenomination. The decree was not applied to people’s deposits in the bank, a fact that has received criticism from the public. A source commented that, “The authorities actions are nonsense. They raised prices by 100 times but people’s deposits were the same value as last year. It is ridiculous.”

Read the full sotry here:
Bank Deposits Can Be Withdrawn at 100:1 Rate
Daily NK
Park In Ho
7/29/2010

Share

Posted in Banking, Central Bank, Finance, Fiscal & monetary policy, Food, Price liberalization | Comments Closed

DPRK-PRC sign cooperation treaty

July 29th, 2010

According to Bloomberg:

North Korea signed an economic and technical cooperation agreement with China today, a week after U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced further trade sanctions to halt the regime’s nuclear-weapons program.

Liu Hongcai, the Chinese ambassador to North Korea, and Ri Ryong Nam, the nation’s Minister of Foreign Trade, signed the agreement during a ceremony held in Pyongyang, according to the state-run Korean Central News Agency. It didn’t elaborate.

Clinton announced sanctions that target government officials and the foreign banks that help sustain the North’s weapons industry during a visit to Seoul last week. The U.S. has backed South Korean claims that the North torpedoed one of its ships and has been pressing for an international effort to put more pressure on Kim Jong Il’s regime.

China has so far refused to condemn North Korea for the attack on the Cheonan, which killed 46 South Korean sailors. China accounted for 79 percent of the North’s 2009 international trade, according to the Seoul-based Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency. China provides almost 90 percent of energy imports and 45 percent of the country’s food, according to a July 2009 report by the New York-based Council on Foreign Relations.

China’s Foreign Ministry had no knowledge of the agreement and the Commerce Ministry didn’t immediately respond to a fax seeking comments.

Read the full story here:
North Korea, China Sign Agreement for Economic, Technological Cooperation
Bloomberg
7/29/2010

Share

Posted in China, International trade | Comments Closed

Luxembourg to track DPRK bank accounts

July 29th, 2010

According to the Choson Ilbo:

Luxembourg has promised to cooperate with UN and U.S. financial sanctions against North Korea, Radio Free Asia reported Wednesday.

A spokesman for Luxembourg’s Finance Ministry told RFA that the country is closely watching for any illegal activities by the North using offshore accounts and will take “appropriate legal steps” if it finds them.

He claimed Luxembourg regularly updates domestic laws in accordance with international norms to monitor and punish those involved in illegal activities.

The country is committed to implementing sanctions against the North under UN Security Council Resolution 1874, he added.

In March, the Daily Telegraph said North Korean leader Kim Jong-il has a US$4 billion slush fund stashed away abroad in case he has to flee the North. Kim’s operatives “withdrew the money — in cash, in order not to leave a paper trail — and transferred it to banks in Luxembourg,” it said.

But at the time, the office of the grand duchy’s prime minister said it had no information about North Korean financial assets and there was no need to check. Although Luxembourg is a member of the EU, it is not easy to keep track of bank accounts there because it has a different bank payment and settlement system from other members.

On July 22, Hong Kong started a legal review of Taepung International Investment Group, a North Korean firm founded to attract foreign capital, and other North Korean companies.

Open Radio for North Korea on Wednesday quoted a North Korean source as saying the country’s former ambassador to Switzerland Ri Chol returned to the North in March to make sure Kim Jong-il’s secret accounts overseas are safely handed over to Kim Jong-un, his son and heir apparent.

Read the full story here:
Luxembourg to Help Track N.Korean Bank Accounts
Choson Ilbo
7/29/2010

Share

Posted in Banking, Finance, Fiscal & monetary policy, Hong Kong, Korea Taepung International Investment Group (Daepung Investment Group), Luxembourg, UN, UN Security Council, USA | Comments Closed

« Older Entries
Newer Entries »