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DPRK art merchant arrested in ROK

Wednesday, August 17th, 2011

Pictured above (Google Earth): The Mansudae Art Studio in Pyongyang. The blue roofs indicate that most of the buildings have recently been renovated. See the studio in Google Maps here.

According to Yonhap:

Seoul police said Wednesday that they have booked an ethnic Korean woman from China for allegedly smuggling North Korean paintings into South Korea, selling them to local consumers and sending some of the profits to the North.

The 46-year-old woman, surnamed Kim, was accused of bringing in about 1,300 paintings by some well-known North Korean artists in violation of a law regulating the flow of goods between the two Koreas, the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency said.

Police also booked three others for allegedly helping Kim peddle the smuggled artworks.

Kim is suspected of smuggling in 1,308 artworks, mostly landscape paintings created by North Korean artists, between May last year and July this year, and pocketing 30 million won (US$27,943) after selling 1,139 of them to local galleries and over the Internet, police said.

Police said the North Korean artists include some famous names who were authorized by the Pyongyang regime and affiliated with the communist country’s top-notch Mansudae art community widely known to be peddling artwork overseas as a means of earning foreign currency.

Kim is believed to have obtained those paintings through her North Korean husband living in China who uses his membership in an expatriates’ support committee in North Korea to secure his supply, police said.

Kim’s husband is believed to have clinched the supply of artwork on the condition that he pays $8,000 won annually on top of half the sales proceeds to the art community, according to the police.

“It is the first case ever to confirm that North Korea is selling (artwork) abroad through the committee,” a police official said.

Police said that the artwork, smuggled personally or through international mail, was mostly sold to art galleries in Incheon, Daejeon and Gwangju for prices ranging from 30,000 won to 1 million won per unit.

Police said they plan to expand the investigation as more North Korean goods could be smuggled into the country.

The Atlantic also has a good blog post on the whole saga.

Posted in Art, International trade, Mansudae creative Company (art studio), South Korea | Comments Closed

On DPRK naming conventions

Monday, August 15th, 2011

Pictured Above (Google Earth): WPK Building No. 3 compound (Third Building) mentioned below. See in Google Maps here.

Andrei Lankov has a great article in the Korea Times on the WPK’s naming conventions. I have attached the article below and supplemented it with related material taken from Helen-Louise Hunter’s Kim Il-Song’s North Korea and the Yonhap North Korea Handbook.

Lankov writes in the Korea Times:

Anybody who has ever dealt with North Korean officials or documents is aware that the nation’s bureaucracy loves number-based names and titles.

To a very large extent this is related to the deeply militaristic nature of the country’s culture. The military usually numbers units and often gives top secret armaments or projects numerical names. In North Korea, the same practice is applied to the society at large. The resulting names sound mysterious and this is probably part of its objective.

More or less every North Korean knows what the term ‘number-one event’ means. This is the name of all events in which the “Dear Leader,” Marshall Kim Jong-il, is expected to participate. When inhabitants of a town see their streets swamped with plain-clothes police, and when they are ordered to paint all fences anew, they understand: A number-one event is expected.

Everything related to the Kim family is “number one.” For example, painters who have a license to depict the members of the Kim family are known as number-one painters (and such a license is not easy to obtain). Predictably, an actor who is playing a member of the ruling family is known as a number-one actor.

Numbers are everywhere. If you need permission to go outside your native city or country, you should apply for a travel permit at Department 2 of the local municipal office. Of late, affluent North Koreans have become annoyed by the activities of Department 27. This department is responsible for the control of privately-owned electronic equipment. Now, as electric equipment is becoming increasingly common in North Korean homes, the officials of Department 27 are expected to conduct random checks of privately-owned computers. They are to ensure that no improper content is kept on hard-drives, and nowadays such visits must be time-consuming and stressful.

At the same time, North Koreans are (or at least used to be) quite happy to be number 65 distribution targets. North Korea, until the early 1990s, was a country of total rationing, where the government decided how much food and basic daily provisions were to be distributed to each citizen, depending on their perceived worth (admittedly food and goods were heavily subsidized and were essentially provided free). This is clearly an egalitarian approach, but, as Orwell once wrote, some are more equal than others. Members of the elite were given better rations and issued goods and services beyond the reach of the common people. They were referred to as number 65 distribution targets.

The place where they were issued special rations of pork and beer (luxuries by North Korean standards) were known as number 65 distribution centers.

Rations are long gone, so access to special distribution quotas is far less important than it was in the 1960s or 1970s. Money talks nowadays, so one should not be surprised that it is extremely prestigious to work for Bureau 38 or Bureau 39, the money-earning branches of the ruling ― and for all practical purposes, only ― party. The task of these bureaus is to earn hard currency which is then used to keep the Kim family and the upper crust of the regime sufficiently comfortable. There are some differences in their functions, but it’s not known exactly how these two agencies differ.

Another part of the central committee bureaucracy is the “Third Building.” This is a common name used to refer to all agencies that deal with South Korea. Actually the name is historic since, once upon a time, all South Korea related agencies and departments were once housed together in a building with the above designation.

Within the Third Building bureaucracy, a special role is played by Bureau 35. The bureau is essentially the intelligence-gathering branch of the ruling Korean Workers Party. Most countries worldwide have two intelligence services, one serving the military and the other gathering political intelligence. On top of that, North Korea also had a party intelligence service.

The initial role of Bureau 35 was to bring about revolution in the South. But with no revolution in sight, it gradually became just another intelligence bureaucracy. Recently North Korea conducted a major reshuffle of its spy agencies, and according to reports, Bureau 35 has had its functions either acquired by another agency or was at least downsized.

It was glamorous to work at Bureau 35 and/or be a number 65 distribution target. It is far less glamorous to be a “target 49.” This is what mentally handicapped people are called in the North. The “49 centers” are the agencies that take care of the needs of people with mental and psychiatric problems.

The list of North Korea’s mysterious numbers has many more interesting entries. Sometimes it seems that numbers are more frequently used there than real names. But what can we expect from a state which unabashedly models itself after the military?

On a related note, Helen-Louise Hunter wrote in Kim Il-song’s North Korea (p. 14–Order at Amazon, Google Books):

The numerical identification of a factory or collective farm is derived from the date of Kim’s first visit . For Example, the 18 September Nursery School in Pyongyang is named for the day when Kim [Il-sung] visited it. Although this name for the most prestigious nursery school in North Korea, which caters to the crème de la crème in Pyongyang, seems unimaginative and unimpressive, it establishes Kim’s personal connection with the school. In North Korea that is all-important.

Additionally, North Korean organizations are named after important political dates. According to the Yonhap North Korean Handbook (p.675–Order at Amazon, Google Book):

North Korea had declared the People’s Army Founding on February 8, 1948, and February 8 was commemorated as the People’s Army Fonding Day before 1978. In February 1978, North Korea changed it to April 25 while arguing that “the People’s Army is the direct heir of Choson People’s Revolutionary Army” and the former president Kim Il-sung had organized Choson People’s Revolutionary Army (anti-Japan guerilla corps) on April 25, 1932.

Perhaps you have heard of the February 8 Vinalon Complex (2.8 Vinalon Complex) or the April 25th House of Culture?

Posted in Food, Worker's Party | 2 Comments »

US sanctions Syrian bank for DPRK connection

Sunday, August 14th, 2011

UPDATE 1 (2011-8-17): The recently sanctioned bank denies it has ties to Iran and the DPRK. According to Lebanon’s Daily Star:

The Lebanese subsidiary of a Syrian bank sanctioned by the United States denied on Wednesday “unfounded political allegations” that it dealt with North Korea and Iran.

“Since the establishment of our institution, we have never had any operation with either a North Korean or an Iranian entity even before the existing sanctions,” the Syrian Lebanese Commercial Bank said.

“As a result, we deny all accusation of being involved in any illegal activity with any suspected country,” a statement added.

The United States Treasury has charged that the state-owned Commercial Bank of Syria allegedly supported Syria and North Korea’s efforts to spread weapons of mass destruction.

Washington last week imposed sanctions on the bank, the Syrian Lebanese Commercial Bank and telecoms company Syriatel over President Bashar al-Assad’s increasingly brutal crackdown on pro-democracy protests.

The move freezes the US assets of the businesses targeted and prohibits US entities from engaging in any business dealings with the two banks.

ORIGINAL POST (2011-8-14): The US has sanctioned a Syrian Bank for its involvement in DPRK proliferation activities. According to Yonhap:

The Treasury Department said the Commercial Bank of Syria has provided financial services to North Korea’s Tanchon Commercial Bank and Syria’s Scientific Studies and Research Center, both of which were blacklisted for the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.

The Syrian bank’s Lebanon-based subsidiary, Syrian Lebanese Commercial Bank, and Syriatel, the largest mobile phone operator in Syria, were also sanctioned under Wednesday’s measure.

“By exposing Syria’s largest commercial bank as an agent for designated Syrian and North Korean proliferators, and by targeting Syria’s largest mobile phone operator for being controlled by one of the regime’s most corrupt insiders, we are taking aim at the financial infrastructure that is helping provide support to (President Bashar) Asad and his regime’s illicit activities,” Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence David S. Cohen said in a press release.

The Commercial Bank of Syria also holds an account for Tanchon Commercial Bank, the primary financial agent for the Korea Mining Development Corp., North Korea’s premier arms dealer and main exporter of goods and equipment related to ballistic missiles and conventional weapons, according to the department.

The U.S. is stepping up efforts to isolate the Assad regime amid its brutal crackdown on anti-government protesters.

NTI has additional information here.

Other DPRK-Syria stories below:
1. Syria and the DPRK collaborated on the construction of Syria’s nuclear facility which was destroyed in 2007 by an Israeli air strike.

2. According to Joshua Pollock, over the last decade the DPRK and Syria have cooperated on missile development.

3. The UNSC was investigating a shipment of North Korean chemical safety suits to Syria.

4. Syria’s Tishreen War Museum was designed and built by North Koreans!

Posted in Arms shipment, Banking, Finance, Illicit activities, Syria, Tanchon Commercial Bank, Uncategorized | Comments Closed

KPA Journal Vol.2, No. 5

Thursday, August 11th, 2011

Pictured Above: The Taesung Machine Factory featured in the most recent issue of KPA Journal.

I have been pretty busy this week, but I wanted to put up a quick link to the latest issue of KPA Journal. This issue focuses on the Tae-sung Machine Factory. The issues also contains addendums, corrections and other publications of interest.

Have a good weekend!

Posted in Korean People's Army, Manufacturing, Military | Comments Closed

Kim Jong-il provides field guidance at the Pyongyang Department Store No. 1 product exhibition

Wednesday, August 10th, 2011

Institute for Far Eastern Studies (IFES)
2011-8-10

Kim Jong Il is stressing the importance of the production of commodities for the North Korean people through upgrading the country’s light industry.

On August 1, an editorial in the Rodong Sinmun, “Let’s Go Full Speed Ahead with the Light Industry to Maximize the Production of Commodities,” mentioned the second product exhibition at the Pyongyang Department Store No. 1 as an exposition of “the growing development of light industry.”

The article emphasized Kim Jong Il’s second visit to the exhibition of commodities at the department store, “With the 100th anniversary of the birth of Kim Il Sung, our fatherly leader, revolutionary transition to improve the production of daily commodities must be put into full effect.” Kim’s recent field guidance at the exhibition hint at the state’s increasing efforts to improve the living standards of the population.

The newspaper also reiterated the significance of the exhibition stating, “The second exhibition of commodities at the Pyongyang Department Store corroborated the policies and the legitimacies of the Workers’ Party of Korea (WPK), aimed at improving the living standards of the people through continuous revolution and progress in the light industry of the country.”

In addition, the news mentioned, “Under the leadership of the WPK, the light industry products at this exhibition displayed the spirit of Juche and modernization at the forefront in building an economically powerful nation.” It also explained a variety of about 1,400 “high quality” light industry products were manufactured by 350 central and regional light industry factories, companies, affiliated units, department stores in Pyongyang, and comprehensive industrial product shops.

The newspaper also praised the exhibition to provide an, “Important opportunity to improve the lives of the people while parading the great national spirit, creativity, and ability.” It added, “The product exhibition has become an important turning point to revitalize the production of daily commodities of the people and revealed brilliant prospects for the future development of the light industry of our country.”

Thus, this year was depicted as an important year for light industry. The development of light industry was described as an unwavering goal of the workers and the party members to succeed in the march for improving the lives of the people by 2012 and celebrate the 100th anniversary of the DPRK founding leader’s birthday.

Posted in Light Industry, Manufacturing, Worker's Party | Comments Closed

KCC finding creative ways to earn hard currency

Thursday, August 4th, 2011

Pictured above (Google Earth): Korea Computer Center

According to the Associated Press (Via Washington Post):

South Korean police said Thursday they have arrested five people who allegedly collaborated with elite North Korean hackers to steal millions of dollars in points from online gaming sites.

The five, including a Chinese man, were arrested and another nine people were booked without physical detainment after they worked with North Koreans to hack South Korean gaming sites, the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency said in a statement.

Members of the hacking ring, which included North Korea’s technological elite, worked in China and shared profits after they sold programs that allowed users to rack up points without actual play, police said.

The points were later exchanged for cash through sites where players trade items to be used for their avatars. The police said the ring made about $6 million over the last year and a half.

A police investigator, who declined to be identified because the investigation was under way, said North Korean hackers were asked to join the alleged scheme because they were deemed competent and could help skirt national legal boundaries.

The police pointed to North’s Korea Computer Center as the alleged culprit. Set up in 1990, the center has 1,200 experts developing computer software and hardware for North Korea, the police said.

The National Intelligence Service, South Korea’s spy agency, was heavily involved in the investigation, the police said. Investigators suspect the hackers’ so-called “auto programs” could be used as a conduit for North Korean cyberattacks.

South Korean authorities have accused North Korea of mounting cyberattacks in the past few years. Prosecutors said earlier this year that the North hacked into a major South Korean bank’s system and paralyzed it for days. The North is also accused of mounting attacks on U.S. and South Korean websites. Pyongyang has denied the charges.

The New York Times adds the following details:

In a little less than two years, the police said, the organizers made $6 million. They gave 55 percent of it to the hackers, who forwarded some of it to agents in Pyongyang, the capital of North Korea. “They regularly contacted North Korean agents for close consultations,” Chung Kil-hwan, a senior officer at the police agency’s International Crime Investigation Unit, said during a news briefing.

Mr. Chung said the hackers, all graduates of North Korea’s elite science universities, were dispatched from two places: the state-run Korea Computer Center in Pyongyang and the Korea Neungnado General Trading Company. The company, he said, reports to a shadowy Communist Party agency called Office 39, which gathers foreign hard currency for Mr. Kim through drug trafficking, counterfeiting, arms sales and other illicit activities.

Read the full story here:
South Korean police say they’ve cracked down on ring working with North Korean hackers
Associated Press (Via Washington Post)
2011-8-4

Posted in Bureau 39, China, Communications, Computing/IT, Illicit activities, Internet, Korea Computer Center (KCC) | Comments Closed

More rumors of changing DPRK ID cards

Wednesday, August 3rd, 2011

Pictured above (Daily NK): A DPRK ID card from 2004. Click image for larger version.

UPDATE 2 (2011-8-3): According tothe Daily NK:

North Korea is apparently gearing up to make one of its regular changes to the nationwide system of ID cards. According to inside sources, the authorities have been gathering in the current ID cards from citizens, a process that has been completed in some areas including parts of Yangkang Province.

Notably, the new ID cards are set to include information on an individual’s job. For more than ten years, North Korea has kept watch on the activities of the people via their places of work, meaning that the inclusion of a person’s job on his or her ID card implies modifications to the existing system of controls.

A Pyongyang source explained, “People’s unit chairpersons have been taking IDs from the people and presenting them to the People’s Safety Ministry (PSM) since earlier this year. The rumor is that a new card clearly recording a person’s job, family and marital relations will come out, just like the old card.”

Another source from northerly Yangkang Province confirmed the story, saying, “We already gave in all our ID cards,” and adding, “I just heard from the PSM agent in charge of citizen registration that the new ID cards would be exactly the same as the old style ID card, including family, marriage and job.”

Understandably, having to give in existing ID cards has made life difficult for those people needing permission to travel, since every time they want to go anywhere they have to visit the local People’s Safety Ministry office to retrieve their card and explain the situation in order to get a permit.

Similarly, people had to retrieve their cards in order to vote in local elections on the 24th of last month, before returning them to the security authorities.

All the sources The Daily NK spoke to about the changeover regard the addition of job information as the most interesting aspect of the new card. As the Pyongyang source explained, the current ID cards do not include job information, meaning that the authorities “don’t know what work we are doing, and so are unable to control us properly. As a result of this, talk about the release of the new card is doing the rounds.”

One Chinese-Korean who regularly visits China for trade agreed, adding, “The absence of jobs from the current ID makes management of citizens difficult, so word is that they will completely return to the old style cards.”

Until 1999, North Korea included all the information now being mooted on ID cards in the shape of a small passport shaped book; however, the authorities then moved to a single card-based system featuring just name, birth date, address, marital status, an image and an ID number.

In North Korea, everyone over the age of 16 has an ID card, a system that began on September 1st, 1946. They have been regularly changed as part of official record keeping for the purposes of control. Previous known changeovers occurred in 1953, 1958, 1964, 1974, 1984, 1999, and 2004.

UPDATE 1 (2010-5-12): According to the Daily NK:

A source from Pyongyang reports that a new national identification card will begin to be issued on May 17th in the capital, and thereafter the project to replace old cards and issue the new version is supposed to begin in the provinces.

This project is the culmination of a project begun in 2004, when the North Korean authorities tried to computerize citizen databases and issue a new form of ID card but were apparently not able to complete the project due to a lack of funds. Now, they have resumed the project for those who did not receive the new ID card in 2004 and those who turned 17, the legal age for receiving the card, between 2004 and 2010.

The source explained during a phone call with a Daily NK journalist today, “Since early May, people’s unit chairpersons have been calling door to door to let residents know about the new ID card and check the record of who lives where.”

He added, “Those who are away from their recorded locations for any reason have been instructed to return and receive the new ID cards.”

The new ID card is plastic, and contains a picture and personal information such as name, gender, race, birthplace and residence. Alongside the process of issuing the new ID card, computerization of resident records will also resume. Therefore, families of defectors and people in China temporarily are about to get in hot water.

The source said, “This must be a risk to households which are found to contain missing persons or absent members. Some of those whose family members already left for China or elsewhere will doubtless go to local People’s Safety Ministry offices to explain their situation and offer bribes.”

In the case of defector families, if they have not previously reported missing family members, they will be treated as suspicious, and be placed under increased monitoring. However, the families of those who are visiting China legally with permits will also have problems.

The basic permit issued by the authorities is generally like a single entry visa, valid for at least thirty days plus a ten-day extension. However, most visitors tend to stay in China to earn money for up to a year. After returning home, they have to offer bribes to the National Security Agency (NSA), which polices the border, to avoid punishment.

However, if the situation is revealed during the new ID card project, it will be a bigger issue which might not be solved with a bribe for the local NSA. Therefore, such people face a serious worry.

In North Korea, the People’s Safety Ministry is in charge of management and control of the residents’ database. In the mid-1990s, when the precursor to the Ministry, the People’s Safety Agency, was registering all residents’ identifications, the Shimhwajo Case, one of the biggest purges in North Korean history, took place.

Read the full story here:
New ID Card Project Ready for Launch
Daily NK
Yoo Gwan Hee
2010-5-12

ORIGINAL POST (2010-3-5): According to the Daily NK:

A rumor that the North Korean authorities are working towards issuing a new form of identification card to all citizens is circulating, according to sources inside North Korea.

This rumor has been reported from some areas of Shinuiju and Yangkang Province. However, there has been no word from Pyongyang or any other provinces.

To date, North Korea has tended to issue new ID cards once every 10-15 years. However, the last time was in 2004, which has led some to suggest that there might be additional reasons for the changes this time besides standard administrative requirements.

Indeed, this may have been borne out by a Daily NK source from Shinuiju, who cited a cadre from a neighborhood government office as saying to him, “We decided to change the form of the ID card because spies from the South Korean intelligence agency (National Intelligence Service) are trying to infiltrate our society by copying our cards,” leading another source to comment, “We are so busy and the situation is so terrible, so why must we try to switch it?”

Free North Korea Broadcasting (Free NK) has released the same news, citing a source from Daehongdan in Yangkang Province. “The authorities are reorganizing and confirming all identification records,” the source explained to Free NK, “We presume that once the process is complete; they will change the ID card system.”

One defector familiar with the system added a further rationale for the possible move. “The reorganization is designed to confirm whether residency records are correct by making citizens re-register their residency in their locality,” he said, “This can also be a measure used to identify defectors and vagabonds.”

There is a market for North Korean ID cards in China. Find out why here.

Read the full story here:
North Korea Changes ID Cards
Daily NK
2010-3-5

Posted in Political economy, Worker's Party | Comments Closed

Premier Choe Yong-rim is making unprecedented but vigorous economic inspections

Wednesday, July 20th, 2011

Institute for Far Eastern Studies (IFES)
2011-7-13

Kim Jong Il’s field guidance visitations decreased significantly in recent weeks. In place of the North Korean leader, Premier Choe Yong-rim is known to be making solo economic inspection visitations.

According to South Korea’s Ministry of Unification, Premier Choe has made a total of 17 on-site inspections from February. Starting with Huichon Power Plant, four trips in March, two in April, six in May, and lastly, four visits in June were recorded. A high-level official to make on-site inspections unaccompanied by its leader is an unprecedented case. This suggests major change for North Korea in which the chief of Cabinet is now directly heading the economy.

Although these inspections were short day trips, sites visited concentrated mainly on factories, power plants, cooperative farms, and construction sites. While making inspection rounds, Choe’s main duty is to deliver the orders of Kim Jong Il, but he was also witnessed actively suggesting measures to resolve problems that were raised at the sites.

Premier Choe’s economic inspections correspond with the DPRK’s plan of building a strong and prosperous nation by 2012 and an effort to propagate the spirit of self-sufficiency and encourage Juche or self-reliance of the economy throughout the country.

The last report of Kim Jong Il’s official field guidance was on June 3, at the Kosan Fruit Farm located in the Kosan City of Gangwon Province. For more than a month, Kim Jong Il allegedly has not provided any onsite inspections.

There are numerous speculations on the cause of the reduced inspections but many are linking it to Premier Choe.

Many news outlets in North Korea have begun to report on Premier Choe’s economic inspection visits in isolation from Kim Jong Il and related news are on the rise. The details include visits to Kim Chaek Iron and Steel Complex, Nanam Coal Machine Mining Complex, and Chongjin Steel Mill from June 23 to 25 and Chollima Steel Complex on June 29.

On July 2, KCNA covered the news about Choe’s visits to Bukchang Thermalelectric Power Plant. There he presided over meetings discussing the issues of securing raw and building materials to improve facility and technological management as well as specific plans to increase energy production.

Choe’s frequent visits are interpreted to demonstrate the rise in power of the Cabinet compared to its relatively weak position of the past, compared to the Workers’ Party of Korea and National Defence Commission.

Others construe the developments as an effort to weaken any internal dissatisfaction or negative sentiments towards the regime by emphasizing the premier’s active involvement with the economic development to achieve the national goal of becoming powerful socialist state by 2012.

The decline in field inspections by Kim has raised suspicion about the health of North Korean leader. Some suggest that Kim is taking time off to recuperate from the tight schedule of his recent China visit in late May.

Recently, Japanese Kyodo News reported that Kim Jong Il cancelled plans to visit Russia on June 29 for health reasons.

Some speculate Kim is behind the scenes contemplating the changing foreign policies, deterioration of North-South relations, and food shortages.

I am not sure where the Ministry of Unification is getting their numbers. I just did a tabulation of Kim Jong-il’s and Choe Yong-rim’s economic guidance trips and public appearances from February 2011 — July 13 and get very different results than they are announcing: 36 visits for Kim Jong-il and 47 for Mr. Choe. All the data, including links to the KCNA sources are here in an Excel Spreadsheet.

Also worth mentioning is that between June 3 and July 13 (contrary to the report) Kim Jong-il made 11 or 12 public appearances–four of which were guidance trips. See them here in an Excel Spreadsheet with links to the KCNA source.

Posted in Cabinet, Fiscal & monetary policy, National Defense Commission, Worker's Party | Comments Closed

Kim Jong il’s visit to KPA Unit 963

Monday, July 18th, 2011

Pictured above (Google Earth): KPA Unit 963 (Escort Bureau/Guard Command) in Pyongyang. See in Google Maps here.

On July 14th, KCNA reported that Kim Jong-il visited the command of KPA Unit 963. According to the Daily NK:

Kim Jong Il has conducted an onsite inspection at No. 963 Base of the Chosun People’s Army, Chosun Central News Agency reported this morning. No. 963 Base is operated by Escort Command, the unit charged with overseeing the safety of the Kim family.

Taking in the base’s revolutionary history museum, Kim is said to have proclaimed, “This army base repelled the united imperialist factions including America, carrying out the noble mission and duty of the Fatherland Liberation War. The personnel from this base are keeping alive this proud tradition, and will surely be known in future too for the splendor of protecting the fatherland with one hundred wins in one hundred battles.”

Kim also expressed his great satisfaction at the work of the officers in command of the base, commending their readiness to carry out their duty on the battlefield with superior strategic and command abilities.

The report also went on to explain, “This base has inherited the bright tradition of defending the Suryeong with their lives pioneered in the forests of Mt. Baekdu and our revolutionary chronicles, has defended the Party and Suryeong and in the process turned out dozens of distinguished individuals, including 72 heroes of labor and 28 heroes of the Republic.

Kim was accompanied on the inspection by son Kim Jong Eun, Jang Sung Taek and another member of the Party Central Military Commission, Kim Kyung Ok.

According to Joseph Bermudez (The Armed Forces of North Korea):

The State Security Department and the Guard Command are the agencies most directly responsible for the security of Kim Chong-il and only he is reportedly exempt from their scrutiny. (p 199)

This compound recently acquired a new facility (probably the focus of the visit):

Additional information:
1. Here, here, and here is some additional information on the Escort Bureau (Guard Command).

2. Kim Jong-il’s military related visits this year: On February 2 Kim Jong-il visited KPA Unit 6556 and the Jongsong Combined Medical Institute of the Korean People’s Army. On March 16th he visited a factory under KPA Navy Unit 597. On May 4th he visited an undisclosed new KPA Sports Complex (This could possibly be at Kim Jong-il Political Military University which recently received a similar new facility). Kim Jong-il also attended KPA cultural events on February 2, February 9, March 13, April 15, April 22, June 10, July 1, and July 2.

These are not his only military-related public appearances since he has also visited several factories suspected of being dual-use complexes, including the Namhung Youth Chemical Complex, Kanggye General Tractor Plant, Hungnam Fertilizer Complex, and the January 18 General Machinery Plant.

Posted in Korean People's Army, Military | Comments Closed

Phoenix Commercial Ventures update

Friday, July 8th, 2011

Pictured above (Google Earth): The recently completed Hana Electronics and restaurant building in Rakrang-guyok (락랑구역). See in Google Maps here.

Phoenix Commercial Ventures has recently launched a new web page and issued the following press release on their latest projects in the DPRK:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Hana Electronics Opens “The Restaurant at Hana”
Pyongyang/London, July 8th 2011

Phoenix Commercial Ventures Ltd (www.pcvltd.com) is proud to announce that Hana Electronics JVC (a 50/50 joint venture based in the DPRK) completed and moved into its new headquarters based near the T’ongil Market in Pyongyang in Q1 2011.

Having moved in and set up its production facilities, Hana has now opened a restaurant (“The Restaurant at Hana”) and related leisure facilities (swimming pool, sauna, hairdresser, bar, gym etc) in its headquarters.

The restaurant (which comprises a main dining room and several private ones) and leisure facilities are open to locals and foreigners alike. Food for the restaurant is sourced from local markets.

A video and photos of the restaurant can be viewed on the Phoenix website.

About Phoenix Commercial Ventures Ltd
Phoenix Commercial Ventures Ltd offers investors business and investment opportunities in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), enabling them to take advantage of the economic reforms that are taking place there.

Phoenix Commercial Ventures Ltd maintains an office in Pyongyang, almost the only European company to do so, and operates with the following specific aims:

• Identify commercially viable investment projects in the DPRK, on a case by case basis

• Identify reliable local partners for all forms of business in the DPRK, either trade or investment

• Seek overseas investment sources for such projects

• Minimise the risk in such projects, by taking responsibility for supervision of the local set-up procedures and management of the projects

About Hana
Hana was established in May 2003. In 2004 it began manufacturing and selling DVD and VCD players, as well as pressing and selling CD’s.

When the company first began operations it employed barely a handful of people. Now it employs over 200 people, and has thus become a major employer with significant social responsibilities which it takes very seriously.

Hana have established a nationwide distribution network throughout the major cities in the DPRK. Whilst they manufactured and marketed CD’s, they had an exclusive long term contract with the Mansudae Arts Centre, which belongs to the Ministry of Culture, one of the partners in the JV, for 300 works including; movies, karaoke and other music.

They now produce and sell a range of DVD players, and will move into other consumer electronics products.

Hana is now ranked as one of the top three best performing joint ventures in DPRK, as assessed by the Ministry of Finance.

Hana is proud to have introduced a number of firsts, which show the evolution of the DPRK to a market economy. These include:

• Advertising – the Hana logo, together with the company’s telephone number, appear on every product and packing case

• Offering a guarantee – Hana has also introduced a six-month, no questions asked, guarantee on all products

• Distribution System – Hana have gradually established, from a zero base, a distribution system covering the whole country. They have set up sales offices – for example, in Chongjin, they now have one main office and 13 sub-branches; in Hamhung, they have one main office and 3 sub-offices, and also have offices in Nampo, Sariwon and Sinuiju. They plan to open more outlets, first in the other provincial cities, then in the smaller county seats

• Hana intends to diversify and expand their range of products.

• Hana moved into its newly constructed building, next to the T’ongil Market, in Q1 2011.

• Hana has also opened a restaurant (“The Restaurant at Hana”) and leisure facilities (including a swimming pool) in its new building. The restaurant and leisure facilities are open to locals and foreigners alike.

CONTACT INFORMATION:
Phoenix Commercial Ventures Limited
No. 901
International House of Culture
Ryonhwa-dong
Central District
Pyongyang
Democratic People’s Republic of Korea
Corporate Website www.pcvltd.com

Posted in Economic reform, Food, Foreign direct investment, Hana Electronics Company, Ministry of Finance, Phoenix Commerical Ventures, Restaurants | Comments Closed

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