North Korea’s Market Regulations Extreme, Even Inspect Women’s Undergarments

December 3rd, 2007

Daily NK
Kwon Jeong Hyun
12/3/2007

The North Korean authorities have toughened their regulation of the market.

An inside North Korean source relayed that “After releasing the policy of market regulations, the inspections of the railway police have become more extreme. They carelessly go through the citizens’ bags or even search women’s undergarments.”

The North Korean authorities have strengthened market regulations, such as prohibiting goods that can be sold in the market or fixing prices.

Also, they have adjusted the minimum age of women who can sell in the jangmadang (markets) to 45 from 35 years. If women who are under 45 sell in the market or sell prohibited goods, the safety agents in charge or the managers of the jangmadang confiscate the products by force or charge fines.

The source commented, “The security agents search their bodies because merchants hide cosmetics, medicine, or precious metals in thick clothing. After the decree from the authorities, the safety agents have come forward for aggressive regulations.”

The regulation of the market has spread to long-distance merchants who use rails. If young women are carrying a lot of possessions in trains, the safety agents steal the goods by force and search their bags without discretion.

Pyongyang has also made public announcements to prohibit women under 49 from trading at the market starting December 1st. Currently, women under 39 are prohibited. Further, they are only allowed to sell at permitted locations in the market.

North Korean rail safety agents ride in every car of North Korea’s rails. The basic duties of rail safety agents consist of checking travel certificate and citizen cards and regulating suspicious passengers, including crimes of theft. On top of this, their authority to inspect women who are engaging in long-distance trade has increased.

The rail safety agents force passengers who carry large loads suspected of being goods for sale to come to the inspection car. The safety agents search the luggage and make threats, such as reporting them. Recently, after the prohibition of sales by women under 45, if the owner of the luggage is a woman under 45, she been threatened to be reported. Long-distance merchants can only claim their goods if they give bribes such as cigarettes or cash to the rail security officer.

The source stated, “After the market regulation, the amount of bribes to the rail safety agent has risen. Due to this decree, the safety agents become well-off.”

Also, with the increase in new regulation authority by the rail safety agents, the phenomenon of sexually harassing young women who engage in long-distance trade or requesting wrongful sexual relations has been taking place.

The agents take the women to regulation cars by saying, “We have to investigate whether or not you are engaging in gold trade,” and force them to remove their undergarments under the pretext of investigations and engage in illicit conduct. If the women protest, their luggage is confiscated or their citizen cards and travel certificates are handed over to the discretion of the local safety agency office at the train station and the woman is forcibly removed from the train.”

The source said, “In North Korea, there are no laws regarding human rights and the consciousness of average civilians regarding human rights is very low, so recent occurrences which have been frequent can give rise to societal issues.” He also noted, “As a result of the recent market regulation decree, the tyrannies of safety agents and party leaders have become worse and the situation of indiscriminate human rights violations has become even more conspicuous.”

Share

Posted in Civil society, Cosmetics, General markets (FMR: Farmers Market), Labor conditions/wages, Railways, Transportation | Comments Closed

Koreas agree on daily schedule for inter-Korean freight train

December 2nd, 2007

Yonhap
12/2/2007

The two Koreas have agreed on the daily schedule for a cross-border freight train that will resume service later this month for the first time in over 50 years, the South Korean Unification Ministry said on Sunday.

The prime ministers of South and North Korea met in Seoul last month and agreed to restart the railway service, which will traverse the heavily armed border, on Dec. 11. The train will run between the South’s Munsan station and the North’s Bongdong station as a follow-up to the October summit between their leaders in Pyongyang.

The ministry said a freight train will depart from Munsan at 9:00 a.m. each weekday and reach the North Korean border station of Panmun before returning to the South at 2:00 p.m.

The train, which will not operate during weekends, will extend its route to Bongdong once the construction of a cargo-handling facility there is completed, the ministry said. The Bongdong station serves as a gateway to an inter-Korean industrial park in Kaesong.

The soon-to-be-resumed service is expected to facilitate transportation of raw materials and manufactured goods between South Korea and the North’s Kaesong park, the ministry said.

The 19.8-km route between the two Koreas was severed in the midst of the 1950-53 Korean War and has since remained closed.

Share

Posted in Inter-Korean summit, Kaesong Industrial Complex (KIC), Manufacturing, Political economy, Railways, Special Economic Zones (Established before 2013), Transportation | Comments Closed

First-ever South Korean wedding held in North Korea

December 2nd, 2007

Yonhap
Nam Kwang-sik
12/2/2007

The first South Koreans to tie the knot in North Korea wed in a ceremony at Mount Geumgang, a scenic North Korean mountain frequented by South Korean tourists, tour company Hyundai Asan said on Sunday.

Choe Jeong-in, a 32-year-old employee of Hyundai Asan, and Cho Ah-ra, 24, who works for one of Hyundai Asan’s business partners, married in a ceremony at a Mount Geumgang hotel on Saturday, three years after they first met while working at the North Korean resort.

Share

Posted in Civil society, Dating/Courting, Mt. Kumgang Tourist Special Zone, Tourism | Comments Closed

A Woman’s Life

December 2nd, 2007

Korea Times
Andrei Lankov
12/2/2007

About a century ago, in the early 1900s, no major political movement could rival the Marxists in their commitment to gender equality. It was the time when women could not vote anywhere (well, anywhere apart from New Zealand and Australia), when their property rights were strictly limited, married unemployment was seen as the most natural state for “weaker vessels”, and most professions were not for women. In those days, the early Communists vocally demanded equal political and economic rights, equal pay, and also insisted that women should be given access to all professions, including the most manly ones.

When the Communists took power, for a brief while they tried to keep their promise. In the Communist Russia of the 1920s there were highly publicized cases of female air force pilots, military officers, and ambassadors. However, this drive did not last: Communism in power proved to be very patriarchal, and by the 1940s the earlier demands for gender equality were quietly scaled down in all Communist states.

Of all these states, North Korea probably proved to be most patriarchal, especially after its turn to nationalism in the late 1950s. Nationalism often goes hand in hand with anti-feminist sentiments, and North Korea was no exception. Soon North Korean women learned that they should know their proper place (of “wise mothers and kind wives”, of course) and be careful about their behavior, least it threaten public decency and morality.

This “proper” behavior was enforced through a number of restrictions: certain types of activity were denied women. North Korea has its own version of the “glass ceiling”, not allowing women to rise above a certain level. However, there are also bans on some mundane daily activities which for some reason are proclaimed to be “unbecoming of women”.

To start with, women are not allowed to smoke. In North Korea, female smoking is an absolute taboo, at least for young and middle-aged women. Female smokers in the South are disapproved of, but in the North the approach to the transgression is much tougher. As one defector put it: “A North Korean woman must be crazy to take up smoking”. There have been reports about women being sent into exile for their persistence with the smoking habit. I am slightly skeptical about these reports, but it is clear that in smoking a woman risks some serious “criticism” during an ideological study session, and this is not a good turn of events in North Korean society. This is in stark contrast with males’ behavior, since most North Korean males are chain smokers.

However, older women are exempted from this ban, and there are many North Korean women who begin smoking when they turn 50 or soon afterwards.

Pyongyang, the “capital of revolution” is somewhat notorious for many bans of seemingly normal things which are declared improper and unbecoming. Some of these bans are gender specific. For example, in Pyongyang and other major cities, for a long time women were not allowed to wear trousers. It was OK to work in trousers, but once the shift was over, decent North Korean women were supposed to dress in a “womanly manner” – that is, to change into a skirt. Those who appeared on the street dressed in trousers could be sent home by a police patrol. Once again, the ban did not apply to older women, and in the mid-90s trousers were partially pardoned.

In general, “proper female modesty” has always been extolled. In 1982 Kim Il-sung, while addressing the North Korean rubber-stamping parliament issued a warning: “It does not conform with the socialist lifestyle if women wear dresses without sleeves or a dress that shows their breasts!” North Koreans tried to ensure that the skirts were of an appropriate length to “conform to the socialist lifestyle”. Even nowadays, in the days of relative openness, skirts should safely cover the knees of the wearers.

Driving is not regarded as an activity suitable for a woman, and women are never issued a driving license. Of course, the number of private cars is very small, and their owners are naturally overwhelmingly male. It is remarkable that in the past, back in the 1970s and 1980s, even foreign women could encounter difficulties if they applied for a driving permit in Pyongyang. Obviously, North Korean officials could not comprehend how the female brain would be able to master such a technology.

However, the most bizarre of all these bans is one which deals with cycling. Bicycles were prohibited in Pyongyang for decades, and the ban was lifted only around 1992. However, this relaxation was not for everybody. In 1996, authorities decided that the bicycle was not suitable for women. The official press explained that “beautiful national customs” do not permit such debauchery. Allegedly, this judgment was the decree of Kim Jong-il himself.

At first, police worked hard to enforce the ban, and some female riders had their bikes confiscated, but then things cooled down and some women began to defy the prohibition.

However, it is increasingly clear that these and other bans are enforced by police with ever diminishing zeal. The North Korean dictatorship is running out of steam, not least because its own servants do not believe the official slogans anymore.

Share

Posted in Automobiles, Bicycles, Civil society, Dating/Courting, Tobacco, Transportation | Comments Closed

N. Korea says 90 pct of flood-damaged roads repaired

December 1st, 2007

Yonhap
12/1/2007

North Korea has nearly finished repairing roads and bridges that were destroyed by floods earlier this year, a pro-North Korea newspaper reported on Saturday.

According to the Chosun Sinbo, a newspaper published in Japan, the impoverished North has also built new roads and bridges while repairing severed routes.

Share

Posted in Automobiles, Railways, Transportation | Comments Closed

Two Koreas Join Forces to Develop Linux

November 30th, 2007

Electonic Times News (South Korea)
Hat tip DPRK Studies
Gil-soo Jang
11/30/2007

South and North Korea team up to develop a version of ‘Hana Linux (tentatively named)’ and set standards.

Reunification IT Forum (South), Chosun People’s Science Technology Association (North) and Chinese Information Society co-hosted ICMIP 2007 in Yenji, China on November 27 to 28.

At the conference, IT experts from two Koreas agreed on the need for cooperation in the Linux sector and developing ‘Hana Linux.’ Besides, the two parties will pursue other projects such as Open Office, an internationally certified (CC) office suite, and developing Korean language for excellent open software.

Such a proposal was initially made by president of Hee-tak Moon of Korea Open Source Software Association (KOSSA) to the North counterpart. A detailed plan will follow at the Speical Duties Committee (SDC) which will be formed soon by two Koreas and China.

President Ho-ik Seok of Reunification IT Forum, Secretary General Kyung Chon of Chosun People’s Science Technology Association, and President Ryong-woon Hyung of Chinese Information Society agreed to five points at issue and to create expert working groups and the SDC soon.

The three parties also consented to nurture software professionals and, as part of that effort, to base Yenben and Dandung of China, and Pyongyang, Kaesong and Hoichun of Korea as training centers. Moreover, they will consider sharing information by establishing an IT exhibition hall, library and history archive.

To further the agreement and issues, IT experts decided to hold an international conference in Pyongyang in the first half of next year to bring IT professionals together.

They were in agreement that there are differences in IT terminology between South, North Koreans and Korean Chinese and agreed to make efforts to standardize the terms.

Share

Posted in China, Communications, Computing/IT, Economic reform, Foreign direct investment, Joint Ventures | Comments Closed

First underground DPRK journal launched

November 30th, 2007

Institute for Far Eastern Studies (IFES)
NK Brief No. 07-11-30-1
11/30/2007

The first bi-monthly magazine reporting internal news directly through North Korean undercover journalists was launched on November 20th. The Korean language magazine, “Rimjingang,” is also expected to launch in English and Japanese by the end of this year. The inaugural issue contains interviews with staff members of the central state enterprise on current North Korean economic issues, public sentiment following the North Korean missile launch last year, interpretations of the North Korean internal image, as well as reports on local occurrences and accidents.

Once news is directly gathered and prepared by North Korean residents, the manuscript is then sent to the outside world where it is printed as the “Rimjingang” magazine. This magazine’s inaugural press conference was held at the Seoul Press Center on the afternoon of November 20th. The conference attracted enthusiastic coverage, with over 30 domestic and international press corps members in attendance, including Fuji TV and international wire services such as AP and Reuters.

With the help of Japan’s Asia Press, the North Korean journalists involved in the production of “Rimjingang” have been filming local footage, conducting interviews with residents, and recording the daily debriefing sessions of citizens for the past five years. Much of the video footage currently distributed to South Korea and Japan has been recorded by the journalists themselves.

Magazine publication officials revealed that the “Rimjingang” would also be distributed within North Korea. They added, “the North Korean reporters seek subject matter that reflects how North Korean people live, what they think, and what they want,” and, “the only real evidence that reflects how North Korea is changing is given through the North Korean people.”

There are currently 10 North Korean journalists affiliated with “Rimjingang.” The diverse list includes a staff member of the central state enterprise, a schoolteacher in his thirties, a worker from a foreign currency earning company, the first journalist to release his pen name to the outside world, a resident in her forties from Pyongan Province, and journalist in his thirties from South Hamkyeong Province.

An official from Asia Press said, “Over the years, more than 600 North Korean defectors have been interviewed around the China-North Korea border,” and, “there have been a few among them with intentions, like us, of delivering news from within North Korea to the outside world, so we have been training them in journalism since 2002.”

“We explained to them what ‘journalism’ was, and taught them the format of news articles as well as the operation of video camera..they then returned to North Korea and began gathering news, and since 2004, some of the news they collected has been released through Japanese and Korean press, as well as U.S. and European press.”

Share

Posted in Civil society, Domestic publication, Institute for Far Eastern Studies, Rimjingang | Comments Closed

Seoul to Help N. Korean Officials Learn Capitalism

November 29th, 2007

Korea Times
Lee Hyo-sik
11/29/2007

The government has decided to finance training programs next year to educate North Korean officials and scholars about the free market economy as part of efforts to smoothly implement planned cross-border business projects.

According to the Ministry of Finance and Economy Thursday, the government has set aside 300 million won ($322,000) in next year’s budget to financially support education programs through which North Korean officials can learn about market economy principles and the financial market system.

The ministry is considering organizing a series of workshops for North Koreans to study how former communist countries, including China and Vietnam, opened their doors and successfully transformed into market economies.

It is also planning to arrange study tours to Europe to offer North Koreans opportunities to learn first hand about macroeconomic policies and the government’s role in advanced economies.

“It will be the first time for the government to help North Korean officials and scholars learn about market economic management and development experiences. If it bears fruit, we plan to expand the economic education program in the future to have more North Korean participants,” a ministry official said.

The government will not be directly involved in the training, and instead it will entrust the program to a private education institution, he said, expressing hope that the training will help government officials carry out scheduled inter-Korean business projects more smoothly with their northern counterparts.

During the second inter-Korean summit early October, President Roh Moo-hyun and North Korean leader Kim Jong-il agreed on a number of cross-border development projects, including the establishment of a special peace zone in the West Sea and operation of the inter-Korean railways.

On its own, the communist state has been dispatching a large number of government officials to Germany and other European nations over the past few years on economic training programs. The government estimated the number of North Korean officials visiting advanced economies in Europe totaled 220 in 2004, compared with 237 in 2003, 227 in 2002, 186 in 2001 and 158 in 2000.

 

Market Economy for NK
Korea Times
11/29/007

Seoul’s Program to Help Pyongyang Learn New System

The South Korean government plans to launch an education program next year to help North Korean officials and scholars learn about the market economy. It is the first time that Seoul has organized such a program. The plan followed recent developments in improving inter-Korean relations after the second South-North summit held in Pyongyang from Oct. 2-4.

According to the Ministry of Finance and Economy, a budget of 300 million won ($320,000) has been set aside for the 2008 program, which will include cross-border information sharing workshops and education on a transition to a market economy and how to adapt to the new system. The budget is only a small sum at this initial stage. But it could increase if the program produces tangible results.

We welcome the education program as it is expected to encourage the stalwart socialist country to shake off its aversion to the market economy system. And furthermore, the program could create a favorable atmosphere for North Korean policymakers and economists to usher in reform and an open door policy. It’s time for the North to realize that inter-Korean economic cooperation packages cannot succeed if it fails to introduce economic reform.

South Korean officials are well aware that it is still difficult to change the mindset of the North Korean leadership that sticks to the old ways of socialism. Regrettably, President Roh Moo-hyun was disappointed that North Korean leader Kim Jong-il and his inner circle refused to discuss reform and openness during the summit.

However, we have to be more patient with the hard-line North Korean regime and make more effort to persuade it into acknowledging the need to join many socialist countries in their effort to move toward a market economy. During the summit, President Roh agreed to build railroads, ports and other infrastructure in the North as well as an industrial park and a peace zone for inter-Korean cooperation. These development packages require huge investments from the South.

Such big-budget projects are expected to inject fresh air into the moribund North Korean economy. But they are not enough for the North to realize its ultimate goal of economic reconstruction. In addition to massive investment, the South will have to teach North Koreans how to do business, make money and become rich.

North Korea has recently shown interest in Vietnam. In October, a Hong Kong-based weekly reported that Kim Jong-il expressed the intention of following Vietnam’s reforms and openness during a meeting with Nong Duc Manh, secretary-general of the Vietnamese Communist Party. A delegation from the North led by Prime Minister Kim Yong-il visited Hanoi to learn about the “Doi Moi” reform policy.

The Seoul government plans to select a research institute that will take charge of the education program for the North. An official said candidate institutes might include the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in Beijing. We hope the North will learn a lesson from Chinese or Vietnamese style reform to end its isolation, bring prosperity to its people and promote peace on the Korean Peninsula.

Share

Posted in Education, Inter-Korean summit, International Aid, Political economy | Comments Closed

Two Koreas to make on-site inspection of N. Korean highway

November 29th, 2007

Yonhap
11/29/2007

Working-level officials from the two Koreas have agreed to begin an on-site inspection next month of a dilapidated North Korean highway that the countries earlier agreed to jointly repair, South Korea’s Unification Ministry said on Thursday.

The two-day working-level meeting involving four officials from each side started on Wednesday in the North Korean border town of Kaesong, home of an inter-Korean industrial complex. The repair of the highway, which runs between Kaesong and Pyongyang, the North’s capital, is part of an agreement reached at the inter-Korean prime ministerial talks held in Seoul from Nov. 14-16.

South Korean Prime Minister Han Duck-soo and North Korean Prime Minister Kim Yong-il ended their talks by sealing an eight-article accord, covering a variety of issues including economic projects, security, resource development, agriculture and social, cultural and sports exchanges.

“At the working-level contact, the two Koreas agreed to make a joint on-site inspection of the Pyongyang-Kaesong Highway from Dec. 11-27 in order to start its repair work from next year,” a ministry official said.

Some 20 officials from each side will participate in the highway inspection, and they will also jointly make a final report, the official said.

In conducting the inspection, the South will provide survey equipment and materials, while the North will provide various data and conveniences, the official said.

The two sides also agreed to hold the first meeting of the inter-Korean road cooperation committee in February to discuss issues based on the results of the joint inspection. Topics of discussion will include the scope and method of repair work and the joint use of the highway, according to the official.

Share

Posted in Automobiles, International Aid, Transportation | Comments Closed

Pyongyang Citizens, “Life Has Gotten Tougher Since the Inter-Korean Summit”

November 28th, 2007

Daily NK
Kwon Jeong Hyun
11/28/2007

A source inside North Korea reported on the 26th of November that the country’s food distribution system did not operate properly and the regime strengthened its control over the market in the Pyongyang areas in the second half of November.

“Most residents of Pyongyang’s core districts such as Joong and Botongang district received their food rations. However, only a half of those who live in Moonsu-dong, Chungryu-dong and Soryong-dong of the Daedonggang district received their rations,” the source said.

“An announcement was displayed on a board in front of the Soryong- 2- dong distribution office in the Daedongdang district, stating, ‘Rice to be redistributed as soon as enough rice is secured,’” the source said. The source added that the crop distributed to the people was composed of 80 percent Annam rice and 20 percent corn, and many people complained about its poor quality.

The North’s food distribution system has worked out well in the west Pyongyang area such as Joongu, Botongang and Pyungcheon district. However, the regime has intermittently distributed food rations to residents in the east Pyongyang area such as Daedongang, Dongdaewon, and Sungyo district.

For instance, in August, no food was distributed in the east Pyongyang area. In September, only a half of residents in the area received food rations. In the following month, all received their food. In November, not all received their rations as in September.

When there is no food distribution, people have to procure rice by themselves in the market.

Unfortunately, that is not an easy task. Since the North Korean authorities have fixed the price of rice at 700 won/kg in the markets of Pyongyang, many merchants are not willing to bring out rice for sales. Instead, they clandestinely sell rice at 1,300 won/kg only to individuals with whom they are acquainted.

The price of rice went up to a high of 1,800 won/kg in the mid October, but now remains steady at 1,300 won/kg. As long as the regime tries to control the price of rice, few merchants would sell rice in the open market, thus contributing to a hike in prices.

In the mid November, corn was sold at 500 won/kg, pork at 3,000 won/kg, an egg at 200 won each, Chinese cabbage at 500 won/kg, and domestic cabbage at 300won/kg in the markets of Pyongyang. The rice of cabbage has rapidly dropped as the state released cabbage into the market because November is a season of preparing Kimchi for winter. Domestic cabbage was sold cheap due to its poor quality.

The regime continues to control the markets in Pyongyang. It prohibits all females under 48 years old from doing business in the market. In addition, merchants are not allowed to sell more than 15 items. The regime enforces its market regulatory measures by having organized groups of inspectors composed of young people and ordered them to regularly patrol markets.

The source said, “As the food situation is getting worse and the state is intensifying its control over the market, Pyongyang citizens begin to express a sense of disappointment with South Korean President Roh.” The source said, “After the inter-Korean summit meeting, many fostered the hope that President Roh would help solve food shortage problems and the regime would adopt reform policies. However, that did not happen. As the state tightens its control over the market, life has gotten tougher.”

“Some even went to so say that President Roh should not have come to the North,” said the source, echoing the uneasy sentiments among Pyongyang citizens.

Share

Posted in Agriculture, General markets (FMR: Farmers Market), Price liberalization, Public Distribiution System (PDS) | Comments Closed

« Older Entries
Newer Entries »