Juche: Idea for All Times

November 27th, 2007

Korea Times
Andrei Lankov
11/27/2007

The great and immortal idea of Juche, the most advanced social theory the world has ever known, was created by Kim Il-sung in 1930 when the ever-victorious general was 18 years old. Since then, the theory has been embraced by political and intellectual leaders across the world.

This is what North Koreans are required to believe. The idea of a high school graduate developing such a breakthrough social theory might sound strange, but after all the official line is that Kim Il-sung became a leader of the entire Communist movement at the tender age of 14 when in 1926 he allegedly founded the first truly communist group in the country.

However, early references to Juche are almost certain to be faked. The text of the speech which Kim Il-sung allegedly delivered in Manchuria in 1930 was first published in the 1960s, when Juche featured prominently in North Korean propaganda. There are good reasons to think that the entire text of the speech was actually written around the same time, to suit the political situation of the 1960s.

Actually, nothing was known about Juche until December 1955 when Kim Il-sung first used the word in a long speech, addressing a group of high-level party officials. In those days, Pyongyang was waging its first anti-Soviet campaign, still very mild by later standards. Nonetheless, in the mid-1950s the Soviet Union was liberalizing itself, so Kim Il-sung decided to move away from his erstwhile ally and patron. He did not want to be ousted and disgraced by local Korean reformers.

In his attempts to counter the liberal trends, Kim Il-sung decided to use nationalism as his preferred weapon. After all, the liberal wind was blowing from the north, from Russia, and hence it made sense to remind officials about their “Koreanness.” If we have a more careful look though the 1955 speech and other early references to Juche we will see that this was what Kim Il Song meant: not a coherent ideology, not even the idea of “self-reliance,” but rather need to emphasize one’s national identity as a Korean, a need to see Korea’s national interests as the top priority.

I have spent a long time reading through the pages of the Nodong sinmun of the 1950s, and it is clear that references to Juche remained rare until 1960. In the “Popular Dictionary of Political Terms,” published in Pyongyang in 1959, the term Juche is conspicuous in its absence, while in the large Dictionary of the Korean Language (1961-1962) the present-day ideological meaning of the term as a name for a political ideology is featured, but still occupies a modest place as a secondary interpretation. It took a large and concerted effort on the part of the Pyongyang ideologues in the mid and late 1960s to re-define Juche as a coherent ideology and the official philosophy of the DPRK.

Things began to really change in 1965 when the Juche promotion campaign was cranked up. While visiting Indonesia in April 1965, then still under a left-leaning nationalist dictatorship, Kim Il-sung delivered a speech which can be seen as the first Juche speech (the 1955 statement used the word in a different meaning). It was when Juche was first posited as the basic ideological principle of North Korean politics. This happened when the Sino-Soviet quarrel had reached its greatest intensity, and North Korea strove to stay neutral in the noisy feud of its two major sponsors. Nationalism in this situation had to promoted. So Kim Il-sung observed that the leading principles in North Korea were “independence in politics, self-reliance in the economy, and Juche as the ideology.”

Only in 1970 was Juche officially promoted as the leading ideology of the ruling Korean Workers Party. The KWP’s Fifth Congress stated that the Party would be guided by Marxism-Leninism and Juche. Judged by the standards of the Communist bloc, this was heresy. The local ideology was put on an equal footing with Marxism! However, by that time it did not really matter. The statement did raise eyebrows in the ideological departments of some ruling Communist parties, above all, in Moscow. However, nobody had either the will or the means to enforce orthodoxy, and everybody knew about the rampant nationalism of North Korea.

The next step came in 1980, when the Sixth KWP congress deleted references to Marxism-Leninism, leaving Juche as the sole official ideology of the Party. Thus the KWP became the only part of the Communist bloc which did not actually claim itself to be an adherent of Marxism-Leninism, even though its practical policy was still perfectly in line with the Stalinist tradition. This was the clearest possible declaration of ideological independence, a break with the official traditions of the Communist camp.

Nowadays, Juche is considered to be not only the girding principle of the KWP, but also the state ideology of the DPRK. The North Korean Constitution makes this clear in Article 3.

It is quite common to say that one has to understand Juche in order to understand North Korea. Well, I would not subscribe to that opinion. Juche is simply too vague to be taken seriously, and the interpretation of its philosophy has changed countless times. In a sense, Juche is an empty shell, a term which includes everything the North Korean leadership considers “correct” at any given moment in time, but hardly anything else.

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Posted in Juche, Political economy | 1 Comment »

Recent DPRK market restrictions extended to mobility of the people

November 27th, 2007

Institute for Far Eastern Studies
NK Brief No. 07-11-27-1
11/27/2007

Following Kim Jong Il’s August 26 announcement that, “Markets have become anti-Socialist Western-style markets,” measures to increase restrictions on markets across North Korea have also restricted individuals’ ability to migrate.

The Central Committee of the (North) Korean Workers’ Party released a statement in October, revealing that Kim Jong Il had stated, “The current state of anti-socialism should not be moderately opposed. A strong and concentrated attack must be laid out in order to thoroughly eliminate [this anti-socialist behavior].”

According to the Daily NK, an informant inside North Korea revealed that authorities are “contacting people who have applied for permission to travel to other regions at their trip destination and setting up interviews in order to verify that interviewees are conforming with their [stated] intentions,” and, “ultimately, long distance wholesalers are restricted in their movements, cause a reduction in the amount of goods circulating on the markets.”

Good Friends, a South Korean NGO for North Korean aid, also reported, “In North Hamgyung Province, if someone is absent from work for two days or not seen in their neighborhood, that person’s actions are carefully investigated,” and, “if someone does not check out, each of their family members are called in for interrogation.”

After the ‘Arduous March’, as market activity grew in North Korea, the number of whole-saling ‘middle-men’ grew considerably. These traders received travel permits by applying under the guise of visiting authorities, family matters, special occasions, or other personal reasons. Long-distance traders need a travel permit. In order to get such a permit, cash or goods were frequently offered as bribes.

Now, as it is becoming more difficult to receive travel documents, not only long-distance traders but also even normal vacationers are facing growing difficulties. In particular, people who need to travel to China for family visits are especially worried due to the increasingly strict issuance of travel permits.

The insider reported, “As markets grow, because wholesalers are gaining power as they make large amounts of money, authorities seem to be strongly restraining them,” and “if a wholesaler is caught, his goods are taken, leading to difficulties for market traders.”

According to a North Korean defector in the South with access to DPRK information, university students in Pyongyang are also being subjected to increasingly strict personnel inspections and restrictions. Even when they go to the library, they must fill out an exit record and can only remain out for one day before student leaders pay a visit to their home.

Students not strictly obeying school policies have their bags and pockets searched while being put under investigation and being further restricted. Of course, in the past, as well, students with problems faced inspections of their dormitory or personal goods, but recently, inspections of even everyday students are on the rise.

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Posted in Arduous March, Black markets, Civil society, Domestic publication, Economic reform, Education, General markets (FMR: Farmers Market), Institute for Far Eastern Studies, Worker's Party | Comments Closed

U.S. denies North Korea diplomatic ties report

November 26th, 2007

Reuters
11/26/2007

A U.S. embassy spokesman on Monday denied a report by South Korea’s biggest daily that the State Department has stationed an employee in Pyongyang to lay the groundwork for opening a permanent liaison office in North Korea.

The State Department has an employee in Pyongyang but only to manage equipment for a team that is overseeing the disablement of North Korea’s nuclear facilities. The employee will be in the North through the disablement process.

“This is not for normalisation,” spokesman Max Kwak said.

There has been a rise in exchanges between the two countries after reclusive North Korea agreed this year to a multinational deal to freeze and then roll back its nuclear arms programme in return for massive aid and better international standing.

The Chosun Ilbo newspaper quoted an unnamed source in Washington as saying: “A U.S. State Department diplomat who handles administrative affairs has checked into a room in Koryo Hotel and has been using it as an office and accommodation.”

The State Department employee has been acting as an administrative liaison between the United States and North Korea, the source said.

The Koryo is one of the few hotels in Pyongyang open to foreign guests.

The United States has said if North Korea completely ends its nuclear weapons programme, Washington is willing to establish diplomatic ties with Pyongyang.
U.S. Diplomat ‘Permanently’ Stationed in Pyongyang
Choson Ilbo (h/t One Free Korea)
11/26/2007

A U.S. diplomat has been stationed permanently at the Koryo Hotel in Pyongyang since mid-November, a source said Sunday. The development comes as U.S.-North Korea relations are improving as Pyongyang implements its promise to disable its nuclear facilities at Yongbyon by the end of the year.

A source in Washington said that the U.S. plans to dispatch another permanent diplomat to Pyongyang soon, with the Koryo Hotel likely to serve as a de facto U.S. liaison office in North Korea. This is the first time the U.S. has ever stationed a permanent diplomat in Pyongyang, and it suggests the possible normalization of relations between the two sides.

The Washington source said, “A foreign service officer in charge of administrative affairs from the U.S. State Department has been staying at the Koryo Hotel in Pyongyang, using his room as both an office and living quarters. He is mainly carrying out administrative liaison efforts between the U.S. and North Korea.”

The diplomat is apparently serving as a liaison officer for U.S. delegations to Pyongyang and figuring out their staying expenses there. The temporary U.S. office at the Koryo Hotel is said to be fitted out with exclusive telephone and fax lines and a computer with an Internet connection.

The U.S. is expected to dispatch a senior diplomat to Pyongyang who will handle political affairs when North Korea completes the disablement of its nuclear facilities. This senior diplomat will also participate in talks with Pyongyang and visit the nuclear sites at Yongbyon on a non-regular basis to inspect the progress of the disablement and dismantlement of the facilities.

Washington and Pyongyang agreed on this through meetings between chief U.S. negotiator to the six-party talks Christopher Hill and his North Korean counterpart Kim Kye-gwan and through “a channel in New York,” the source said.

The U.S. is expected to operate its temporary office in Pyongyang with a staff of two diplomats for the time being, with a view to upgrading the office to a regular liaison office or a permanent mission if North Korea clearly shows its intention to fully dismantle its nuclear programs.

The agreement to operate a de facto U.S. liaison office in Pyongyang suggests that the two sides strongly intend to improve their relations. Washington and Pyongyang agreed at the 1994 Geneva Accords to open a liaison office in Pyongyang upon concluding talks on the first North Korean nuclear crisis, but that agreement was never realized.

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Posted in Communications, Internet, Political economy, Telephones, USA | Comments Closed

Musan Mine into Chinese Hands?

November 26th, 2007

Daily NK
Lee Sung Jin
11/26/2007

An insider North Korean source said in a phone conversation on the 22nd, “With long-term suspension of exports for the break in China’s investment in North Korea’s iron ore production, the lives of citizens and the Musan Mine laborers have become extremely difficult. There have been talks that this might be the 2nd March of Tribulation (Mass starvation period in the 1990s).”

The South Korean Chamber of Commerce and Industry released a report, the “North Korean Underground Resource Joint Development Strategy” on the 21th saying that China has cleared with a clean stroke North Korean minerals, Musan Mines being a representative example.

The report introduced the contract which gave 50-years-mining rights to the Musan Mine in North Hamkyung, which is North Korea’s best iron ore, for 70 hundred million Yuan (approximately DSD950 million) to China, which can take 10 million tons of iron ores from Musan every year for 50 years.

However, investment in Musan Mine, which was considered the China’s representative investment in North Korean underground resources, was ruptured due to the fact that opinions surrounding on the retrieval ways of shares and investment funds could not be narrowed down. Accordingly, Musan Mine laborers going through difficulty with the operation of the mine have fallen into a severe hardship in living.

The South Korean intelligence authorities confirmed the veracity of the breakdown in investment negotiation early June of this year.

North Hamkyung Province’s Musan Mine is a strip mine containing 30 hundred million tons of coal reserves, 13 hundred million tons of coals capable of digging and several hundred tons of steel concentrate, has offered these materials to the Kim Chaek and Sungjin Steel Mills, but with the unreliable operation of these mills, mining came to a halt in early 2000.

In 2005, the North Korean government closed an investment contract with the Chinese Tonghua Steel Group Consortium and China’s investment in Musan Mine began the fall of that year. As the exports of iron ore started, the North Korean authorities resumed the provision system to mine laborers and their families.

With the influx of many goods including food, gasoline, and construction materials as a reward for exporting iron ore to China, the lives of citizens in Musan have stabilized in these last two years.

However, the volume of production was known to have rapidly decreased with the cease in iron goods export to China and the rupture in joint investment with China.

The source said, “With the cease in iron ore exports to China, provision to the miners have ceased, which has incurred significant damage. We are in the ‘March of Tribulation’ again. When we are barely able to get by, something else occurs.”

The source introduced the current situation of withdrawal for Musan Mine laborers, “With only 500 thousand won (approximately USD 152), a person can get out of mining. It takes 100,000 won at the mina labor department and another 100,000 won to receive a diagnosis at mine hospitals and about 300,000 won to receive approval from the Safety Agency and the county labor department leaders as bribes. The despair of people are so heavy that people hope to come out of mining, even with the granting of provisions.”

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Posted in China, Coal, International trade, Mining/Minerals | Comments Closed

Women of Hoiryeong Should Not Go out at Night

November 25th, 2007

Daily NK
Lee Sung Jin
11/25/2007

A source inside North Korea reported on the 22nd of November that all sorts of crime are rampant in Hoiryeong of North Hamkyung Province, and locals, especially women are so afraid that they dare not go outside at night.

The source said, “At meetings of people’s units, locals received instructions not to go out late at night and women were especially advised to get back home not too late.” The source added, “Most crimes are committed by soldiers who have been posted to Hoiryeong for construction work.

Since early this year, the North Korean authorities have been carrying out apartment building construction and road expansion work in Hoiryeong under the project named “Embellishing Mother’s Hometown.” Hoiryeong is known as the birthplace of Kim Jong Suk, Kim Jong Il’s mother.

This year celebrates the 90th anniversary of Kim Jong Suk’s birth, and many construction projects are being proceeded under the slogan, ‘‘Let’s invite our benevolent general to Hoiryeong.’’ Last year in November, a mosaic mural depicting Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il was installed in both Poongsan-ri and Daedeuk-ri in Hoiryeong.

Early May, the nation’s new prime minister Kim Yong Il visited Hoiryeong by train. His train was loaded with glass and cement, and the minister delivered the construction material to Hoiryeong’s people’s committee, leaving a message saying, “Hoiryeong is the birthplace of Kim Jong Suk. Clean up and embellish the entire city.”

As the authorities started carrying out the extensive construction work in Hoiryeong, it needed more labor power. Starting with last month, the state began to bring construction units of the People’s Army into the city for the expansion and pavement works of the road between Hoiryeong-Chongjin. It is the solders of these construction units who are responsible for ongoing violent crimes such as rape and plunder occurring in Hoiryeong

The source said, “Ever since those soldiers came to Hoiryeong, the city has been afflicted with many incidents and crime, all of which concern the city’s party committee to great extents.” The source said, “Even though October is the harvest season, there is not enough corn left for harvest in many cornfields around construction sites.”

What is worse, many households are being sacked by the soldiers, and local residents cannot leave home empty even for a moment, the source said.

The city’s party committee is casting suspicion on the soldiers. However, it cannot recklessly push for an investigation against the soldiers because the committee lacks hard evidence and the army has gotten too powerful over the years.

“A few days ago, there was an incident where a soldier broke into a house, raped a twenty-two-year old woman, and ran away,” the source said. “In order to protect themselves from the soldiers, each community has placed a guard at its people’s unit guard post twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, and made sure that the guard reports to the People’s Safety Agency in case an incident takes place.”

Individuals who go to a night market and females who get back home from the market late at night are particularly vulnerable. The Safety Agency of Hoiryeong has decided to increase the number of patrols and ordered the locals to organize their own securities in their areas, the source said.

A defector who came to the South in 2006 said, “People used to admire the People’s Army. Nowadays, the Army is treated as a gang of thieves.” The defector said, “The army behaves highhandedly, and there are always conflicts in the areas around army bases.”

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Posted in Civil society, Crime, Military, Real estate | Comments Closed

North Korea Said “The South Invests in the North Due to Its Bankruptcy”

November 24th, 2007

Daily NK
Yang Jung A
11/24/2007

It turns out that the North Korean regime asserts to its people that the South has decided to invest in the North because the South’s shipping industry is doomed.

The North Korean authorities argued such at public lectures held in October to report on the results of the second Inter-Korean Summit, according to a report released on Wednesday by Good Friends, a Seoul-based aid organization for North Korea.

The report says that a cadre from Pyongsung delivered a public lecture saying, “South’s shipbuilding industry is on the verge of doom, and that is why it has decided to build a shipyard in Anbyun of Kangwon and to establish cooperative complexes for shipbuilding in Nampo in the West Sea.” The cadre also announced that two Koreas have agreed to transform the military demarcation line in the waters of the West Sea into ‘peace line’ and create a joint fishing zone there, the report says.

Nevertheless, the report says, “Most participants had no interest in the lecture. They could only care about putting some bread on the table and making money, instead of wasting time on discussing the country’s affairs”

According to the report, the North Korean people strongly oppose the recently market regulatory measures. It has been reported that the number of individuals who violate the measures is increasing.

“Lately, the chairman of People’s Committee in Pohang district of Chongjin was fired and demoted to a regular worker’s position because the chairman had complained about the state’s measure, which bans females under 45 years old from doing business in the market starting with December 1st this year,” the report says. The chairman is quoted as saying, “In today’s society, women are breadwinners. If women under 45 are banned from making a living in the market, who is going to earn bread and butter for their households?”

“In Sinam district of Chungjin, a female was arrested after having expressed discontent about the regulation. She was pulled along to a Social Safety office and underwent all sorts of hardships. Later, she was made to take criticism at a regular evaluation meeting of a women’s unit in her district, and then released,” says the report.

“In Pyongyang, agents on a mission to crack down anti-socialist activities are going the rounds of the households of individuals who do business in the market. The agents ask the individuals when and how they started business, what their children do, and where they procure sales items,” says the report.

The report also tells an account of an old couple who has retired from the party and recently visited by inspection agents. The report says, “Although the couple spent most of their life serving the party, they had to come to the market to make a living at their old age. The old couple felt very bitter about their situation. They grumbled against the regime saying that it frequently regulates the market and inspects those engaged in the business. The old couple was at a loss what to do.”

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Posted in Domestic publication, General markets (FMR: Farmers Market), Inter-Korean summit, Political economy, Sea shipping | Comments Closed

N. Korean graphite material to arrive in S. Korea on Saturday

November 23rd, 2007

Yonhap
Lee Joon-seung
11/23/2007

North Korean graphite material made at an inter-Korean joint venture factory is being shipped to South Korea, the Commerce Ministry said Friday.

The 200-ton shipment from the factory near the city of Haeju left the North Korean port of Nampo earlier in the day and is expected to reach Incheon on Saturday, the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Energy said.

“The shipment is significant because it is the first time that products made from minerals in the North have been shipped to the South after being manufactured at an inter-Korean joint venture company,” a ministry official said. The graphite can be made into heat-resistant bricks, pencils, ceramic melting pots and car brake linings.

South Korea’s state-run Korea Resources Corp. (KORES) holds a 50 percent stake in the US$10.2 million graphite processing plant along with the North’s Kwangmyung Trading Co.

The factory can produce 3,000 tons of processed graphite every year, with KORES entitled to 1,830 tons for 15 years as payment for its initial investment. The amount is equivalent to 15 percent of the graphite products the country imports every year. China, Japan and Germany are currently South Korea’s main suppliers of the material.

The state-run company signed the contract for the joint venture in July 2003, and commercial production began in April of this year. Initial test production began in April 2006.

The ministry also said the Jeonchon mine near the factory is estimated to hold 6.25 million tons of crystalline graphite ore.

Wonjin Co., a local carbon refractory brick manufacturer, signed a contract in September with the KORES to buy all the graphite from North Korea and market it in South Korea.

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Posted in Foreign direct investment, Graphite, International trade, Manufacturing, Mining/Minerals | 1 Comment »

North Korean Market Research

November 23rd, 2007

Daily NK
Yoon Il Geun
11/23/2007

Unlike its external gesture towards openness as observed in the case of a recent agreement to expand South-North economic cooperation, the North Korean authorities regulate market activities at home.

On October 3rd, the Workers Party delivered a public message that urges the North Korean people to have a proper understanding about the market and to eradicate anti-socialist activities which threaten people’s interest. According to the message, the state bans females who are less than 40 years old from doing business and orders them to get back to factory complexes.

In regard to the recent regulation imposed on the market, many experts on North Korean affairs explain that the North Korean authorities are trying to hold in check a nouveau riche class who have made a fortune in the market and stop the infiltration of foreign culture and news into the society.

Experts believe that the North has decided to regulate the market, the very source of living of its people because it posed a treat to the Kim regime.

◆ The growth of the market since the mid 1990s

In 1990s, the country’s economy collapsed and the state failed to distribute food to its people. Many starved to death, and those survived turned to the market

In those days, despite the state’s tight regulation, the North Korean people had to make their living by either selling in the market or smuggling to China anything they could find in the sea, mountain or river such as fish, pine mushrooms, hemp, alluvial gold, etc. Some even stole metal such as copper and white gold from refineries or dismantled equipments from plants or factory complexes, and smuggled them to China.

Many North Koreans were able to secure the minimum amount of purchasing power by selling national resources overseas. Moreover, many defectors started to send money to their remaining family members in the North, and helped secure the purchasing power of their family. It was around this time when Chinese goods started to flow into North Korea and a new type of market began to grow. The new type of market differed from the state-approved farmer’s markets in the past. For the first time, it became possible for North Koreans to earn bread for a day in the market.

◆ The growth of a new type of market

On July 1, 2002, the nearly bankrupted country adopted an economic improvement measure designed to improve the competitiveness of factory complexes. As many individuals illegally sold national resources overseas and factories were shut down, the state ran short of revenue and became unable to give wages to workers, officials and college professors. In order to solve the shortage, the state began to issue paper money to fill national treasury.

Unfortunately, that increased workers’ wage 10 to 15 times on average. Moreover, the exchange rate which was about 220 won per dollar on June 30, 2002 increased to 1,800 won per dollar nine months after the adoption of the July 1st Economic Management Reform Measure.

Foreign Policy, an American magazine of global politics listed North Korea once again this year as one of the world’s worst currencies and pointed out the problem of the country’s skyrocketing inflation. The magazine also pointed out that the price for rice has increased by 550 percent since the adoption of the July 1st Economic Management Reform Measure. It should be noted that rice is one of those items whose prices have increased the least.

◆ The more the market grows, the more it threatens the regime

As inflation continued, more people turned to the market to make a living and started to manage their economic life independently. Having noticed that, the authorities began to worry what kinds of changes the market would bring about.

The authorities’ foremost concern lies in the rapid spread of foreign information through the market. As North Koreans’ preference for products from South Korea and Japan increases, so does their interest in these two countries. Many defectors say that a countless number of foreign VCDs have been circulated among people through the market.

In addition, the state has lost authority as more people relied on the market and became self-sufficient and individualistic. Prevalent corruption has also undermined its authority.

Lastly, illegal activities have increased so much that they are threatening public security. In fact, the North Korean people nowadays would do anything to make money.

For instance, many party cadres, hospital workers and Red-Cross personnel are stealing aid supplies sent by the United Nations and advanced countries, and army personnel are selling military provisions including rice in the market. Furthermore, many violent crime incidents and lootings are taking place in the areas not under the government control.

“The army and gangsters are savagely looting the market” says a woman in her 50s says recalling her visit to Hwanghae Province prior to coming to Dangdong, China.

◆ The impact of adopting market regulatory measures

The growth of the market will likely deepen the crisis of the Kim regime. Any measure designed to restrict the market would backfire among people.

Since the second half of the year, the North Korean authorities have been promoting market regulatory measures in the hope of protecting the regime. Some have raised a possibility that the North might try to restore its public distribution system using international aid. However, unless the North continues to open its door, the country would never secure an amount of food enough to run the distribution system again.

“Kim Jong Il is aware of the importance of the market for people’s survival, so he tacitly approves its existence. However, when he feels that capitalism is spreading too quickly, he would try to control it.” says Gao Jingzhu, professor of Korean studies at Yanbian University.

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Posted in 2002 Economic reforms, Economic reform, Fiscal & monetary policy, General markets (FMR: Farmers Market), International Aid, Labor conditions/wages, Price liberalization, Private property | Comments Closed

Koreas to run cross-border freight train everyday from Dec. 11

November 22nd, 2007

Yonhap
11/22/2007

The two Koreas agreed Thursday to run a daily freight train service across the border starting in mid December to facilitate transportation of raw materials and processed goods between the South Korea-invested industrial park in the North’s border town of Kaesong and the South.

Starting the cross-border cargo rail service for the first time since 1951 was the key agreement reached at last week’s talks between Prime Minister Han Duck-soo and his North Korean counterpart Kim Yong-il in Seoul.

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South Korea contributes more than US$4 million to First Environmental Project between Two Koreas

November 22nd, 2007

According to Environmentalexpert.com:

The United Nations Environment Programme and the Republic of Korea today signed an agreement for establishing a Trust Fund that addresses key environmental issues in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK). The Republic of Korea will contribute US$4.4 million in total for this project. The first venture of its kind on the environment between the two Koreas, the Trust Fund will tackle forest depletion, declining water quality, air pollution, land degradation and biodiversity in DPR Korea. It will also support eco-housing initiatives as well as conservation and management of the Taedong watershed, environmental education, integrated environmental monitoring system, clean development mechanism and renewable energy technology.

‘This multilateral cooperation with UNEP is of great significance for both South and North Korea and a huge step forward in addressing pressing environmental issues in DPR Korea,’said LEE Kyoo-Yong, Ph.D., Minister of Environment of the Republic of Korea.

The past decade has seen declining forests in DPR Korea due to timber production, firewood consumption, wild fires and insect attacks associated with drought, population growth and conversion of land to agricultural production. Pollution of rivers and streams has become severe in recent years, particularly in the Taedong River, which flows through central Pyongyang. DPR Korea’s reliance on coal for power generation, industrial processes and domestic heating also led to serious air pollution, particularly in cities like Pyongyang and Hamhung.

To counter this, the country has encouraged community, youth and children’s groups to establish tree nurseries and to participate in campaigns such as the National Tree Planting Day on March 2 every year. The government is currently strengthening legal control on effluent from factories by applying the’Polluter Pays Principle’ and has initiated mass media campaigns to inform the public of the need for water conservation.
Environmental protection was also recognized as a priority issue and a prerequisite for sustainable development after a series of natural disasters in the mid-1990s led to a critical drop in yields of major crops. In 1998, DPR Korea revised its constitution and designated environmental protection as a priority over all productive practices and identified it as a prerequisite for sustainable development. National laws on forests, fisheries, water resources and marine pollution were also adopted.

‘This agreement will build on the momentum that DPR Korea has begun. It will also go a long way in strengthening the spirit of cooperation between the two countries,’ said UN Under-Secretary General and UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner.

Since 2000, UNEP has been working in partnership with the National Coordinating Committee for Environment and UNDP to strengthen the capacity of the national government for environmental assessment and monitoring and implementation of Multilateral Environmental Agreements. In 2004, UNEP and DPR Korea signed a Framework Agreement for Cooperation in Environment. The first DPR Korea State of the Environment report was also launched that year.

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Posted in Environmental protection, International Aid, South Korea, UN, UNEP | Comments Closed

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