Inside North Korea: A Report by Good Friends Chairman Venerable Pomnyun and Seungjoo Baek

October 24th, 2007

pomnyun.jpgInside North Korea: A Report by Good Friends Chairman Venerable Pomnyun and Seungjoo Baek
SAIS US Korea Institute
September 19, 2007

 

For audio, click here. 

Chairman of the Good Friends Center for Peace, Human Rights and Refugees, the Venerable Pomnyun, briefed audience members at SAIS on current trends inside North Korea, including issues surrounding the current food crisis caused by the flooding, continuing health crisis, and the breakdown of the education system.

Good Friends, one of the largest Korea-based organizations providing humanitarian aid inside the D.P.R.K. and to refugees in Northern China, contributes some of the most accurate and timely reports on conditions inside North Korea. The Venerable Pomnyun visited Washington D.C. with a team of experts to discuss the on-going food shortage and proliferation of non-government controlled information. While here, they briefed Congress and held a day-long conference at CSIS.

Highlights of his comments (paraphrased, not direct quotes):

  • In contrast to the much lower number of famine deaths provided by Stephan Haggard and Marcus Noland Pomnyun maintained the 3 million number claimed by Good Friends in the past.
  • He provided a short narrative of coping mechanisms people have adopted to stay afloat (selling and manufacturing in homes). Society is being sustained by activities that are still considered illegal.
  • He claims the food situation is getting worse, and he does not think the DPRK can resolve the situation on its own.  Now people buy all their food on the market.
  • He claims that people’s lives are not improving.
  • TB is on the increase along with other epidemics.  Since there is no electricity, water is not clean. 
  • He offered that there are four levels of hospitals: clinics at the town level, hospitals in cities and some towns, hospitals at province level, and specialist offices in the Pyongyang area.
  • Hospitals and clinics are not working at the city/province level.  The situation is better in Pyongyang hospitals.  The amount of international medical aid, however, is not enough for even the Pyongyang hospitals.
  • Medical aid is the second most needed good (after food).  People do not get medicines from the hospital, but from the markets.  With low salaries, however, medicines are difficult to afford.  [Because the institutional environment is still not supportive of entrepreneurship] there are qulaity problems with pharmaceuticals purchased at the markets.
  • The education system, though ‘free’ is not functioning well.  Due to the food shortage problem, students do not go to school.  Teachers also do not come to class.  The cost of education is being pushed back to students directly.  For example, students buy chalk for teachers.  As a result, however, poor students cannot attend school.  The rich students are hiring tutors, so we are seeing a market in private education emerge in the DPRK.
  • The DPRK is slowly moving to a private economic system.  Men who cannot get work are now jokingly referring to themselves as “guard dogs,” because they sit at home all day.
  • North Koreans do not trust the government or party.  People on their death beds are telling their children to trust their descendents, not the government.  People still spend much of their time trying to subsist, but these complaints will not become a political issue.  The political system is stable and will not collapse any time soon.
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Posted in Agriculture, Civil society, Education, Good Friends, Health care, International Aid | 1 Comment »

British singer charms North Koreans into a tour

October 24th, 2007

Times of London
10/24/2007
Lucy Bannerman

She is one of the few Westerners to be invited behind the borders of the world’s most secretive state, and is surely the only soprano from Middlesbrough to perform for Kim Jong Il.

Having become an unlikely celebrity in North Korea over the past six years, the opera singer Suzannah Clarke has pulled off perhaps her greatest coup by getting permission to take the state’s national orchestra to Britain. The Times has learnt that plans are under way for 120 musicians to perform at a number of big venues across the UK early next year.

The Foreign Office has already given its support to the project and the search is now on for sponsors.

For the performers, it will be their first experience of the outside world; for Clarke, 38, it will be the culmination of years of work, using her position as the darling of Pyongyang to build close relations with North Korea’s leaders. She said: “This is not an easy project. Two years ago I wouldn’t have had any hope of succeeding. But when I went out there last April, I could feel a change in the air, a warmer atmosphere. This is the first time the North Koreans have ever let their orchestra abroad.

Clarke, who opened the Euro 96 football championships at Wembley, claims that ending isolation is the best way for the West to build relations with the hardline state, which has a dismal record on human rights and is thought still to be holding up to 200,000 political prisoners, and has presided over millions of deaths from famine and economic mismanagement. However, she argued that isolation was not the answer. The idea of a British tour came to her as she watched the orchestra perform during the annual Friendship Festival this year.

As befits the tough standards set by the dictatorship, the musicians displayed the same discipline and technical prowess demonstrated by the thousands of dancers who take part every year in the synchronised gymnastic games marking Kim Jong Il’s birthday. “They played a cheeky medley of tunes – Shostakovich, Mozart, as well as some of their own repertoire. It was powerful, passionate, but funny as well, and I thought, ‘Gosh, British audiences would love this’,” she said.

She is seeking sponsors and dealing with the considerable logistical challenge of arranging transport and accommodation for 120 North Koreans and their chaperones during their visit. “I wake up from mini-nightmares of losing a North Korean on the Tube,” she said.

Supporters include Lord Alton of Liverpool, chairman of the British-North Korean All Party Parliamentary Group and official patron of the project, and David Heather, a British financier who curated Britain’s first exhibition of North Korean art in Pall Mall, this year.

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Posted in Civil society, International trade, Music, Tourism, United Kingdom | 1 Comment »

Unemployment Grows as DPRK Businesses Reject Hiring Regulations

October 23rd, 2007

Institute for Far Eastern Studies
NK Brief No. 07-10-23-1
10/23/2007

DPRK authorities are quick to stress that not one single unemployed worker can be found in Socialist North Korea. The truth is, however, unemployment has existed in the past, and now out-of-work laborers are taking on a new form.

With the exception of a small minority of North Koreans, most citizens are assigned professions and dispatched to their place of employment by DPRK authorities with no regard to personal aptitude or skills. This has led to the refusal of some to take assignments in mines, shipyards, and other undesirable factories, creating a group of ‘non-workers’.

However, today’s unemployed are different from the unemployed found in the 1980s and 90s. In the past, these workers refused positions at undesirable factories. In the late 1990s, with the cessation of food rations and lack of job positions, a good number of factories and businesses shut down operations, leading to an increase in unemployment. Now, it is the mines, companies, and yards that are refusing to take on new workers.

Currently, North Korean authorities are tasking managers of organizations and companies with the responsibility of feeding employees. Anyone with the skills and the money can become a manager. Authorities assess whether someone can provide wages and rations for employees, and if so, will put them in charge. However, the order that “Managers not able to carry out the task of feeding [employees] will be released or demoted” has been passed down, putting a considerable burden on executives and managers. As they are now responsible for both the wages and the rations of their employees, these managers are not looking to take on new workers. This is problematic for those dismissed from military service with little or no trade skill, and for those receiving only a middle-school education, especially women. These citizens are turning to trade to provide a living.

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Posted in Civil society, Institute for Far Eastern Studies, Labor conditions/wages, Light Industry, Manufacturing, Political economy | Comments Closed

Ministry streamlines investing in North

October 23rd, 2007

Joong Ang Daily
10/23/2007

Regulatory filing requirements to invest in North Korea will be eased, and the Export-Import Bank of Korea will manage information on investment activities in the North, according to a Ministry of Finance and Economy release yesterday.

For an amount below $300,000, an investor will no longer need to hand in an annual financial report to the bank handling the company’s foreign exchange deals for investments in the North.

For an amount below $1 million, an investor will only need to report briefly.

The bank dealing with foreign exchange transactions will need to report the investor’s financial information to the Export-Import Bank of Korea instead of the Ministry of Unification and the Finance Ministry.

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Posted in Banking, Export-Import Bank of Korea, Finance, Fiscal & monetary policy, Foreign direct investment, RoK Ministry of Unification, South Korea, Special Economic Zones (Established before 2013) | Comments Closed

Kaesong factory-apartment opens new horizons for inter-Korean cooperation

October 23rd, 2007

Yonhap
Lee Joon-seung
10/23/2007

A newly opened factory-apartment at the Kaesong Industrial Complex promises fresh possibilities for inter-Korean business cooperation, the developer of the facility said Tuesday.

The state-run Korea Industrial Complex Corp. (KICOX) said the dual-purpose manufacturing and residential facility is specifically designed for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) that are currently being phased out of South Korea due to the lack of workers and high labor costs.

At the formal opening ceremony of the factory-apartment, KICOX President Kim Chil-doo said, “The new facility provides an ideal business model for South Korea’s labor-intensive SMEs trying to stay afloat, and is an ideal means to start off business in North Korea.” About 300 people from South Korea were present at Tuesday’s opening in Kaesong, including lawmakers and Vice Industry Minister Oh Young-ho.

The 32 companies that will use the new facility are generally small clothing companies that were at the critical juncture of deciding whether to move to China and Southeast Asian countries, or close their businesses altogether. The factory-apartment provides an alternative means to continue making goods and is beneficial to all sides, the developer said.

By moving to Kaesong, the companies can stay in business by hiring workers for about US$60 a month, while 2,700 North Korean workers benefit from new jobs. In addition, the dual arrangement permits cheaper operating costs, a better working environment and allows companies to cooperate with each other for logistics support, said the developer.

The corporation, which runs 11 similar factory-apartments in South Korea, said the five-story building covers 27,880 square meters and was built in 14 months at the expense of 21.1 billion won (US$22.8 million). It is equipped with a storage area, a training center, a product display room, two dining halls, a store and fitness center. The new building is equipped with 71 dormitories for South Korean workers and various support staff.

The monthly rent in the factory-apartments is 4,500 won (US$4.9) per square meter, and there are six different floor arrangements available, ranging from 396 to 1983 square meters.

KICOX said that based on the projected success of the first factory-apartment, up to seven more will be built in Kaesong by 2010. It said 19,489 square meters of land were reserved in May 2007 for the project.

A second factory-apartment is being built the Kaesong Industrial District Management Committee (KIDMAC), and is scheduled for completion by late 2008.

Companies that have moved into the new factory-apartment, meanwhile, said they are satisfied with the proficiency of workers and cheap labor costs.

Ok Sung-seok, president of Nine Mode Co. and chairman of the corporate management committee at the KICOX factory, said Kaesong plants cost a third less to operate than similar plants in China. He added that his shirt-making company should turn a profit by next year.

“I ran a factory in Qingtao, China for four years, but the operating cost there is skyrocketing,” the businessman said. He said Nine Mode closed its Chinese factory and plans to downsize its operations in Seoul so it can concentrate on its efforts in Kaesong.

Ok said that depending on the type of business and size, four or five factories in the factory-apartments should turn a profit by the end of the year.

The Kaesong complex lies 60 kilometers northeast of Seoul, and is hailed as the crowning achievement of the historic 2000 inter-Korean summit. It has played a key role in expanding two-way economic exchange that stood at just $300 million in 1999 to $1.35 billion last year.

Construction of the industrial district began in June 2003, with 3.3 square kilometers of factory land have been built to house up to 450 firms. By 2012, 11.6 square kilometers of industrial park is to be laid down that can hold several thousand South Korean factories and hire over 200,000 North Korean workers.

There are at present about 13,000 North Korean workers employed by 57 South Korean firms in Kaesong that have churned out garments, watches, kitchen utensils, auto parts and other labor-intensive goods since 2004.

The complex just north of the demilitarized zone that separates the two Koreas has been in the spotlight after the second inter-Korean summit. South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun and North Korean leader Kim Jong-il agreed to build a region of peace and prosperity centered around Kaesong and the North Korean city of Haeju, 75 kilometers west of Kaesong.

“People at Kaesong expect progress to be made in such areas as communications and travel, which had previously been an obstacle to the development of the industrial district,” said a KIDMAC official. The prime ministers of the two sides are to meet in November to implement follow-up measures to the summit.

There is only one telephone line linking Kaesong with Seoul, while no mobile phones are allowed in the area. People and materials are also prevented from moving in and out of the complex.

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Posted in Communications, Kaesong Industrial Complex (KIC), Korea Industrial Complex Corp. (KICOX), Labor conditions/wages, Manufacturing, Special Economic Zones (Established before 2013), Telephones | Comments Closed

South Korea’s Average Life Span 78 years – North Korea’s 64…a 14-year Difference

October 23rd, 2007

Daily NK
Namgung Min
10/23/2007

North Korean civilians’ average life span was disclosed to be approximately 14-years lower than the average life span in South Korea.

The Ministry of Health and Welfare said through inspection documents of the administration on “North Korea’s Health and Medical Situation,” which was recently submitted to the National Assembly.

According to this document, the North Korean civilians’ average life span is 61.4 years for males and 67.3 for females, an average of 64.3 years. For South Korea, the average is 78.1 years, with 74.4 for males and 81.8 for females.

The significant difference in average life span for North and South Korea reflects the fact that the severely worsened medical environment in North Korea.

According to the document, North Korean teenage boys’ smoking rate is supposed to be at an extremely alarming level. In the case of 16-year old males, the smoking rate is around 59.9%. This exceeds by 20.7% the smoking rate of South Korea high school students, provided by the Korean Association of Smoking and Health.

Cigarettes in North Korea, in contrast to South Korean cigarettes, contain a very high level of tar and nicotine content as well as higher toxicity, due to the fact that cigarettes lack filters or are hand-made.

One defector said, “In North Korea, even very young children smoke cigarettes without reservation and easily come in contact with them because they do not have much else to do.”

The document also revealed that 32~40% of North Korea’s 20~34 year olds show signs of malnutrition and approximately 34~36% of them are anemic patients.

These results can be attributed to North Korea’s continuous food shortage situation; disease rates due to malnutrition and anemic are high.

North Korea’s birth rate is 1.94, higher than South Korea’s 1.19. However, the infant mortality rate, between `99~`02, was 23.5 per 1,000 persons, but conversely, the `06 mortality rate was 42 persons, 14 times higher than South Korea’s (at 3 persons).
The health span (a period without sickness or handicap) is 52.3 years old (based on 2000 data), a significant decrease from South Korea’s 67.8 years (in 2005).

The reason why North Korea’s health and medical situation is so tenuous as shown above is due to the lack of the state’s investment in this area. The actual situation is that there is an unmistakable gap between North Korea’s single dollar payment for a person’s health and medical fee and South Korea’s $625.

Further, in North Korea, it is extremely difficult to obtain basic medical goods, such as cold medicine or antibiotics.

One defector who escaped in 2005 said, “In North Korea, even if one wants to go to the hospital, he or she cannot receive treatment without any money and there is not even a full equipment of medicine. It is much easier to buy medicine in the jangmadang than in a hospital, because there is more variety and it is more easily obtainable. Only, the price of medicine, compared to other products, transcends the imagination.”

The Ministry of Health and Welfare plans to invest 294 million won (approx. USD316,120) to modernize the People’s Hospital in Gosung and Songdo in Kaesung next year, besides continuing medical support for North Korea.

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Posted in Agriculture, Civil society, Disease prevention, Health care, Pediatrics, Tobacco | Comments Closed

Pyongyang No. 1 Senior-middle School, the Best Elite Training Institute in North Korea

October 22nd, 2007

Daily NK
Yoon Il Geun
10/22/2007

As part of special education policy for the talented, North Korean government established in 1984 Pyongyang No. 1 Senior-middle School, whose education course corresponds to the national curriculum for high schools in South Korea. By 1985, the North Korean regime had finished establishing No.1 Senior-middle School at every seat of provincial government and started a full-scale special education for the gifted.

The competition for No. 1 Senior-middle School is fierce because only those graduates from these schools can get into universities. The No. 1 Senior-middle School is different from the ordinary schools in terms of teaching materials and the quality of teachers. However, there is a huge difference even among No.1 Senior-middle Schools. The best one is Pyongyang No.1 Senior-middle School.

Located in the Shinwon-dong of Bontongkang-district, Pyongyang, Pyongyang No. 1 Senior-middle School has a total floor space of 28,000 square meters, a four-story building for primary school, a ten-story building for Senior-middle school, dormitories, cafeteria, and other accessory buildings. It is surely the best school in North Korea.

The entrance quota is approximately one thousand students with around 300 selected from the countryside. The dorms for these students from provinces have better facilities than the dorms of Kim Il Sung University have.

The predecessor of the present Pyongyang No. 1 Senior-middle School was “Pyongyang Namsan Advanced Middle School,” that Kim Joing Il attended between 1957 and 1960. In those days, the school only received as its students the children of army general, anti-Japanese fighters, the cadres of the central party, cabinet members, and renowned artists or intellectuals. It was “the school for the nobility.”

As part of Kim Jong Il’s policy for special education, the school changed its name into Pyongyang No.1 Senior-middle School. The latter now boasts about having best education and experimental facilities, and prominent teachers. The school buildings which were constructed at a cost of 5.8 million U.S. dollars are very modern. All facilities were imported from Japan including desks and chairs, interior decorations, laboratory tools, reagents, musical instruments, and sports equipment

Also called as Kim Jong Il’s alma mater, the school has a pool of teachers, most of whom are graduates from Kim Il Song National University, Kimchaek University of Technology, and Kim Hyong Jik College of Education. It also has twenty (or so) up-to-date laboratories, an excellent specimen room, and the scanning electron microscope, one which is not available even in Kim Il Sung University.

At the 10-story and its accessory building, there is the “Kim Jong Il Memorial Hall,” which exhibits materials from Kim Jong Il’s school days, and is used for idolization education of Kim Jong Il. Moreover, the school has an auditorium with the sitting capacity of 500 persons, libraries, gyms, swimming pools, dispensaries and a barbershop.

Inside the 10-story building are the principal’s office, the room for party secretaries, teachers’ rooms, classrooms, laboratories, audio-video classroom for foreign language studies, “Kim Il Sung Revolutionary History Study” room, modern computer labs, and a studio fully equipped with Japanese electronic musical instruments.

Those students originally from Pyongyang are mostly the children of the central Party or central ministry members, anti-Japan fighters, army generals, and rich Pyongyang citizens including some Korean-Japanese. Unlike the children of the upper classes, students from the countryside are selected not based on family background but talents. Most of these students are transfer students from provincial Senior-middle Schools. Therefore, there is a stark contrast between less qualified students from affluent Pyongyang families and highly talented transfer students from not–so- rich families.

The students from provinces display real talents.

In fact, it is these transfer students from provincial No.1 Senior-middle School who really raise the prestige of Pyongyang No.1 Senior-middle School. For the most time, it is them who won awards at the International Math Olympic or computer tournament, or achieve academic success later in college.

Apparently, Pyongyang No.1 Senior-middle School serves two purposes. It is both an aristocratic school for the upper-class children and a special school which offers education for the gifted and produces the most brilliant men in North Korea.

As the most elite school, Pyongyang No. 1 Senior-middle School values not only science and technology education but also art and physical education. This is what makes Pyongyang No.1 Senior-middle School different from other provincial No.1 senior-middle Schools. The physical education program emphasizes activities such as basketball, swimming, and apparatus gymnastics (horizontal bar, parallel bars), and offers lessons of boxing, soccer, and table-tennis. It is mandatory to make swimming lesson two times per week. In addition, the music education program offers classes such as singing and composition course, and electronic piano lessons. There are also music bands in the school.

As a result of the broad-based curricula of Pyongyang No.1 Senior-middle School, the graduates of this school are taller on the average than their counterparts from No.1 provincial Senior-middle Schools, and display better performance at physical and music education. The self-confident students of Pyongyang No.1 Senior-middle School are also good at dating.

On the streets in Pyongyang, people can easily spot schoolboys with school badge of Pyongyang No.1 Senior-middle School flirting with school girls from No.1 or No.2 Geumsung School Special Art Schools.

Thanks to Kim Jong Il’s favoritism, Pyongyang No.1 Senior-middle School enjoys many kinds of privileges. In 1997, the students received exemption from military service. Furthermore, they have great advantage over the students of No.1 provincial Senior-middle Schools in obtaining the nomination letter needed to get into top universities,

When it comes to entering into Kim Il Sung University, each No. 1 provincial Senior-middle School is allowed to write about 5~9 nomination letter whereas Pyongyang No.1 Senior-middle School can write about 80~90. Similarly, the provincial schools can write no more than 1~2 nomination letters for Pyongyang Medical School whereas Pyongyang No.1 Senior-middle School can write 20~30 nomination letter. Almost all students who graduated from Pyongyang No.1 Senior-middle School go to top universities. Those graduates who were poor at school performance go to Pyongsung College of Science.

The graduates from Pyongyang No.1 Senior-middle School also enjoy special treatment in their universities. They are more likely to be selected as student leaders and to receive attention from professors. As Kim Jong Il’s alma mater, Pyongyang Senior-middle School No.1 draws national attention and support. It is surely the best elite school in North Korea.

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Privileged Pyongyang Citizens No Longer Enjoy Privileges in the Market.

October 22nd, 2007

Daily NK
Lee Sung Jin
10/22/2007
(Click on image for original size)

dprkmarketprices.jpgAccording to DailyNK’s research on prices in North Korea conducted in late September, the prices in Pyongyang are similar to the prices in other parts of the country. The finding shows that Jangmadang (markets) economy has been going through integration and similar distribution process across North Korea.

In the past, domestic commodities were sold cheap, and foreign products were sold expensive in Pyongyang.

DailyNK has been conducting quarterly research on prices in the central such as Pyongan Province and Hamkyung Province and northern areas.

This time the research result shows that the price of rice in a Jangmadang in Pyongyang is 1,350 won/kg, which is similar to the price of rice in Sinuiju, 1,400won/kg. In North Korea, the rice price serves as a gauge for price trends.

In Pyongyang, the exchange rate is about 330 thousands won to 100 dollars, which is the same as the exchange rate in other places. The most famous imported cigarettes, Cat (Craven A) is sold at the same cost of 1,500 won in Pyongyang and other areas.

Subsidiary food is more expensive in Pyongyang. The price of cabbage is 400 won/kg, 50 won/kg higher than cabbage price in Sinuiju. The price of pork ranges from 3,500 to 4,000/kg, 500~1,000 won/kg higher than the pork price in other areas.

The prices of seafood such as brown and green seaweed, and dried Pollack are cheaper in Pyongyang. Seafood caught in Kangwon Province and neighboring areas is transported to markets in Pyongyang in refrigerator car. Since the demand is high, seafood is sold in great quantities, and the price remains low in general.

Movie ticket prices range from 200 to 400 won. Telephone service is charged five won per minute. Overall, the price range for each commodity is high, and many different kinds of goods are available in Jangmadang.

Imported items from China such as socks, sports shoes, or underwear are expensive being sold at a cost of 1,000 won in Pyongyang. That is because there are extra shipping rates and labor costs imposed on Chinese goods transported to Pyongyang. On the contrary, in Sinuiju, imported goods from China are circulated on the market right away.

Often, retail prices are higher in Pyongyang because of high levels of consumption among Pyongyang citizens. However, cigarettes or liquor produced in Pyongyang, or clothes from South Korea circulated to other areas via Pyongyang are sold cheap in Pyongyang.

However, in these days the differences in regional price levels have almost disappeared.

A defector from Pyongyang, Ahn Chul Min (a pseudonym) who came to South Korea in 2006 said, “Prior to 2002, there were individuals who hung around from place to place and made money on price differences. But nowadays, the retail prices are almost uniform across the country because people just use a telephone and find out where to get items they want at what prices.

“Since there is no big difference in retail prices, retailers are not doing well in business,” Ahn added, “Instead, individuals driving a truck and selling goods wholesale are making good money.”

Ahn said, “Not everyone who lives in Pyongyang is well-to-do. Despite of their locations whether in Pyongyang or Chongjin, all markets have goods from South Korea and China. The poor people even if they live in Pyongyang should buy cheap and low quality of products from China. In contrast, those who live in Chongjin and have money can buy goods from South Korea anytime.”


Market Prices Consistent Throughout DPRK
Institute for Far Eastern Studies (IFES)
NK Brief No. 07-10-25-1
10/25/2007

The results of a survey conducted by Daily NK on the price of goods in Pyongyang at the end of September show that prices in the capital were similar to those in rural areas. This is an indication that markets throughout the country are integrated, and evidence that goods can be circulated from region to region.

In the past, the price of domestic goods in Pyongyang was relatively cheep, while imported goods were sold at high prices. During that time, Daily NK carried out local price surveys in central regions such as Pyongan and Hamkyung provinces, as well as in northern areas. According to this latest survey in Pyongyang, the cost of one Kg of rice, the standard measure of the cost of goods in North Korea, was 1,350 won, similar to the 1,400 won price in Sinuiju, and the 1,250 won cost in Hyeryung. An exchange rate of 3,300 won per USD is also in line with rural exchange rates, as is the 1,500 won price tag on a pack of Craven A cigarettes, the most favored imported cigarette in North Korea.

Non-essential food goods are more expensive in Pyongyang than in outlying areas, with one Kg of lettuce selling for 400 won, 50 won more than in Sinuiju. Also, pork in the capital runs between 3,500 and 4,000 won per Kg, which is 500 to 1,000 won more than it would cost elsewhere in the country.

On the other hand, seaweed, dried Pollack, and other marine products are cheaper in Pyongyang than elsewhere. Ocean harvests from Kangwon and neighboring provinces are brought to Pyongyang markets by way of refrigerated trucks. Because of high demand, a variety of goods get delivered, yet overall, prices are held fairly low.

Overall, the price range on a particular ware was very wide, indicating that there was a variety of products available in the markets. The survey found that goods such as undergarments, socks, sneakers imported from China were selling for the high cost of 1,000 won each. In Sinuiju and other northern areas, goods from China are brought directly to markets, but by the time these same goods reach Pyongyang, additional labor and transportation costs force prices up. Pyongyang residents typically have more money to spend than those in rural areas, also leading vendors to raise prices on some goods, however cigarettes and alcohol produced in Pyongyang and distributed to rural areas, as well as South Korean goods which reach DPRK markets by way of Pyongyang, are slightly less expensive in the capital.

Recently, regional price differences have nearly disappeared. Prior to 2002, some traders earned their living traveling from region to region exploiting price differences. However, now with one simple phone call, North Koreans can find out where and for what price goods are being sold, leading the majority of retail prices to be similar throughout the country.

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Posted in 2002 Economic reforms, Agriculture, Black markets, Economic reform, Film, Finance, Fiscal & monetary policy, General markets (FMR: Farmers Market), Light Industry, Manufacturing, Price liberalization, Telephones, Uncategorized | Comments Closed

D.P.R. Korea Export and Import 2007

October 22nd, 2007

book.jpgD.P.R. Korea Export and Import 2007
Price JPY39,900.-(tax included)
Date of issue October  2007
Size B5/Page 514
Publisher WTS
ISBN Code ISBN978-4-9903339-2-8-C3033

This book summarizes foreign trade statistics in fiscal year 2006 of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK).  Since DPRK does not publish the trade statistics, it is not even certain whether or not statistical data on trade are systematically collected.  Therefore, WTS drew up this book by investigating foreign trade with DPRK, based on customhouse statistics of 190 or so countries (and regions) which are trade partners of DPRK.

The statistical format applied in this book was created, based on the HS code (the commodity classification list based on “International Convention on the Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System”) which is the international standard.
Amounts in various currency units were all converted into the U.S. dollar on the basis of the annual total.

We would be delighted if this book could serve as reference for concerned parties.

Contents of “D.P.R.Korea Export and Import 2007”
1. Overview
2. Statistics by country
3. Statistics by product group
4. Statistics by country and product group (20 high rank countries = China, South Korea, India, Thailand, Yemen, Russia, Brazil, Qatar, Japan, South Africa, Singapore, Mexico, Greece, Germany, Hong Kong, Netherland, Chile, Taiwan, Peru, Paraguay)
5. Topics:
1) Oil import
2) Export of gold and silver
3) Export of rare metals
4) Export of other subterranean resources
5) Import of luxury items
6) Export of apparels
7) Export of fishery products
8) Data on imports to DPRK after the nuclear test
9) Partial confusion of the statistics of DPRK with those of South Korea
6. Statistics by product group and country (HS6ST)- EXPORT 3,161 all articles
7. Statistics by product group and country (HS6ST)- IMPORT 4,294 all articles

Information provided by:
Miyagawa Jun
Korea Specialty Bookstore, Rainbow Trading Co.
TomodaSanwaBldg. 2F, 1-37,
KandaJinbocho1-37, Chiyoda-ku,
Tokyo101-0051 Japan
tel/ fax +81-3-5283-6100,
[email protected]

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Posted in International trade, Singapore, Statistics, Trade Statistics | Comments Closed

The Education Craze in North Korea

October 21st, 2007

Daily NK
Yoon Il Geun
10/21/2007

Since the 10th, registration for new students at the Foreign Language High School, International High School, and other special-purpose high schools in Gyeonggi Province started for the 2008 school year. According to the Gyeonggi Department of Education, over 19,000 students out of 156,000 students sat for the examination for special high schools displaying the fervor for special-purpose high schools.

“Special-purpose high schools” also exist in North Korea and the efforts by parents to send their children to these schools are highly cut-throat.

North Korea has free education system, but it is not an exaggeration to say that Senior-middle school education (equivalent to high schools in South Korea) is an elite education for a minority of students entering “special-purpose high schools.”

North Korea’s compulsory education system, in contrast with South Korea, is an 11-year required education system, which consists of 1 year of pre-school, 4 years of elementary school, and 6 years of Senior-middle school.

North Korea’s special-purpose Senior-middle schools exist in the form of No. 1 Senior-middle Schools. foreign language schools and art schools in each site, including Pyongyang. The most-representative special-purpose high school is the No. 1 Senior-middle School, equivalent to South Korea’s Science High School.

Only graduates from the No. 1 Senior-middle School can go onto college

“Pyongyang No. 1 Senior-middle School,” “Shinuiju No. 1 Senior-middle School,” and other schools with the name “No. 1 Senior-middle School” are a type of advanced schools for gathering and educating prodigies.

After Pyongyang No. 1 Senior-middle School was established in 1984 until 1985, such schools were built in each city under the direct control of the central government. 20-some schools were in operation and starting in 1999, up to 200 schools were set up in districts and counties across the country.

Afterwards, with reactions such as increased competitiveness and demand for the expansion of university quotas for No. 1 Senior-middle Schools, the number of schools was reduced again and presently, only one is left per city. In Pyongyang, there are “Pyongyang No. 1 Senior-middle School,” a mid-level school for advanced students, and three other special schools–“East Pyongyang No. 1 Senior-middle School,” “Changduk Senior-middle School,” and “Moranbong No. 1 Senior-middle School.” The children of the Party leaders can enter these schools regardless of their grades. In North Korea, granting special privileges for children of leaders is a normal occurrence.

In the provinces, elementary school graduates whose grades excel and have a talent in language and sciences are selected for Korean, mathematics, and natural science subject tests. Only by passing all preparatory exams in each region (per district) and formal exams administered by schools can one enter a No. 1 Senior-middle school.

In No. 1 Senior-middle schools, textbooks which differ from average Senior-middle schools are used and education conditions next to college, such as dormitories and modern laboratories are offered. Further, top teachers, degree holders for example, are stationed by priority.

Reputable colleges all filled with No. 1 Senior-middle school graduates

Graduates from No. 1 senior-middle schools go onto Kim Il Sung University, Kim Chaek University of Technology, Pyongyang Medical College, and medical schools, science schools, and top universities in each city. In college, they are educated in advanced classes separately formed for them.

When the all-civilian public service (military service duty system) was implemented in 2000, the effort of parents trying to send their children to No. 1 middle schools doubled. In the North, only graduates from No. 1 middle schools can immediately progress to college and the rest have to wait until the completion of their military duty.

Graduates from other middle schools have to go to the army, construction sites, or the field. Besides No 1. middle schools, college entrance quotas, with the exception of a few, are not even issued for average middle schools.

Moreover, among special-purpose middle schools in North Korea is a foreign language school equivalent to the Foreign Language High School in South Korea. Here, English, Russian, Chinese, Japanese and other foreign language are exclusively taught. Entrance exams for the language school are just as competitive to entrance exams for No. 1 middle schools. The foreign school also selects distinguished students among graduates of elementary schools.

Foreign language school graduates enter Kim Il Sung University’s Foreign Language and Culture Department, Pyongyang Foreign Language University, Kim Hyong Jik College of Education, Pyongyang Commerce School, Yalu River University (the foreign language university within the army), and foreign language and literature departments of master schools in each city. However, the volume of students moving onto college from foreign schools is smaller than No. 1 middle schools School graduates.

In North Korea’s special-purpose senior-middle schools there are also arts schools. In Pyongyang, there are “Geumsung No. 1 and No. 2 Senior-middle School” and arts schools in each city. Graduates of arts schools can advance onto Pyongyang Music and Dance College, Pyongyang Film and Theater School, etc. or can join performing arts groups or a military unit.

Recently in North Korea, the phenomenon of receiving special tutoring from talented teachers, who were monthly compensated with rice and money, increased in order to aid admission into special-purpose high schools.

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