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S. Korean first lady meets N. Korean female leaders, not her counterpart

Tuesday, October 2nd, 2007

Yonhap
10/2/2007

South Korean First Lady Kwon Yang-suk might have found herself in a rather awkward position on the first day of the inter-Korean summit due to the absence of her official counterpart.

The North’s reclusive leader, Kim Jong-il, showed up at Pyongyang Square by himself to greet President Roh Moo-hyun and Kwon, disappointing South Korean and Western media, which expected to get a glimpse of Kim’s current spouse and successor of the world’s only communist dynasty.

There is no clear information available on Kim’s marital history, but he is said to have lived with a total of four women: Kim Young-suk, Song Hye-rim, Ko Young-hee, and Kim Ok.

Song is the mother of Kim’s oldest son, Jong-nam, while Ko is the mother of Jong-chul and Jong-un. One of Kim’s three children is widely expected to replace him as the ruler of the tightly-controlled regime.

Kim has never been accompanied by his wife at a diplomatic occasion, including the first-ever inter-Korean summit in 2000.

Instead of meeting with the North Korean first lady, the visiting South Korean first lady spent Tuesday afternoon meeting with several leaders in North Korean women’s circles.

Posted in Civil society, Dating/Courting, Political economy | Comments Closed

Control of North Korean Civilian Migration Begins for the Summit

Friday, September 28th, 2007

Daily NK
Kwon Jeong Hyun
9/28/2007

With the 2nd Inter-Korea Summit Talks coming up in five days in Pyongyang, the North Korean authorities have officially begun regulations of civilian migrations.

An inside source in North Korea said in a phone conversation on the 27th, “Control of civilians have become significantly toughened due to events of national importance, so the top (government) has completely limited travel permit approval numbers of average civilians to Pyongyang and the border regions.”

People’s Units’ chairs are in the midst of temporarily working on a reporting system which analyzes the data of civilian migrations and daily reports them to the security office.

North Korea still requires travel permits for moves to other regions from the place of residence. The inspection of permits becomes even more difficult when public transportation such as rails are used.

In particular, entry into Pyongyang, Yongbyun (nuclear power plants), Hwadaegun (Musoodan rocket launching site), and the northern border unit requires special travel permissions that are different from normal permits. For these special regions, an approval number, which signifies “special business,” is needed.

After the March of Tribulation, incidents of the Safety Agents issuing travel permits after receiving bribes were rampant, but recently, the regulation of such permits and travel restrictions on special regions have become more stringent. Restrictions on the issue of travel permits have significantly increased since the Local People’s Assembly representative elections on July 29th.

The source said, “After Chuseok (fall holiday), the order restricting the issue of all border and Pyongyang-related permits was announced at the People’s Unit meeting. With the Summit talks several days ahead, meetings of key leaders have all been cancelled and all entry and exit prohibited.”

Further, he said, “The northern border region or other controlled areas are not exceptions. Money will not do anything when trying to attain travel permits. Due to the fact that the issue of permits, with the exception of deceased reports, has been completely disallowed in surrounding cities of Pyongyang, such as Pyongsung or Nampo, the discontents of merchants who are dependent on travelling are high.”

With restrictions on civilian migrations, the price of commodities at the Jangmadang (market) has also been raised. Chinese products have to be brought back from the North Korean-Chinese border region, but because travel permits have not been issued, the transport of goods is difficult.

For industrial products, if the border region lowers the price, then prices go up in inland regions such as Kangwong, South and North Hamkyung, etc., because Chinese products coming in from border cities Shinuiju and Hyesan, Yangkang are not able to move inland. The inland is the opposite. However, the amount of rice coming in from inland regions is high, so their prices end up hiking up.”

However, the source said, “This time, the management will probably end at one-time inspection because the South Korean President is visiting. The jangmadang price levels will not skyrocket.”

Regulations regarding private visits of Chinese through Chinese travel agencies have not occurred yet.

It appears that the North Korean authorities, in order to prevent accidents and events which could happen around the Summit talk period, have strengthened preventative means.

One source who is residing in Musan, North Hamkyung, said, “In order to ensure the success of national events, lectures for leaders, with the content of hindering behind-the-scenes maneuvering of enemies and accidents and events on a timely basis, are taking place. Strict disciplinary actions for those who divulge national secrets and illegal use of cell phone are being emphasized.”

The source relayed, “Border guards are telling smugglers, ‘Wait just a few more days. After the national event (the Summit Talks), regulations will be relaxed. The situation nowadays is that smuggling is self-restrained.”

Posted in Automobiles, China, Civil society, General markets (FMR: Farmers Market), International trade, Railways, Real estate, Transportation | Comments Closed

Samsung, LG Likely to Expand TV Business in North Korea

Friday, September 28th, 2007

Korea Times
Kim Yoo-chul
9/28/2007

Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics are considering expanding investment in the TV business in North Korea, according to company sources Friday.

Such expectations came after the government confirmed that Samsung Group Vice Chairman Yoon Jong-yong and LG Group Chairman Koo Bon-moo will join President Roh Moo-hyun’s entourage for the inter-Korean summit on Oct. 2-4.

Expectations have arisen among business groups that the second inter-Korean summit will produce substantial results in creating more business opportunities in North Korea, though big firms responded less enthusiastically than they did seven years ago.

“As our vice chairman will go to North Korea, we will start reviewing the North Korean business,’’ a Samsung spokesman told The Korea Times.

Asked about the possibility to expand production of cathode-ray TVs (CRT) in the North, the spokesman declined to elaborate.

But a source familiar with the situation raised the possibility of more production of CRTs.

Samsung began producing CRTs in the reclusive country on an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) basis since late 2000, the year then President Kim Dae-jung visited the North.

LG, which has produced between 15,000 and 20,000 CRTs in the communist state since 1996, is also considering expanding its TV business there in a long-term perspective.

“Nothing has been confirmed yet. But the issue is a possibility,’’ an LG spokesman said.

He said there will be more discussions after Chairman Koo returns from Pyongyang.

Posted in Foreign direct investment, Light Industry, Manufacturing, Television | Comments Closed

Do You Know the Shooting Game of North Korean Children?

Thursday, September 27th, 2007

Daily NK
Moon Sung Hwui
9/27/2007

What do North Korean children do during the Chuseok?

They are not sponsored with computers or theme parks so they enjoy things like a game of slap-match or hide-and-seek like South Korean children back in 70s or 80s. Through the starvation phase, the North Korean have invented a new form of play called “Ceremonial Game” and “Shooting Game.”

Kim Ha Yeon, a North Korean defector originally from Shinuiju, said that the play that is popular among the children even before the Chuseok is called “Ceremonial Game.” Even the North Korean civilians were surprised with the games of children mocking and playing out what the adults have done in such uncanny manner.

Kim said, “As the Chuseok approached, children went around the village, making a mound of sand like that of a tomb and imitated their parents’ bowing. They also imitate their adults sobbing next to their tombs.”

‘It got so bad that this problem was raised during the meetings of the People’s Unit and the parents were told to take better care and control of their children from playing amiss games.”

Ceremonial Play: Making Tombs and Sobbing

It is not uncertain when this play was initiated. However, the reason why this ceremonial play was invented cannot be linked to the action of directly linking this as the culture of visits to ancestral graves.

Kim said, “It is sad that the children are making a death-ceremony into a type of a game – after they watched citizens die of starvation in mid 1990s.”

The games that North Koreans play are not just the Ceremonial Play. They also made a game out of the public persecution called “Shooting Game” in 2000.

The story told by Cho Kyung Cheol (pseudonym), a North Korean defector from Hyesan, Yangkang is quite shocking.

“One day I was coming home from work and I saw a row of children lined up next to the garage of our apartment. I thought they were playing hide and seek or something. But in front of those kids, there were 3 kids holding sticks. I saw these children hold the sticks between their armpits and take a shot, and in the mouths of these children, they shouted, ‘bang bang bang’ and each and every one of the children would fall. I utter shock, I screamed, “You rascals!” and they ran like their tails were on fire.”

Massive Group Execution Popular Among the Children

“At the moment, the parents shouted and the passing by elders clicked their tongues. The adults were surprised- even though the situation was quite harsh it was to their disbelief that children would make a play out of execution. When he told his colleagues after he went to work the next day, his colleagues said that the execution game has been popular among children for a long time and laughed at him instead.”

According to the inside source residing in North Pyongan said through the text message with the reporter on 19th that, “Even the children play the shooting game. Because the gun shooting is so rampant, it just happens.”

The shooting game has begun to take its toll from 1998 to 2002 when the North Korean National Security Agency initiated nationwide group executions.

North Korea has always had public executions since its establishment but the executions have been a frequent occurrence since the March of Tribulation, the mid-1990s’ famine. Kim Jong Il initiated an official order of “Ring the Gunfire” on June 1995 and initiated the reign of terror through the usage of public execution.

However, the public execution that took place in 1998 to 2002 was different from that of just taking down 2-3 people at once by the Social Safety Agency. According ot the witnesses, the NSA lined up 10 or more people and shoot them.

Back then, the popular shooting game among the children was quite a shock to the elderly generation. This kind of play was notified internally to Pyongyang and was told, strictly, to stop this from reoccurring.

Through the meetings of People’s Unit, the indoctrination content included “a ban of unrealistic games among the children.” However, it is the general opinion and consensus of the North Koreans that this shooting game will not disappear in the condition where the public execution still continues and no other game culture develops for these children.

Posted in Civil society, Sports | Comments Closed

Oppressive regime’s ID cards pave path to liberty

Monday, September 24th, 2007

Joong Ang Daily
Jeon Jin-bae
9/22/2007

North Korean resident identification cards have become a hot item on the black market in China for ethnic Koreans who want to live in Europe.

Mr. Kim, an ethnic Korean man from China, moved to Paris last year and obtained a resident permit from the French government a few months ago allowing him to stay in the country for 10 years. He asked not to be identified by his full name, because he obtained his permit illegally.

His resident permit states that he is a North Korean refugee and identifies him as a North Korean citizen, not a Chinese national. Kim said he purchased a North Korean resident’s ID card and pretended to be a refugee from China when he sought asylum in France.

Kim said he is not alone. “At least 100 people have sought refugee status in the last year using the same means,” he said.

According to other ethnic Koreans in China, North Korean IDs were traded in cities near the China-North Korea border, such as Yanbian and Dandong. The prices range between 1,000 yuan and 1,500 yuan ($134 to $199), they said.

“As far as I know, there are many North Koreans who want to sell their IDs,” said an ethnic Korean who lives in China.

North Koreans who manage to escape to China are anxious to sell their IDs, because they are afraid of being captured, identified as North Korean and then send back to their homeland.

According to sources, ethnic Koreans who want to live in Europe prearrange their trips through middlemen who transport them through China’s Shenzhen Province to Hong Kong.

From there they fly to Thailand and meet with South Korean middlemen who provide fake South Korean passports.

Using these documents, the ethnic Koreans will often fly to Switzerland and then move to the country of their destination, often France or Italy, via overland routes.

Reaching Europe is seen as being more than half way to success, sources said, because the process of seeking refugee status is relatively simple.

In France, immigrants only have to submit an application along with a North Korean ID card to qualify. The French government then provides a temporary three-month residence permit, which is extended until a final decision is made.

Four months after applying for refugee status an interview will take place. A French official who speaks Korean will question the applicant, but most ethnic Koreans are well prepared to pass this simple screening, the sources said.

Europe is a popular destination because it only costs 10,000 euros for a Korean-Chinese to buy refugee status and various organizations often provide them with extra protection and assistance.

Posted in Black markets, China, Civil society, Emigration | 2 Comments »

Unintended Separation of Young Married Couples

Monday, September 24th, 2007

Daily NK
Yang Jung A
9/24/2007

Choi (25) from Hamheung, South Hamkyung Province, married with his fiancé last Spring. Wedding ceremony was accompanied by his neighbors, friends and relatives. Happy life afterwards seemed awaiting the newly wed couple.

All of sudden, serious problem emerged. As in South Korea, North Korean married man provides housing while married woman brings furniture and other basic goods. Rarely a newly wed couple lives with their parents.

However in these days, due to rising house prices, couples have hard time finding new homes. Even if they are fortunate enough to find one, sometimes police or local government officials intervene and confiscate houses for private sales of property, which is, in principle, still illegal in communist North Korea.

Confiscated houses are distributed to Army officers or discharged veterans. Choi’s house was forfeited, too. He went to the police office and protested, but police guards bluntly replied; “Then you can live with your parents.”

The Chois are now in debt to buy another house. And for a while, since there is no house to live together, the newly weds are residing in their parents’ houses separately.

Faulty construction in Yongcheon

Kim (female, 55) live with fear. Her little apartment in Yongcheon, North Pyongan Province, is so weak that it might crumble to ground someday.

She and her family lost home in 2004 Ryongchun station exploision. They had lived in tents for several months until local government finally told them a plan to build new houses for refugees. Delight soon turned to disappointment, however. The apartment was well built outside but faultily done so inside.

Rumors spread that new houses built after Ryongchun incident was so hastily constructed that vulnerable to sudden collapse. Materials were poor and construction phase was too quick. Some houses were not even equipped with proper electricity. Cracks emerged soon.

A neighbor of Kim told her that some party officials embezzled money and materials provided upon Ryongchun residents after the explosion.

For Kim who is living in anxiety, state and the Dear Leader are no more venerable.

Photo market in NK

Hwang (male, 20) from Chongjin, North Hamkyong Province, has father who is involved in Sino-Korean trade. Thanks to his rich dad, Hwang seldom goes to work and instead hangs out with friends. He owns a lot of foreign stuff, which attracts many friends.

His most precious is a Japanese digital camera. While walking down the street with the camera on his hand, every girl looks upon him with envies.

Even in Chongjin, there are an increasing number of people who bring digital cameras. Using digital camera grew fast since three to four years ago. And some people take and sell pictures of customers, 2000 NK won (less than a US dollar) per pic.

According to a friend in Hwoiryeong, it is sold five hundred won per picture taken from digital camera, taking five days.

Posted in Black markets, Civil society, Dating/Courting, Price liberalization, Real estate | Comments Closed

North Korean Citizens Are Differentiated into Six-Levels

Friday, September 21st, 2007

Daily NK
Lee Kwang Baek
9/21/2007

The expansion of Jangmadang’s private economy

Several years ago, I met a defector from North Korea and is currently residing in Japan. He frequently meets people coming and going from North Korea.

The change he relayed regarding North Korea was interesting and vivid. Although hundreds of people are not dying from starvation as in the past, transformation brought about by the expansion of the private economy, such as the Jangmadang (markets).

I asked him what the most significant change in North Korea was after the mass starvation of the mid-90s.

It was the reorganization of North Korean society’s class system. According to him, there are currently six levels of classes forming in North Korea.

First is the top privileged class based on Kim Jong Il. It is the class that feeds and lives on Kim Jong Il’s administrative funds, all kinds of support coming in from South Korea, and extractions from civilians.

The second is the power class engaging in the area of foreign currency earning activity. A portion of money gained from the foreign currency earning business is offered to the Kim Jong Il regime and the rest are accumulated as their own wealth.

The third is the “moneybag” class who has earned money from exchanges with the products from Jangmadang and China. They use “violence” and “money,” like the Russian mafia, to secure the commercial rights of each region via the Jangmadang.

The fourth is the class whose sustenance depends on provisions. It can be deduced that people in the middle-class take up approximately 20~30% of the civilian population.

The fifth is the common class who depend on Jangmadang and individual patches. Approximately 60% of the total population falls into this class. They live day to day on their labor power.

The lowest class is the elderly, the handicapped, Kotjebi (begging children), city migrants, and diseased patients.

The most outstanding class is the 5th class. They are a class who has started living independently without depending on the Kim Jong Il regime and counts as 60% of the population.

South Korean administration believes that there is a need to seek a North Korean policy while considering the size and characteristics of the lower class.

That is, direct support or loans to the North Korean government should be reduced and a direct commercial transaction with North Korean citizens should be increased. Gradually, Kim Jong Il regime’s political position should be weakened and the status of self-sufficient lower-class citizens have to be elevated. This can become an important foundation for North Korean society’s move towards a market economy.

The second eye-catching element is the most venerable people in the lower class. Approximately 10% of people who fall under this class are humanitarian aid recipients of our government and international society. The latter two have steadily continued their support to them.

Despite this, according to a recent North Korean source, a significant amount of people are suffering from malnutrition among those who have been admitted to hospitals, long term reeducation camps, and concentration camps for beggar children. Why are such events occurring?

The defector said that when the rice that the South Korean government sends arrives at the North Korean harbor, North Korean authorities or organizations immediately sell them for money.

Similar testimonies have come forth from North Korean civilians. Rice which is sold at the harbor can only be bought with foreign currency. People who can purchase rice by paying foreign currency are “moneybags” for a portion of bureaucrats who have accumulated wealth. Moneybags and corrupt officials hand over this rice to the Jangmadang and collect the enormous balance.

The humanitarian aid provided by the outside, before they are even relayed to the lowest class who should be receiving support, are flowing into the hands of moneybags and corrupt bureaucrats. If such defectors’ testimonies are true, the South Korean government’s humanitarian rice support has lost its original function.

The solution regarding this is two-fold. First is directly relaying medical products and rice to North Korea’s lowest class. Through civilian and organizational efforts, a humanitarian support team jointly based on South Korean civilians and government should be formed and they should initiate humanitarian aid activity by directly going into North Korea.

Further, a large-sized South Korean humanitarian support activity inspection team should observe the activities of the North Korean Red Cross and raise the transparency of distribution. If this is difficult, there is a need to simplify the window through the support of international society whose monitoring is much ahead of our government’s monitoring of formality.

The government should urgently restore the original capacity of humanitarian support in order to avoid falling into a policy of failure geared only towards a dictatorship regime.

Posted in Black markets, Civil society, Dating/Courting, Economic reform, Foreign direct investment, International Aid, International trade, Price liberalization, Private property, Songbun | Comments Closed

Class Divergence on the Rise as Market Economics Spred in DPRK

Friday, September 21st, 2007

Institute for Far East Studies (IFES)
NK Brief No. 07-9-21-1
9/21/2007

The recent growth in the private-sector economy in DPRK markets and other areas of society has brought with it some significant social changes worth noting. According to most defectors from the North, following the massive famine suffered in the mid 1990s, the biggest change to emerge in the DPRK was the reshuffling of the social class structure. In North Korean society, there are reportedly five identifiable social classes.

The first of these classes is the ruling class, made up of those elite surrounding Kim Jong Il. This class survives off of Kim Jong Il’s government funds, aid sent from South Korea, and from exploitation of the general public.

The second class is made up of business traders with access to foreign capital. A portion of money earned through foreign currency exchange businesses is turned over to the Kim Jong Il regime, while the rest can amassed in order to lead a relatively comfortable life.

The third class is made up of organized thugs who make their money through public trading and markets. These people control regional markets and local trading by using money and violence to employ extortion tactics much like the Russian mafia

The fourth class scrapes by on government rations. This mercantile class comprises an estimated 20~30 percent of the North’s overall population.

The fifth distinct class in North Korea is made up of commoners who support their way of life through farming private plots and selling goods in markets. An overwhelming majority of the population falls into this class; more than 60 percent of the people in North Korea live hand-to-mouth each day on the fruits of their own labor.

The remainder of the population falls beneath even these classes, because they either lack labor skills or are feeble elderly, handicapped, hospitalized, homeless, or wandering from city to city.

Posted in 1990s Famine, Arduous March, Black markets, Civil society, Economic reform, Foreign direct investment, Institute for Far Eastern Studies, Price liberalization, Private property | Comments Closed

Arirang mass games cancelled/resumed for 2007

Thursday, September 20th, 2007

The DPRK pulled a “Ross Perot” with the Arirang Mass Games this year.

After initially announcing that severe flooding would not interrupt the performance (as it had in 2006) the games were in fact cancelled because much of the population was mobilized for infrastructure repairs.

Well, I guess things are manageable again, at least in Pyongynag, because the Mass Games are back on. According to Koryo Tours:

September 6th IMPORTANT UPDATE: We have just been informed that the mass games, which were suspended due to the flooding, will be back on from September 17th. All tours going to DPRK between then and October 10th will be able to see the games.

UPDATE:
N. Korea to resume ‘Arirang’ mass gymnastic performance
Yonhap
9/23/2007

North Korea will resume its annual large-scale artistic performance that was suspended last month due to damages from heavy rain, the country’s official media reported Sunday.

“The Arirang Festival will continue … amid strong interest at home and abroad,” the North’s Korea Central Television Station reported.

The first part of this year’s show was held between mid-May and May 20, and ran every day except Sundays for about 80 minutes starting at 8 p.m. The second part, which was to run from Aug. 1 to mid-October, was suspended last last month due to flood recovery efforts by many North Koreans.

In the show, some 100,000 people perform synchronized acrobatics on the field while various images are displayed in the stands. From outside North Korea, the festival is largely considered a propaganda show.

Pyongyang is eager to show off the country’s unity and its tight control over its 23 million people to the outside world amid chronic economic hardships and the standoff over its nuclear weapons program.

The resumption was at least partially expected, as South Korean officials announced earlier this week that they are pushing for the leaders of the two Koreas, Roh Moo-hyun and Kim Jong-il, to sit side-by-side to watch the performance on Aug. 2, during South Korean President Roh’s scheduled visit to the North early next month.

Devastating floods are believed to have destroyed 11 percent of the North’s farmland, and the number of dead and missing is estimated to be more than 300, with the homeless numbering about 300,000. An estimated 46,580 homes of 88,400 families were destroyed or damaged, according to the North’s media.

This year’s performance carries special significance for North Korea, as it celebrates the 95th anniversary of the birth of its founding leader, Kim Il-sung, who died of heart failure in 1994. This year also marks the 62nd anniversary of Korea’s liberation from Japan’s colonial rule and the founding of the North’s ruling Workers’ Party.

Past Stories below:

(more…)

Posted in Automobiles, Civil society, Koryo Tours, Mass games, Sports, Tourism, Transportation | 1 Comment »

South Korean News on Broadcast in Pyongyang

Wednesday, September 19th, 2007

Daily NK
Kim Min Se
9/19/2007

It was reported that the North Korean high officials and Chinese emigrants have been using the satellite antennas in Pyongyang and major cities in North Korea to get access to South Korean TV.

Previously it has been reported that the high quality antenna (Yagi Antenna) smuggled from China was used to intercept the South Korean ground waves, which allowed them to listen and watch South Korean news and drama through Japanese televisions in secrecy in Kaesung and Pyongyang.

The “Yagi Antenna” is a VHF receiver which is intercepted for television. This type of antenna is utilized as a receiver for waves from South Korean soil which has high risk of being detected by outside and enforces its usage around nighttime.

However, recently the high officials in North Korea use satellite antennas in secrecy to watch South Korean news and drama. Due to the restriction, the number of people utilizing this satellite service is restricted.

Song Myung Hak (pseudonym), a Chinese trader who went to Pyongyang last month said, “I was surprised to get a request from a friend of mine who worked as a North Korean diplomat on his request to obtain the CD of ‘Ways to Meet a Perfect Neighbor’ (South Korean drama series broadcasted on SBS). He said that he is watching it via satellite but he wanted to recap the episodes he missed.”

Song stated that, “The former diplomat had the satellite dish in his veranda and his entire family was watching South Korean TV. With the expansion of the culture of viewing South Korean TV, Kim Jong Il issued a ban, which is making everyone a bit nervous.”

He said, “If they get caught watching South Korean TV, the family could suffer.” He also added, “Because he was a former diplomat, who was used to living overseas and the life abroad, it was difficult for him to resist the temptation of watching South Korean TV and foreign news. I’m sure it’s the same way for all people.”

Song stated that, “The satellite dish is imported through China to North Korea. The most recently produced satellite dish is quite small in size and China takes care of the maintenance so all they have to do in North Korea is connect it to the TV.”

Kang Myung Gil (pseudonym), a South Korean businessman selling regular satellite antenna and satellite broadcasting Skylife on commission in Dandong, China, explained over the phone that, “The normal satellite antenna (antenna and receiver) costs 600 Yuan (approx. USD86) in total, including the installation costs. We are also receiving the service of Koreasat Mugunghwa 2 which can be received from North Korea as well.”

Kang said that, “There is no technical difficulty in receiving South Korean TV if they are on an elevated apartment with spacious veranda heading the Southern direction. All of the 7-8 channels including KBS1, KBS2, SBS, MBC, EBS, China HAO TV and others can be directly received.”

Jin Hee Myung (pseudonym), an Chinese emigrant originally from Shinuiju, also installed satellite broadcasting service in her apartment. He said that even though overseas Chinese are also under surveillance, they do not receive as harsh of treatment by the North Korean authorities.

He added, “My wife loves to watch South Korean drama so much that I had to risk the consequences and install it. The satellite dish is so small that unless our house is searched thoroughly, there is no worry of being caught.”

In North Korea, if one is caught watching South Korean TV for a long time, they may be put into jail or receive harsh punishments. However, it is the experts’ general analysis that with the expansion of foreign cultures, it will be more difficult for North Korea to control this trend.

Posted in Black markets, Civil society, Communications, Radio, Television | Comments Closed

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