NK NEWS BRIEF | Dec 19, 2014

Clouds float over the peak of Mt. Paektu in North Korea’s Ryanggang province | AP Photo/David Guttenfelder

NK INTERNAL

• Daily NK: Residents paid respect to KIS and KJI statues early in the morning of the 3rd anniversary of KJI’s death. N Hamkyung Province source: “There has been no special measures in relation to commemorative events… We have been carrying out related studies, lectures, and visits to historical sites, but the focus has been more on getting results from local field guidance projects handed down to units by the Marshal rather than on mourning.”
• Daily NK: The total cost of flowers used in the mourning ceremony could amount to 10 billion KPW (cited as 1.2 M USD). N Hamkyung Province source: “For a family of five, the money [they are required to spend on] flowers would yield enough rice for them to enjoy a filling meal.”
• Daily NK: A few additions to NK’s national holidays include KJI’s first-day of work at the KWP, but still not KJU’s birthday. Source: “This is for him to stress his humility while attaching more importance to the previous generations [of the Kim dynasty]… Designating the Marshal’s birthday as an official holiday will come after its propagandized as stemming from the people’s unvarying support for it.”
• Yonhap: KCNA praised KJU’s purge of Jang Song-taek as one of his key achievements as a leader.

ECONOMY

• Daily NK: Sinuiju Customs House had planned to work through the 3rd anniversary without a mourning break. N Pyongan Province source: “On the 17th at the customs office, they’ll stand in front of Kim Jong Il’s portrait for a brief moment of commemorative contemplation, and then keep on with their work. Trade vehicles will continue to pour in from China regardless of any type of official call for mourning.”
• Xinhua: The largest shopping complex in PY did not close during the memorial week and even offered promotions in memory of KJI’s visit, which happened two days before his death. The Kwangbok shopping complex was funded by China’s Feihaimengxin Trade Company in 2009, and now sells an average of 2,000 bowls of cold noodles a day.

HUMAN RIGHTS

• AP: NK’s Ambassador wrote a letter to the UNSC to take up the CIA’s torture program instead of NK’s HR violations. KCNA reports also called out the EU for collaborating with the CIA.
• AP: The full UNGA formally approved resolutions criticizing the human rights situations in NK, Iran, and Syria. The resolution on NK was passed by 116 votes to 20, with 53 abstentions. A UNSC meeting on NK’s HR situation is expected next week. 

REFUGEES & BORDER SECURITY

• RFA: Authorities have intensified the crackdown on illegal mobile phones in the border area, shutting down domestic telecommunication towers to help them identify people using Chinese networks, and raiding households suspected of making illegal international calls. Yanggang Province source: “Agents of North Korea’s state security department go around by bicycle with cell phone detectors… It is hard to make calls in secret because of the intensified crackdown on illegal cell phones.”

• RFA: A refugee in Denmark was assaulted and threatened to return to NK by a group of NKoreans suspected to be NK govt agents.

INTERNATIONAL POLITICS & SECURITY

• INTER-KOREAN: NPAD Rep delivered a wreath at KIC to commemorate the 3rd anniversary of KJI’s death. NPAD Rep: “Vice chairman Won (of the NK Asia-Pacific Committee) said he hopes that the South and the North will promote reconciliation and cooperation next year, when they celebrate the 15th anniversary of the June 15 Declaration.”
• PGH: “The so-called pro-North Korea public forums have recently reached levels that raise concern over possible social conflict… It has become a problem because those who have visited North Korea have closed their eyes to the dire living conditions of the North Korean people and human rights violations. They have distorted and exaggerated their experiences and presented them as true.”
• AP: ROK constitutional court ordered the dissolution of the UPP (a SKorean left-wing party). The party was accused by MOJ of supporting the NKorean socialist system and threatening SK’s liberal democracy. Key UPP members were arrested last year for allegedly plotting a pro-NK rebellion in the case of an inter-Korean war.
• AP: The Christmas tower reconstruction near the border with NK was cancelled due to the residents’ strong opposition.
• CHINA: A fifth-rank CCP official attended the memorial service in the embassy in Beijing, along with NKorean citizens in the city. PY did not request a delegation from China to attend the memorial ceremony in NK.
• US: A USG official confirmed that NK was “centrally involved” in the cyber attack on Sony Pictures, however the White House spokesman declined to pinpoint NK as the culprit. The release of the movie ‘Interview’ has been cancelled in the fallout of a devastating cyber attack on Sony Pictures.

• USG’s Sung Kim: “Unfortunately, we haven’t seen any indication that the release of American citizens is changing North Korea’s attitudes or approach on the nuclear issue… On the important question of how we can resume serious negotiations toward denuclearization, so far they have indicated no interest in doing so.”
• Yonhap: US Congress passed a bill that requires the USG to issue a report on NK’s political prison camps, detailing the population and location of the camps, reasons for detainment, and US actions to support the recommendations of the UN COI.
• RUSSIA: Moscow invited KJU to visit in May next year to attend a commemoration of the 70th anniversary of the Soviet Union’s victory over Nazi Germany. Should he accept, it will mark his first official visit abroad.

ANALYSIS & OPINION

• Ruediger Frank: “This lack of serious foreign investment is the tragedy of Rason. Here, North Korea is what it could be without major reforms or effort: more open, more human, more approachable, more honest, and obviously very much more interested in business cooperation with the outside world. No insulating rubber sphere anymore for foreigners. The above is not much for us, but a lot by North Korean standards. And isn’t this what we keep asking for all the time? When they have the heart to do it, reduce the restrictions to a minimum, adjust laws and regulations repeatedly to fit the wishes of investors, what happens? Nothing. North Korea opens up and nobody cares.”
• Hyundai Research Institute via Yonhap: “KIC brought 3.26 billion USD to SK and 380 M USD to NK… The weakest point of the Kaesong Industrial complex is the fact that it remains sensitive to political and military factors… South and North Korea should operate the park regardless of political and military tensions in order to develop it into a stable and sustainable project.”
• Statistics Korea via Yonhap: The gap in GNI level between NK and SK widened over a year from 2012. In 2013, SK’s GNI was 1.44 quadrillion KRW (1.33 trillion USD), 42.6 times larger than NK’s value of 33.84 trillion KRW (cited as 30.87 billion USD). In 2012, SK’s GNI was 38.2 times larger than NK’s.
• Sanger: “But it is unclear what pain Mr. Obama can inflict in return to create some semblance of deterrence. North Korea is under so many sanctions already that adding more seems futile. Return cyberattacks are possible, but, since the North is such an unwired society, the targets are few — and the opportunities for retaliation against the United States are vast.”

MISC.

• NYT: A US citizen crossed the river from China into NK (after a failed attempt to swim from SK) and publicly criticized US policies and HR conditions. The American allegedly suffers from bipolar disorder and is now seeking asylum in Venezuela.

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