NK NEWS BRIEF | FEB 06, 2015

North Koreans ride bicycles on the banks of the Yalu River | Photo: Reuters/Jacky Chen

NK INTERNAL

• Daily NK: Authorities are cracking down on corruption by state security and high-ranking officials who often extort bribes. N Hamkyung source: “At the beginning of last month, documents were handed down from the Central Party for orders to investigate local law enforcement offices in the province… The documents contained orders for provincial Party committees to put together surveillance teams and investigate each and every case of verbal and physical abuse against residents and acts of bribery from these law enforcement officials… Recently in a town in Musan County, a female gasoline merchant in her 40s attempted to set herself on fire using diesel oil after being humiliated by a security official who also confiscated her goods.”
• RFA: The double-portrait badges of KIS and KJI are in high demand among ordinary citizens who wear them to pretend to be high-rank officials to gain benefits. Yangkang source: “There are more than 10 kinds of badges with portraits of Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il that North Koreans are obliged to wear… The double-portrait, which is illegally trading in North Korean local markets, costs 40 yuan (cited as 6.40 USD) in Chinese money. This is a high price… With the double-portrait [lapel pin], people can take care of one day of room and board in other regions [of the country] or drink with their friends by using it when they need money… In a restaurant or [when paying for] accommodations, the double-portrait is worth 20 Chinese yuan (cited as 3.20 USD).”
• Daily NK: The authorities are clamping down on ‘The Interview,’ threatening residents with severe punishments should they watch any foreign media that defames the leader. N Hamkyung source quoting a lecturer: “It would be inconceivable for a North Korean resident to seek out and view any film which slanders our Highest Dignity [a common way to refer to Kim Jong Eun]… We very well may choose to make an example out of anyone caught watching an American film by sending them to a political prison camp. In addition, anyone caught carrying the film or distributing it through underground means might be subject to execution.”

ECONOMY & FOOD SECURITY

• Yonhap: A national committee was set up with the stated objective of fighting money laundering and terrorist financing. Deputy Governor of NK’s central bank: “[To] intensify cooperation with the Financial Action Task Force… We thought it was necessary to correct the misunderstanding of member nations brought about by the U.S. and promote mutual understanding by responding to the organization’s continual requests for negotiation.”
• Daily NK: Some residents are producing homemade briquettes to sell in the markets, to meet increasing demand from cottage industries. In areas near the coal mines in S Pyongan, one ton of coal costs 20 to 25 USD. S Pyongan source: “Recently, there has been an increase in residents engaging in cottage industries, such as making and selling alcohol, snacks, shoes, and more in the markets… In order to make alcohol, snacks, and most anything from home, they need these briquettes… They maintain their livelihoods by buying hundreds of kilograms of coal from the marketplace and selling the subsequent briquettes they create.”
• RFA: Gasoline prices in NK have not dropped, despite the decline in other parts of the world. Nampo source: “the price of gasoline is plummeting elsewhere, but there has not been much change to gasoline price in North Korea. Last year, the price even rose a bit… At the end of last year, 1 kg of gasoline cost 10 RMB (1.6 USD) in Sinuiju. This year, it fell 15% to 8.50 RMB (1.35 USD).” N Hamkyung source: “Because of the electricity shortages, demand for gasoline and diesel has gone up… In Pyongyang, electric trams have stopped working, so buses running on gasoline are in operation. With higher demand, merchants selling gasoline have not reduced the price.” (Korean).
• FAO via RFA: Despite the increase in agricultural output from 2013, food scarcity is projected to worsen in NK, with a deficit of 410,000 tons of food. Given that NK may import about 300,000 tons of food this year, the deficit still stands at 107,000 tons (Korean).
• RFA Yangkang source: “During lectures and study sessions, we are told to use domestic goods, but the people are scorning such suggestions… There are no domestically produced goods in NK in the first place and even if there are, they are too expensive for us to afford.” A 500 g bag of cookies made in China costs 12,000 KPW in the jangmadang, whereas a NK-made 500 g bag of cookies costs 20,000 KPW (Korean).
• Yonhap: The level of Chinese exports of jet fuel into NK rose from 600 tons in 2013 to 13,630 tons in 2014, worth 14 M USD. But the volume was still low compared to 40,611 tons in 2012 and 42,251 tons in 2011.
• VOA: According to official Chinese statistics 184,400 NKoreans visited China in 2014, a 21,600 reduction compared to 2013 (Korean).
• National Geographic via VOA: The daily calorie intake of an average NKorean adult in 2011 was 2,103 calories, similar to the reported average of 1,878 calories in 1961.

HUMAN RIGHTS  

• Marzuki Darusman: “It would be, I think, the first order of the day to get these 80,000 to 100,000 (prisoners) immediately released and these camps disbanded… But that can only happen if this cult leadership system is completely dismantled. And the only way to do that is if the Kim family is effectively displaced, is effectively removed from the scene, and a new leadership comes into place… This is a sea change in the position of the international community… [The NKoreans] are in their most vulnerable position at this stage, whenever the culpability and responsibility of the supreme leader is brought out in full glare of the international public scrutiny… It may seem remote, but at some stage it is conceivable that China cannot afford to be continuously associated with a regime that is universally sanctioned by the international community… Something will give.”
• NK FM Ri to the UNSG: “Shin Dong-hyuk admitting to the international community that his testimony was a lie has destroyed the foundation of the anti-NK human rights resolution forcefully adopted at the 69th UNGA meeting last year… The UN should take measures to invalidate the resolution and ensure that all UN members know that the resolution was adopted deceptively under fake data… If the resolution that was drafted by the rival powers based on fake data is scrapped, then the DPRK is willing to have dialogues and cooperate on human rights matters” (Korean).

REFUGEES & BORDER SECURITY

• NYT follow-up on the NKorean soldier who recently slipped across the border into China and killed four Chinese residents. The incident has triggered intensified security crackdowns by the Chinese authorities and has contributed to the erosion of sympathy for NKoreans amongst Chinese people in border regions.   
• After an increase in murders and crime by runaway NKorean runaway soldiers and scavengers in the border area, Chinese residents are growing more wary of NKorean defectors.

INTERNATIONAL POLITICS & SECURITY

• ROK MInister of Unification Ryoo: “Once talks are held between the South and the North, I believe it can serve as a chance for lifting the May 24th Measure.”
• ROK diplomat: “[Hwang and Wu, SKorean and Chinese nuclear envoys] exchanged views on the recent situation on the Korean Peninsula and held in-depth consultations on the North Korean nuclear issue, including ways to resume denuclearization talks.”
• A US nuclear-powered submarine has joined a 3-day ROK-US military drill. ROK naval officer: “The submarine will join a South Korean fleet to launch the drill focusing on detecting enemies’ submarines and surface vessels in waters near the Korean Peninsula in order to boost interoperability between the two nations and to check joint readiness.”
• US: USG’s Sung Kim invited NK’s Kim Kye-gwan to a meeting in a third country for a dialogue, but the NK govt insisted Sung Kim visit PY. KCNA: “[We] invited Kim Sung to visit Pyongyang as he expressed his willingness to meet with his counterpart of the (North) during his visit to Asia this time… However, the U.S., in disregard of this, is working hard to shift the blame onto the (North), misleading public opinion by creating impression that dialogue and contacts are not realized due to the latter’s insincere attitude.”
• USG’s Sung Kim: “The question is not what we are willing to do. The question is whether North Koreans are ready for any serious and productive discussions on the nuclear issue.”
• USG’s Daniel Russel: “A change in North Korea does not mean to be regime change as the example of Burma shows… We are open to dialogue. We have no problem talking to North Korea. We talk to North Korea. What we want, however, are negotiations to implement the agreements reached to fulfill the mandate of the U.N. Security Council resolutions to denuclearize the Korean Peninsula… North Korea does not have the right to bargain, to trade or ask for a pay-off in return for abiding by international law.”
• NDC via KCNA: “Since the gangster-like U.S. imperialists are blaring that they will ‘bring down’ the DPRK … the army and people of the DPRK cannot but officially notify the Obama administration of the USA that the DPRK has neither need nor willingness to sit at the negotiating table with the U.S. any longer.”
• US Congressmen Royce and Engel have introduced legislation designed to broaden sanctions on NK.   
• RUSSIA: Russian military Chief of Staff Valery Gerasimov: “We are planning an expansion of the communication lines of our military central command. We are entering preliminary negotiations with the armed forces of Brazil, Vietnam, Cuba and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea… We are going to conduct a series of joint naval and air force exercises, as well as joint drills of our ground troops and air assault troops.”

ANALYSIS & OPINION

• Verisk Maplecroft via RFA: 2015 Legal and Regulatory Environment Risk Atlas deemed NK as the most dangerous country to invest in. Out of 21 categories of assessment, NK received a score of 0 in 17 categories, including fair legal system, government support, system maintenance, respect of property rights, and working environment.
• Jean Lee: “One of the things that I’ve seen on the ground over the past couple of years is all the construction of these skating rinks. There’s actually a skateboard park, the ski resort of course that opened last year, massive projects. I see all of this as an investment that they’re making in their future. He is a young man. If he is going to win the support of the future generations of North Koreans who are going to be his power base, he’s got to find a way to win their loyalty and this is part of that.”
• Geoffrey See: “About six years ago when we first started our programme, our counterparts would often start off with a very long spiel about socialism and how this is the system they have and they are never going to change it. In recent years instead of saying that, people talk about… trying to bring in what’s best from overseas, and try to adjust it to fit into the system. So I think that’s a very interesting change in terms of thinking.”
• Yanmei Xi, ICG Beijing: “When there were reports and intelligence saying North Korea could be on the brink of a fourth nuclear test, China slowed down fuel supply and food aid. But before it did that, China looked into the fuel supply and harvest of grain and calculated the amount of reduction in order to make sure that the reduction would not cause instability. [This] was meant to send a signal of displeasure but not to destabilise the regime or cause real pain.”
• Jang Jin-sung, author of Dear Leader: “It’s like it only counts as a human rights problem if there are literal beatings, camps… But the entire system is brutal and inhumane. The way the surveillance is run… The physical aspect is just one side of the experience.”

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