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NK NEWS BRIEF | FEB 17, 2015
POSTED February 17, 2015
A kiosk operator in Pyongyang sells DVDs to a growing consumer class of North Koreans | Photo: Nicole Salazar, Al Jazeera America
NK INTERNAL
- Daily NK: A woman in her 50s was publicly executed for gambling and drug use, although some sources suspect the real reason for execution was the woman’s vast accumulation of foreign currency. N Pyongan source: “[The woman was]… the wife of a North Korean trader in Dandong who was able to rapidly accumulate wealth by having Sinuiju’s wholesale market at her fingertips… Following an intense investigation after her initial arrest for gambling, this woman was found to have bribed officials with the Chosun Workers’ Party, the Ministry of People’s Safety, and most every law enforcement body in North Korea. Orders for her public execution were quickly handed down by the authorities as she was ‘practicing an unclean lifestyle by gambling and using drugs,’ running contrary to the accepted practices of a socialist society.”
- RFA N Pyongan source: “SSD established ‘Bureau 1080’ in November last year… The bureau’s role is to keep the legal NKorean phones under surveillance, not the illegal ones using Chinese networks… The residents are worried that they can’t use even domestic phones freely anymore.” (Korean).
- RFA N Hamkyung source: “Even when the power is cut, we do not need lamp lights or batteries [when we have the solar panels]. Sometimes it’s so bright that from the outside it looks like the power is back on.” (Korean).
- Yonhap: 27 military officials were promoted on KJI’s birthday. KJU: “[These senior military officers will]… fulfill their honorable responsibilities and duties in the general offensive to hasten the final victory in the revolutionary spirit of Paektu, always bearing in mind the trust and expectation of the party and the people.”
ECONOMY
- Daily NK: Investigations launched by the Central Party aimed at rooting out misconduct of MPS officials toward residents are thought to be contributing to an easing up of restrictions on illegal street sellers. This, coupled with the bribe culture continually infiltrating the “tick merchant” realm–just as in the rest of North Korea–has seen the numbers engaged in street selling spike; nominal bribes of cash or goods ensure, at least for the time being, that they can do business in relative peace.
- Yonhap: “The replacement of businessmen loyal to Jang Song-thaek has been gradually carried out and a lot of North Korean businessmen were summoned until late last year… Of those being summoned, only about 30 percent returned to China.” Dandong source: “As demand falls and prices decline in the face of an economic slowdown in China, it is difficult for North Korean businessmen to sell goods even at lower prices.”
- Daily NK N Pyongan source: “Kim Jong Il’s birthday is celebrated as an official holiday on February 16th and 17th, and because the Lunar New Year holiday follows, it looks like we’ll be celebrating a double holiday… The following Monday, February 23rd, is also a holiday, so the customs offices in North Korea and China will not work for ten days, bringing all trade to a halt.”
- Daily NK N Hamkyung source: “Last December a Party secretary declared in a staff meeting that there would be layoffs [at the Musan Mine], a measure being implemented currently… Dozens of skilled workers and researchers were included in the first list announced… The first batch of people comprises those, who for one reason or another, got on the wrong side of the secretary and manager or vocalized their disgruntlement with the poor salary and ration system.”
HUMAN RIGHTS
- UN Ambassador Jang on the UN COI report and CSIS conference on the report: “We are not worried at all because at every move we can strongly respond to such a move and we are not guilty of any crime… We also demanded that in case the conference is enforced as scheduled then we had to participate … as a party directly concerned… I sent a formal request to my counterpart in the State Department and he responded that it’s not a U.S. government event. So it means our request was denied.”
- Shin Dong-hyuk: “Of course there’s been damage… And I know a lot of people are criticizing me. But I did not have a choice… I have heard all of the criticism, and I know I will continue to receive criticism… And it was so hard because of that, and that’s why I thought about taking my own life… There will be no more changes. Even if there’s something I am keeping to myself, I won’t be changing anything now … the whole truth will come out when history proves everything about the pain suffered by the North Korean people.”
BORDER SECURITY
- Reuters: The NKorean govt sent a note to foreign diplomats and organizations in PY warning them to not hold any parties and meetings in violation of the Ebola quarantine.
- Yonhap: Young Pioneer Tours disclosed the cancellation of PY’s Arirang Mass Games as part of the Ebola quarantine:
INTERNATIONAL POLITICS & SECURITY
- ROK MOU: “Thursday marks the 23rd anniversary of entering into force the Inter-Korean Basic Agreement, which is the basic charter for inter-Korean relations… The government respects all the agreements forged between South and North Korea including the Inter-Korean Basic Agreement and it once again makes it clear that Seoul maintains its coherent stance to build inter-Korean trust by abiding by them… North Korea should show a responsible attitude to overcome inter-Korean division by coming without hesitation to respond to the talks offer.”
- PGH: “North Korea should quickly take the path to reform and dialogue by recognizing the wave of change, not ignoring it… Our goal is to induce North Korea to come forward as a responsible member of the international community, not isolating it.”
- VOA: ROK Customs Service announced that inter-Korean trade reached 232 M USD in January 2015, a 40% increase from last year’s level (Korean).
- Yonhap: This year’s ROK-US military drills will involve slightly more US troops than last year.
ANALYSIS
- Daily NK: “The improvement of economic affairs in the Kim Jong Eun era is more an outgrowth of revitalized resident efforts poured into commercial activity than a result of top-down policy decisions. According to sources within the country, North Korean authorities have started relaxing their tightfisted economic policies and tolerating growth of new markets because they are worried about residents’ opposition.”
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