NK NEWS BRIEF | JAN 15, 2015

Abrahamian says women are transforming the way livelihoods are made in NK. | Photo: UkrikPedersenTransterra/Barcroft

NK INTERNAL

• Daily NK Yangkang source: “Since fall of last year, Mansudae Art Studio workers have visited Hyesan in relation to building the statue of the Grand Marshals [Kim Il Sung, Kim Jong Il]. Currently, all of the residents in the city are being fully mobilized every day… Most of the people working on the statues are those who don’t have enough to get by. Better off households are paying with gasoline and construction materials instead of participating through manual labor.”
• Daily NK: A new education policy for elementary, middle, and high schools has reduced each class time by 5 minutes and extended the summer break by 10 days, allowing the students to finish their classes in the morning and gain supplemental help in mathematics, physics, computer science, and other subjects in the afternoon. There are rumors that the policy changes may lead to greater modifications on the songbun system. Yangkang source: “[KJU] places the utmost importance on education of the gifted, so from elementary school, students who are gifted in playing computer games or using programs are put into groups and educated separately by the schools… Recently, intelligence has been prioritized over foundation [songbun] in fostering young talent… Even if you are not the son or daughter of a Party cadre, if you’re good at studying, you have the chance to attend a better school.”
• Daily NK: A construction accident at Yangkang Province killed dozens of soldiers at the end of last year. N Hamkyung source: “On the construction site, a sudden collapse of dirt pinned dozens of soldiers from the 45th Division of the 9th Corps underneath… The entire army started combat training back in December with the exception of the 9th Corps. Instead, they were mobilized to construction efforts in Yangkang Province, namely land readjustment projects, a ski resort, and Samjiyeon airport.”
• Daily NK: Hyesan Mine workers were one of the few groups who received gifts on KJU’s birthday. Yangkang source: “Most children received sweets on January 7th as a gift ahead of the Marshal’s birthday… Other than that, people didn’t even get a single bottle of alcohol, but those workers at Hyesan Mine received 5 kg of sugar and 1 kg of cooking oil… in order to eat, you need to be involved somehow with the Chinese. The state can only make paltry offerings, if at all, but at a joint company, ration provisions would stabilize so it seems that things can’t help but move in that direction.”
• RFA: The weight of combat packs has been reduced due to the increasing number of malnourished soldiers. Yangkang source: “Kim Jong Un has ordered supply departments to reduce the weight of combat equipment, and the Ministry of the People’s Armed Forces is testing the lightened equipment with some units of troops.” N Hamkyung source: “Kim Jong Un’s order to reduce loads means that the weight of the army’s backpack, including gas masks and water bottles, must now be no more than 40 pounds.”

ECONOMY & FOOD SECURITY

• KCNA via Yonhap: The SPA plans to develop 13 areas into SEZs, including Chongjin, Amnok (Yalu) river, and Manpo. NK’s Economic Development Association: “The people’s committees of the (concerned) provinces drew up the total development plans, which include (the construction of) buildings, roads, electronics and communication networks under the principle of infrastructure building.”
• Daily NK N Pyongan source: “Real estate development in Sinuiju City has been pretty active since two years ago… Starting last July or August, construction for high-rises has been underway in the Chaeha-dong neighborhood… If only the framework of the apartment is put up, it is sold for 20,000 USD; if interior construction is completed, it trades for 25,000 USD; and if decorative touches are added, it fetches 30,000 USD… If an individual invests in one of these companies’ real estate construction project, the profits are divided up 3:7 and the investor receives a 30 percent share from sales of the completed property.”
• RFA: NK’s coal exports to China have halted this year as cities including Tianjin and Dandong are implementing regulations against coal with levels of sulfur component exceeding the regulation amount. N Pyongan source: “I was not aware that China had such regulations on sulfur component. Regardless, our internal situation doesn’t allow us to export coal anyway. Due to last year’s drought, all hydroelectric power plants have stopped working. Coal production level has dipped due to the cold weather, and all coals produced are being sent to thermoelectric power plants.” (Korean).
• RFA Yangkang source: “Among the projects that KJU implemented, the most successful were the mushroom greenhouses and loach fish-farming. Hyesan mushroom factory exported around 100 tons of mushrooms to China last year.” N Hamkyung source: “Onsong mushroom factory began its cultivation in last year’s summer, but mushrooms were all exported to China so ordinary citizens didn’t even get to lay their eyes on them.” (Korean).

HUMAN RIGHTS

• PGH: “In the new year, I plan to carry out practical and specific inter-Korean exchange and cooperation projects in order to lay the foundation for a peaceful reunification of the Korean Peninsula… I plan to prioritize humanitarian projects aimed at reducing the pain of the North Korean people’s lives, such as aid projects in maternal and child health care.”

REFUGEES & BORDER SECURITY

• Southern Weekly via KBS: NKoreans crossing the border into China have reportedly committed 14 murders and more than 100 plunders since year 2000. Chinese residents of the border region are abandoning their homes due to the frequent robbery attempts. The Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture in Jilin Province set up a civil-military defense system, comprised of police and border guards at checkpoints, and every 10 neighboring households grouped together to report any suspicious activities to the village head.
• Reuters: The China Defence News reported the government had established a civilian-military defense system in the Yanbian prefecture of Jilin province. The government has also “guided the establishment of militia patrols” to guard border villages. Every 10 neighboring households would have their own border security group and there would be 24-hour video surveillance, the newspaper said.

INTERNATIONAL POLITICS & SECURITY

• PGH: “Given the age of separated family members who are still alive, it is an issue that cannot be further delayed. I hope the North will– with an open heart– accept our offer to hold family reunions around the Seol [Lunar New Year] holiday… I hope this year, the South and North will be able to peacefully and freely come and go and venture out to the bigger world of Eurasia.”
• ROK MOU official: “Our government is not seeking unification by absorption as the North claims.”
• Joongang Ilbo: Representatives from 160 companies, civil societies, and religious groups in SK requested the ROKG lift the May 24 measures: “Of about 1,000 companies that devoted everything to inter-Korean economic cooperation programs by trusting the government, more than 80 percent are now shut down… After we established the basis, companies from China and Europe easily entered and benefited… The North, therefore, suffered almost no hardship.” The total loss suffered by SK’s companies and organizations since 2010 was quoted as 15.8 trillion KRW (cited as 14 billion USD).
• Yonhap: ROK MOU held a meeting with a group of activists to advise them against launching “The Interview” DVDs into NK. ROK MOU spokesman: “The government expects the Park (activists) side to review the matter seriously and decide (to end the campaign).”
• ROK MOD spokesman: “The joint ROK-US military exercises are to defend the Republic of Korea from North Korean military threats… For North Korea to tie a tentative suspension of its nuclear tests to the ROK-U.S. military exercises is not right.” SKorean Major at the exercises: “This operation is aimed at striking essential enemy facilities… With enough training we will blow up any enemy facility in any given mission no matter what the cost is.” Seoul Defense Ministry officer: “It is the first time ever in the world that two nations have organized a combined division… The formation helps Seoul and Washington strengthen interoperability and boost their joint posture by having more opportunities to stage joint drills to better prepare for war.”
• KCNA via Reuters: “The message proposed (that) the U.S. contribute to easing tension on the Korean peninsula by temporarily suspending joint military exercises in South Korea and its vicinity this year… (The message) said that in this case the DPRK is ready to take such a responsive step as temporarily suspending the nuclear test over which the U.S. is concerned.” NK’s deputy UN Ambassador: “If this proposal is put in practice this year, many things will be possible this year on the Korean peninsula that has very meaningful implications, and that’s why we have put forward this proposal directly to the United States government.”
• US Department of State: “The DPRK statement that inappropriately links routine US-ROK exercises to the possibility of a nuclear test by North Korea is an implicit threat.”
• USG’s Sung Kim: “Together with the international community, we’re using the full range of tools at our disposal to make clear to the DPRK that abandoning its nuclear weapons, provocative actions and human rights abuses is the only way to end the political and economic isolation… There are obviously issues between the two Koreas that need to be addressed but I’m hopeful that inter-Korean dialogue will support our overall efforts on denuclearization as well.”
• US Department of Treasury Daniel Glaser: “You said the goal is identify financial institutions outside of North Korea that provide these points of access (to the international financial system). That’s exactly what we’re trying to do… We could target any North Korean government agency. We could target any North Korean government official. And then once so targeted, we could apply sanctions with respect to any individual or entity who is providing them in turn material support, or any individual actually that they in turn control.”
• RUSSIA: SKorean diplomatic source in Beijing: “It was confirmed that North Korea gave a positive response to the Russian invitation for Kim Jong-un… If Kim visits Russia and attends the ceremony, it would be an odd situation where Kim and Xi sit together at the table set by Putin. China would feel uncomfortable with such a situation.”
• MYANMAR: The police in Myanmar has banned the pirated copies of “The Interview,” reportedly after a meeting between the NKorean Ambassador and Rangoon Division Govt’s Chief Minister took place.

ANALYSIS & OPINION

• Haggard: “There would be multiple benefits to lifting sanctions. First, the South Korean government would no longer be held responsible in any way for the success – or failure – of commercial ventures with the North. North Korea now blames the outside world for the lack of investment and trade. But my surveys with Marcus Noland of Chinese and South Korean investors suggest the problems are elsewhere: weak infrastructure, weak property rights protection, corruption and a continually changing regulatory environment. Lifting sanctions would force North Korea to address these issues or remain economically sidelined… The United States cannot lead this process; the initiative needs to come from Seoul.”
• Abrahamian: “… the DPRK has a weak track record with foreign investment and they tend not to fully understand what foreigners expect… For example, most North Koreans simply don’t realise how much hard data lies behind any investment decision. Because of this, they often don’t meet investor expectations. Ease of repatriation of funds is also something they need to make sure happens easily over a long period of time to build trust. Of course, sanctions don’t help in this regard, making moving money in and out of North Korea quite hard.”
• Lankov, quoted by the BBC: “[Lankov] says that capitalism in North Korea is definitely growing: ‘The North Korean government is beginning to admit that there is no way to run an efficient economy but to rely on private initiative’… He says that under the May 30 measures, starting from this year, the industrial managers who are technically public officials will be given as much freedom as many private managers would have in regular market capitalist economy.”
• Yan Xuetong, Tsinghua University: “China’s relations with North Korea are not as close as China’s relations with South Korea… If North Korea continues to insist on developing nuclear weapons and doesn’t make any commitments on denuclearization, then China-North Korea relations will be very uncertain.”

MISC.

• PGH on the deportation of Shin Eun-mi, a Korean-American who was deemed to have made positive remarks about the NKorean regime: “Different nations have different situations. In our peculiar situation, where South and North Korea remain locked in a confrontation, we need laws to safeguard our security.” Hwang Sun, the former spokeswoman for now-disbanded DLP, was arrested for allegedly praising NKorean regime, and Lim Su-kyung of NPAD was questioned by the police on whether she participated in Shin’s program.
• The Guardian: The NKorean team was cheered by an unusual group of fans at the Asian Cup, including unification-supporters.

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