NK NEWS BRIEF | JAN 30, 2015

An assistant waits for customers at the kiosk in front of a restaurant boat | Tania Branigan, The Guardian

NK INTERNAL

• Daily NK: After a NKorean soldier killed four Chinese citizens during robbery attempts, the NK authorities have been conducting investigations on border units and discharging officials. N Hamkyung source: “This incident has seen the 27th Brigade commander, station in Chongjin City, the battalion commander in Musan County elated company commander, as well as the platoon leaders punished one after the other and discharged… The dismissals even extended to the colonel general of the General Security Bureau [GSB].”
• Daily NK N Hamkyung source: “Late last year, we received orders for all women who have graduated from middle and high school to undergo mandatory military service… Unlike men, who have to serve for ten years, mandatory service for women is only up to the age of 23… A 17-year-old who enlists in April will serve until she is 23, but a 20-year-old worker who enlists in August will only serve three years.”
• RFA: NKoreans are bribing judges up to 100 USD to get a quick divorce. S Pyongan source: “The reason the divorce rate is increasing is because North Korean women are becoming self-assertive unlike they were in the past… Above all else, it is because divorce procedures have become easier than ever… If one or the other doesn’t agree to a divorce, the judge will decide by siding with person who offers the higher bribe.”

ECONOMY & FOOD SECURITY

• Daily NK Yangkang source: “People were told according to the pojeon [smaller division of bunjo units] managing system and the bunjo system, they would be able to profit more compared to the cooperative farm system, so they worked even harder… But that was all talk, and now farmers aren’t receiving their proper shares… Most farms in Bochon County have to report their planned output per pyeong (3.3 m²) of land and this has lead to the lack of redistribution… Last year, in the case of potatoes, most pojeon were unable to harvest even 15 tons. Based on the planned output of 18 to 21 tons– depending on the fertility of land– that’s a 20 percent shortfall.”
• Yonhap: According to Chinese trade statistics China exported no crude oil to NK in 2014. However exports of petroleum products jumped 48.2% to 1.54M USD.
• Yonhap: NK bought 82.8M USD worth of smartphones from China in 2014, almost double the amount in 2013, according to Seoul-based Korea International Trade Association. Imports of portable data-processing devices, including laptops, also jumped 16% on-year to 23M USD in 2014.
• Daily NK: Due to last year’s drought, a lot of the harvest is being set aside for the soldiers, while the farmers have yet to receive their year-end distribution. N Hamkyung source: “It’s because the managing committee of the cooperative farms have been handing in portions that should be distributed to farmers to the military… Some of the farms have been worried about making preparations for production, thinking it may cause disruptions if all the rice is donated to the military, so they sometimes ask workers to hide crops in their homes… This is why it’s not uncommon to see conflicts between soldiers and farmers.”
• Daily NK: More residents are operating market stores in their own houses for convenience of location within residential areas and flexible operating hours. S Pyongan source: “You can sell and buy goods from these residential stalls as long as you have an established level of trust with the owner… More people are converting rooms in their homes and selling goods day and night… Even if you don’t have much in terms of assets, as long as you open shop at home, you can secure products to sell on credit from wholesalers and put things on tabs for people as well. For this reason these places are referred to as ‘credit stalls.’”

HUMAN RIGHTS  

• Marzuki Darusman: “We continue to stand by [Shin’s] testimony… These facts came out clarifying his earlier testimony… What he referred to was a correction of the timeline of events, which do not in any way affect the integrity and credibility of the report.”
• Daily NK: The authorities are trying to clamp down on the spread of SKorean media amongst young NKoreans by planting informants amongst students. Source describes a recent incident involving 6-7 students who gathered in one house to enjoy foreign media smuggled in on a flash drive, but were found out and summoned by the KIS Socialist Youth League because of an informant.  

REFUGEES & BORDER SECURITY

• RFA Yangkang source: “Control at the border is now three to four times stricter than it was before… So people cannot cross the border to meet Chinese traders and exchange goods in person.” Yangkang source: “But they now have to give 30 percent of their profits to the guards, because the guards themselves are involved in the smuggling.”
• Newsweek: Lawyer of Han Song, a man claiming asylum as a NKorean refugee in Sweden: “After getting to know Han intimately over a long period of time, my team and I are completely convinced he’s North Korean… Only somebody who has spent a long time in North Korea can have the detailed knowledge that he has. But he knows close to nothing about China and doesn’t speak Chinese.”

INTERNATIONAL POLITICS & SECURITY

• INTER-KOREAN: ROK military held a live-fire drill in Baengnyeong and Yeonpyeong islands. ROK military officer: “More than 600 rounds were fired today in a southern direction and they all landed in our territorial waters south of the Northern Limit Line (NLL).”
• KCNA via Yonhap: “If the South Korean government is genuinely interested in the humanitarian issue, it should first remove the blockage measure (May 24 sanction) instead of making a fuss about separated families.”
• ROK MOU spokesman: “Our government is not considering taking preemptive action toward those preconditions in order to coax the North to the negotiating table… Those preconditions are issues that North Korea should resolve through discussion with our government.”
• Reuters: PY stated that it can detain SKorean workers at KIC in the event of disputes. SKorean vice-chairman of the Corporate Associate of KIC: “When you run a business, you can pull out due to worsening management conditions or go bankrupt for other reasons, but physical detention can be frustrating and squeeze investment.”
• Yonhap: ROK MOU plans to provide 90M KRW (cited as 83,000 USD) to support the training program of NKorean doctors in Germany. MOU will also provide 1.3M USD to fund demographic research by UNFPA in NK, and 2.9M USD for the publication of a joint N-S dictionary.  
• AP: Former ROK President Lee Myung-bak revealed that in 2009, in exchange for agreeing to hold an inter-Korean summit that never materialized, PY demanded 400,000 tons of rice, 300,000 tons of fertilizer, 100,000 tons of corn, asphalt worth 100 M USD, and 10 billion USD for the establishment of a development bank in NK.
• VOA: USG’s Wendy Sherman: “We have the same policy as the Republic of Korea does and that is to ultimately have a denuclearized peninsula. A denuclearization is the first priority where North Korea is concerned and then of course we look forward to ending the division and for the Korean people to be in a unified country under democratic rule.”
• RUSSIA: Kremlin spokesman: “The North Korean leader’s participation has been confirmed, and we are getting ready for his arrival.” Kremlin’s written reply to Yonhap News Agency’s inquiry: “The list of attendees has not been finalized yet, as we continue a process of confirming the attendance of those invited.” However there has also been speculation that NK’s representative could be Kim Yong-nam, ceremonial head of state.
• USG’s Sung Kim: “The main thing is that Russians remain very much committed to denuclearization and the joint statement of the six-party process… They have made it very clear that they would strongly oppose nuclear tests by North Korea and, in fact, they oppose continuing nuclear activities by North Korea.”

ANALYSIS & OPINION

• Richard Bush, Brookings: “Well, I think, on the surface, it’s positive that [KJU] expressed interest in having some sort of dialogue or talks, but if you read on, he has so many conditions, and it’s clear that he expects other people to create the conditions for the talks, particularly South Korea and, by implication, the United States. And he’s taking no responsibility for the situation that exists in Northeast Asia and on the Korean peninsula when, in fact, the DPRK is the cause of the situation on the Korean peninsula and in Northeast Asia.”
• Randall Ireson: “Given the DPRK’s history of policies that have not been fully implemented, it is reasonable to ask if anything is really changing at the farm level… But numerous published and informal sources generally report that beginning in 2013, the changes in SWT (sub-work team) structure were gradually implemented, although resisted by some agricultural bureaucrats and the military that feared loss of influence and preferred access to food. They now appear to have taken hold across the country. … Moreover, there is without doubt substantial variation among cooperative farms, and the methods are still evolving. According to NGO sources, arrangements are mostly being worked out at the cooperative farm level. This is significant as it reflects an apparent willingness of the government to allow local autonomy on these matters.”

MISC.

• Yonhap: PGH’s approval ratings have hit an all-time low at 29%. Her popularity has declined over taxation issues and a perception of poor communication with the public.
• AP: ROK Supreme Court sentenced a former UPP lawmaker nine years in prison for praising NK and encouraging an armed rebellion in SK should a war break out between the two Koreas. Four teachers also received suspension and jail terms for endorsing NKorean ideals in lectures.

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