NK NEWS BRIEF | November 20, 2013

POSTED November 21, 2013

Park Gyu-soon, 88, whose two sons were abducted in 1972 by NK, with a picture of her second son | Photo: REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji

NK INTERNAL

RFA: More NKorean traders are opting for SKorean cell phones to conduct business rather than cheaper Chinese phones, because models from Samsung and LG allow them to text in Korean and receive better quality reception.
Daily NK: NKorean authorities have designated areas around Hyesan for the development of new apartments. In order to build the new apartments, some existing housing will be bulldozed. Local residents fear that a portion of the construction expenses and extra costs will fall upon householders rather than the state.
Daily NK: NK is actively seeking foreign tourists to visit its Masikryeong ski resort.
Daily NK: So Hong Chan has officially replaced Jeon Chang Bok as NK’s new 1st Vice Minister of the People’s Armed Forces.

ECONOMY & FOOD SECURITY

NK Tech: NK began construction on a new industrial zone in Kaesong that it hopes will attract high-tech companies. According to the KCNA, the park will have an IT center, hotel, houses, school and a power plant; the zone is being built by a group of companies from Hong Kong, Singapore, Australia, the Middle East and Africa.
Daily NK: In its continued push to attract foreign firms, NK has encouraged traders and the wealthy class to cooperate with foreign firms. The directive allows for the establishment of joint venture companies even in areas outside of the SEZs.
Daily NK: The price of rice has remained fairly stable this year, with prices in PY and Sinuiji hovering around 5,000 won; however, the price of meat has fluctuated as people look to buy more non-rice foods.
Daily NK: The costs of constructing mushroom factories in NK are being passed onto citizens. KJU claims the factories are under construction to “improve the lives of the people,” but a local source said “each household has to give 6000 won” to make up for insufficient funds.
Yonhap: This year SK sent 16.7 million USD in aid to NK, a 26 percent increase from last year.
Daily NK (Korean): Orascom’s Sawiris has said that until he receives his dividends from NK he will not invest any more in the country, and that he has offered to re-invest any dividends back in.

REFUGEES

Joongang Ilbo: Fifteen NKoreans were captured by Chinese police last week in Kunming, southern China and it is feared they will be repatriated back to NK. Reports differ on the total number of defectors, but a source has stated that three from the group are minors.
Jeon Wook-pyo, a SKorean fisherman abducted by NK more than 40 years ago, recently visited Geoje, an island on the south side of SK. Nongso village, with a population only around 170, still remembers the 17 other fisherman taken by NK during the Cold War.

HUMAN RIGHTS

Three of the six SKoreans who were repatriated–after having defected to the North–from NK last month have been prosecuted under the National Security Law. The three other SKoreans will face prosecution pending further investigation.
In response to a UN draft resolution on NKorean human rights violations, a NKorean delegate to the UN completely rejected the draft’s claims and claimed “there are no human rights violations in my country as mentioned in this draft solution.”
NK may have detained an elderly US man who visited the country last month, according to a Japanese news source. NK claimed the man had entered the country with a legal tourist visa, but broke the law inside the country. US embassy officials in Seoul and Beijing were aware of the reports but could not confirm them.

INTERNATIONAL POLITICS & SECURITY

Despite reports of fifteen NKorean helicopter pilots in Syria, NK has denied claims that it is providing military aid to the Syrian government.
The SKorean ambassador in Beijing called on China to play a more “constructive role” in getting NK to abandon its nuclear weapons program. Former US Secretary of State, Madeleine Albright, also urged China to be more proactive on the issue, saying “China can play a very important role, because the Chinese in many ways have more leverage against North Koreans” than the US.
In response to her summit with European leaders, NK continues to aggressively speak out against PGH and her calls for NK’s denuclearization. NK also called for SK to cancel its recently-announced five-year NK policy, claiming the plan will only escalate tensions on the peninsula.
In a surprising speech given at KIS University late last month, the President of Mongolia said “No tyranny lasts forever. It is the desire of the people to live free, that is the eternal power.” President Elbegdorj also admonished nuclear weapons and capital punishment in his address.
NK Leadership Watch: In 2013 there have been eight high-profile visits or events at the DPRK side of Panmunjom. The number of visits in 2013, as reported in DPRK state media, is equal to the total number of visits made from 2007 to 2012.
Victor Cha: NK could conduct its fourth nuclear weapons test as early as late this year in order to force countries to come to the negotiating table.

ANALYSIS & OPINION

Lankov: “It is often overlooked that North Korea’s more successful traders share a crucial interest with the bureaucrats they despise – both bureaucrats and successful traders would like the North Korean state to remain separate rather than being swallowed by the South. This might sound rather counterintuitive given the amount of Stalinist red tape that exists in North Korea at present. However, a collapse will also probably include unification. And in the event of unification, South Korean businesses will probably move into the North. This is not a good news for the North Korean businesses, since no amount of local knowledge, ruthlessness and acumen will help North Korean entrepreneurs compete with the expertise, technology, connections and vast amounts of capital of South Korean companies.”
Snyder: “North Korean decisions to widely cover a foreign academic seminar on special economic zones organized by the University of British Columbia and held in Pyongyang in October 2013 in the state newspaper Rodong Shinmun suggest that North Korea is actively seeking foreign investment, and entering a reform-oriented phase not different from the one pursued in the early 2000s.”

MISC.

Guttenfelder’s “uncensored Instagrams” from NK. More here.
Elle magazine’s website has featured “North Korean chic” as one of its Fall 2013 fashion trends. The website offers designer camouflage pants and high heels to achieve a ‘Pyongyang’ look. The magazine’s Creative Director claimed the trend is “edgier, even dangerous, with sharp buckles and clasps and take-no-prisoners tailoring.”
A delegation of NKorean students will study foreign trade and investment at Nan Kai University in China.
The USG has reissued its travel warning for NK.

NK News Brief acronyms.

Donate