DPRK Business Monthly Volume III, No.3

The DPRK Business Monthly, an international business report edited in Beijing, has been made available to CanKor readers by its editor, Paul White. Please check out the full text of the April 2012 edition here: DPRK Business Monthly April 2012

Huichon power station in Jagang Province, DPRK, has started operations on 6 April 2012 to help ease electricity shortages in the capital, protect cultivated land and residential areas along the Chongchon River from flooding, and ensure an ample supply of water to the industrial establishments in Huichon and Namhung areas, according to official media reports. (Photo by KCNA)

Titles of articles found in this issue include:

• Rajin-Khassan Freight Train Service to Open in October
• More NK Citizens Visit China
• A Question of Leadership
• Huichon Power Station Operational
• Future High-tech Farming for NK?
• Department Store for Scientists and Technicians
• NK, China Seeking Investors for Rajin Port

…plus a number of other items, including a selection of North Korean tours by various tour operators.

Comment by the Business Monthly Editor:

There have been several significant signs this month that North Korea’s new leadership is sincere about enhancing transparency. For one thing, NK invited news media from around the world to observe its satellite launch, knowing full well that if it failed (It did), the whole world would know, and there could be no cover-up. Not only that, the official DPRK media reported the disaster with no holds barred. That’s got to be a first. Another first was the reporting of two speeches made by the new leader, Kim Jong Un, on the front page of the North’s leading Workers Daily. His father, the late Kim Jong Il, does not seem to have made any public speeches at all during his 17-year tenure, and any private ones were not reported.

Ottawa Round Table Part 2 – Opening Remarks by Erich Weingartner

Finding the Right Balance to Aid North Korean People

Ottawa Round Table on Humanitarian Aid in the Current North Korean Context, 5 March 2012

Origin of this Round Table

In February 2011 a number of agencies received messages from DPRK authorities urgently requesting food aid. These requests unleashed a vibrant discussion within the humanitarian and policy communities as to whether the need is great enough to warrant emergency aid, and if so, whether monitoring can be sufficiently guaranteed to prevent diversion to the military or the elite at the expense of those most in need.

Assessment missions were sent by the FAO/WFP, the EU, the USA, as well as a consortium of US-based NGOs. All concluded that the food deficit is real, although there was considerable disagreement about the capacity of aid agencies to mount a robust monitoring regime. The EU and a number of countries decided to deliver modest quantities of aid. Canada contributed 2.5 million dollars to the WFP for eventual use in North Korea. The USA continued bilateral negotiations that resulted in a positive decision in December 2011. An announcement was to be made the week that Kim Jong Il died.

In early summer 2011 CanKor initiated discussions among Canadian NGOs as to whether the situation merited a Canadian initiative. Only a very small number of Canadian agencies still delivered modest amounts of targeted food aid to the DPRK. Continuing questions surrounding monitoring standards in the DPRK discouraged other NGOs from initiating any significant new food aid activities.

On the other hand, there were still a number of NGOs interested in convening a round table to engage in discussion about North Korean humanitarian dilemmas. Some were concerned that the food aid debate had become increasingly politicized. What was the basis of decisions surrounding food aid, for example? Were food aid decisions made for humanitarian purposes, or has food become an additional tool in the exercise of coercive diplomacy to further aims such as rolling back DPRK nuclear weapons development, promoting human rights, or encouraging democratic development and/or regime change?

Ottawa Round Table Part 1 – Humanitarian Aid in the Current North Korean Context

Canadian Humanitarians at Round Table in Ottawa

Ottawa Round Table on Humanitarian Aid in the Current North Korean Context, 5 March 2012

During the two-week glimmer of hope between the US-DPRK “Leap Day Deal” and the subsequent announcement of North Korea’s satellite launch, a small but persistent group of Canadian humanitarians met in Canada’s capital on Monday, 5 March 2012, to discuss “Humanitarian Aid in the Current North Korean Context”.

The representatives of organizations still actively engaged in assistance to the people of North Korea harbored no illusions that the current transition in the DPRK leadership would melt away the difficulties involved in the provision of humanitarian aid. There was, however, a consensus that whatever the international climate may be at any particular time, engagement is a key to projecting Canadian values into the situation, whether by the government or by civil society. When Canadian government policy is engagement, this tends to support the work of Canadian NGOs, who in turn embody the best of Canada’s reputation for peace and human security. When government policy is non-engagement, the activities of NGOs nonetheless continue to further Canadian values, thus laying the groundwork for future engagement policies.

During the past several years, strategic, military and human rights issues in relation to North Korea have received a considerable amount of attention by Canada and the international community. By and large, humanitarian issues have taken the back seat. The humanitarian group assembled in Ottawa hoped that the plight of the North Korean people would not fall through the cracks. The long-term goal of peace and human security on the entire Korean Peninsula should remain the central focus of Canadian policies. Although the recent leadership change has not yet provided sufficient indicators of change, participants felt that this is an opportune time for Canadian re-engagement to benefit the North Korean people.

DPRK Business Monthly Volume III, No.2

The DPRK Business Monthly, an international business report edited in Beijing, has been made available to CanKor readers by its editor, Paul White. Please check the the March 2012 edition here: DPRK Business Monthly Vol III, No.2

The Unhasu Orchestra tunes up in Paris. (Photo by Reuters)

Titles of articles found in this issue include

• N-S Opening Could Be Economic Lifeline for ROK
• Unification Starting in Kaesong
• DPRK Encourages Foreign Investment
• Internet Access at PUST for NK Students
• The Constitution of the DPRK
• North and South Train Cambodian Olympic Hopefuls
• Pyongyang Orchestra Plays in Paris
• Korean Care Friendship Network

…plus a number of other items, including a selection of North Korean tours by various tour operators.

DPRK Business Monthly Volume III, No.1

The DPRK Business Monthly, an international business report edited in Beijing, has been made available to CanKor readers by its editor, Paul White. Please check the  third volume of the February 2012 edition here: DPRK Business Monthly February 2012.

A bus carrying eight south Korean parliamentarians crosses the DMZ at Paju. (Photo by AP)

Titles of articles found in this issue include:

• NK Amends Law on Foreign-funded Banks
• NK Hires US Firm to Restart Kumgang Tours
• US Ties Hamstring SK Businesses’ NK Prospects
• Items Most in Demand in NK in 2011
• Daewoo to Pioneer NK-China New Zone Advance
• China to Lease 3 Rason Piers for 50 years
• ROK Lawmakers Cross DMZ to Investigate Kaesong
• Rising Demand for Workers at Kaesong
• Seoul to Allow Upgrading of Kaesong Facilities

…plus a number of other items, including a selection of North Korean tours by various tour operators.

DPRK Business Monthly Volume II, No.12

The DPRK Business Monthly, an international business report edited in Beijing, has been made available to CanKor readers by its editor, Paul White. Check the January 2012 edition here: DPRK Business Monthly January 2012.

Potential investors tour a North Korean garment workshop. (Photo:KCNA)

Titles of articles found in this issue include:

• AP Opens Pyongyang’s First Full International News Bureau
• Right and Christian to Build Bridges with NK
• PRC Likely to Provide Food Aid Soon
• NGO Initiatives in DPRK
• NK Like China 30 Years Ago
• Rodong Sinmun Launches English-language Site
• A Private Citizen in North Korea by Jack Rosen, chairman of the American Jewish Congress and of the American Council for World Jewry
• Kwangbok Area Supermarket Opens
• NK’s Mobile Phone Imports Soaring
• Pyongyang’s Urban Future
• Corporate Law Clue to Policy Under Kim Jong Un

…plus a number of articles about the Kaesong Industrial Park, and a selection of North Korean tours by various tour operators.

Comment by the Business Monthly Editor:

The huge leap in mobile phone penetration into the DPRK shows that the government appreciates the value of modern communications in streamlining economic growth. 

DPRK Business Monthly Volume II, No.11

The DPRK Business Monthly, an international business report edited in Beijing, has been made available to CanKor readers by its editor, Paul White. Please check the  second volume of the December 2011 edition here: DPRK Business Monthly December 2011.

Titles of articles found in this issue include:

North Korea - Political Tours

• DHL Pyongyang Office Bustling
• Chinese Company Sets Up Car Wash in North Korea
• NGO Initiatives in DPRK: Christian Friends of Korea
• P’yang Asks Seoul to Restore Economic Ties
• Joint New Year Editorial (Analysis)
• Who Does Business in Rason? Jilin Tobacco Industry Co. Ltd

…plus a number of other items, including a selection of North Korean tours by various tour operators.

Comment by the Business Monthly Editor:

Pyongyang lost no time following the death of Kim Jong Il and the announcement that his son Kim Jong Un would succeed him in declaring that there would be absolutely no dealing with ROK President Lee Myung-bak under the new leadership. Lee, whose term (ROK presidents are only allowed one) ends next December, has pursued a hard line against the North since coming to office in 2008. Relations in every sphere have plummeted, not least those in the business field.
Tension on the Korean peninsula has been ratcheted up so high that the North actually shelled ROK territory in November 2010, in response to a massive ROK-US naval drill. Realizing that his tough approach has backfired, and under pressure from the South Korean people to return to the “sunshine days” of his two predecessors, Lee — like US President George W. Bush before him — is desperately offering olive branches to the North to try to salvage something from the failures of his watch. But as the Pyongyang statement — rushed out only days before the joint New Year editorial, which is the normal channel for policy pronouncements — made clear, relations on the peninsula will remain in limbo until Lee Myung-bak’s successor takes office, and hopefully there is a return to “sunshine.”

Please feel free to consult the full issue by clicking on this link: DPRK Business Monthly Volume II, No. 11  December 2011.

Related articles

• DPRK Business Monthly Volume II, No. 10 (CanKor.ca)
• DPRK Business Monthly Volume II, No. 9 (CanKor.ca)
• DPRK Business Monthly Volume II, No. 8 (CanKor.ca)
• DPRK Business Monthly Volume II, No. 7 (CanKor.ca)
• DPRK Business Monthly Volume II, No. 6 (CanKor.ca)

Children pay for North Korean famine by Al Jazeera

[Exclusive footage by Reuters shows malnourished children in North Korea's countryside after winter worsens the country's food shortages. The commentary is by Al Jazeera journalist Khadija Magardie. --CanKor.]

In a hospital in Pyongyang, doctors monitor a group of weak infants, some of whom are already showing signs of malnutrition and sickness. They are the most vulnerable members of a population suffering from extreme food shortages.

According to the United Nations, one third of all children under the age of five in North Korea are malnourished, and other countries have become less interested in donating food as the “hermit kingdom” battles efforts to constrain its nuclear program.

The UN World Food Programme says public distributions are running extremely low, and they are only able to help half the people who need aid. Meanwhile, the countries rulers stage outsized military parades, and some wonder whether food donations are being siphoned off to them.

North Korea recently granted a Reuters news crew access to the country, and Al Jazeera’a Khadija Magardie reports on the plight they found.

South-North Cooperation on Malaria Control in Korea

[CanKor is pleased to publish a paper written for us by Jae S. Hwang, Project Director of the Development Cooperation Project Division of the Seoul-based Korean Sharing Movement. The Malaria Control Project in the DPRK has been one of the few activities that has been permitted to continue its work in North Korea after the ROK Government suspended all humanitarian projects by South Korean NGOs active in the DPRK. The Malaria Control Project, which has been operational since 2008, is an excellent example of cooperation between an NGO and a regional government--in this case the Provincial Government of Gyeonggi Province, bordering the demilitarized zone on the South Korean side. As Mr. Hwang reports, this year the project has expanded with additional participation by the Incheon Metropolitan Government. Malaria had been eradicated in South Korea, but reappeared as a health threat in the 1990s because of inadequate medical resources on the northern side of the DMZ. We are pleased to present this exclusive report to CanKor readers. A few excerpts are found below. To read the full report, complete with pictures and charts, please follow the link to Malaria Control Project in the DPRK. --CanKor.]

Picture taken on 17 August 2010 at the South Korean CIQ (customs, immigration and quarantine). Just before leaving for a visit to Gaesung, Prof. Park Jae Won explains the project to the press. This was the first aid shipment to the DPRK that the ROK Government approved since the 5.24 measures. This explains the lively interest of the press. (Photo by KSM)

(…) Most cases of tertian malaria in South Korea occur in areas near the DMZ along the border of South and North Korea. Most outbreaks occur in the northern areas of South Korea, specifically northern Gyeonggi Province, northern Incheon City, and Kangwon Province, and in the southern areas of North Korea, including Kaesong and its vicinity, South Hwanghae Province and North Kangwon Province.

(…) Thus malaria is a problem that directly affects the health of people in both Koreas, and this is a case where maximum synergy can be achieved only when the strengths of North and South are combined. For this reason since 2008 KSM and Gyeonggi Province have been conducting the “Malaria Control Project in the DPRK,” which to date has treated 500,000 people from 130,000 households in the Kaesong Area.

Das Leiden der Kinder von Haeju

[For German readers, here is an article published by the German radio and television broadcaster ARD entitled “The Suffering of the Children of Haeju”. It details the current problem of hunger in North Korea, specifically reporting on the work of the German NGO Cap Anamur, which has been active in the DPRK for more than a decade. --CanKor.]

Nur wenige Mütter kommen mit ihren Kindern überhaupt ins Krankenhaus. Es gibt zwar ausreichend Ärzte, aber auch hier warten sie vergeblich auf Reis. (Foto ARD)

Nordkorea ist von chronischem Lebensmittelmangel betroffen, in den 1990er-Jahren starben bereits Tausende Menschen bei einer Hungersnot. Laut der UNO brauchen dort derzeit rund sechs Millionen Menschen dringend Hilfe. von Nils Kinkel, ARD-Studio Ostasien.

Es regnet seit Wochen in Strömen – auch die zweieinhalb Stunden auf der Fahrt von Pjöngjang in Richtung Süden. Es geht vom Schaufenster Nordkoreas in das Armenhaus. In der Kornkammer wachsen auf den satten, grünen Feldern Reis, Mais und Kartoffeln. Die Ernte im Herbst droht davonzuschwimmen und dabei gibt es nach dem harten Winter schon jetzt nichts mehr zu Essen. Jeder Vierte im Land hungert, so die Schätzungen des Welternährungsprogramms.

Der Anblick der ausgemergelten Kinder im Krankenhaus von Haeju ist erschütternd: “Ich habe Bauchweh, hatte drei Tage Durchfall”, flüstert der fünfjährige Kim Jin Song leise – und hält sich dabei die Hand auf den Bauch. Der starke Regen der letzten Wochen hat das Trinkwasser verunreinigt und die Situation für die geschwächten Kinder in der Region verschlimmert.