DPRK Business Monthly Volume IV, No.5

30 June 2013 — Erich Weingartner

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 current June 2013 edition (which this month comes in two files) here: DPRK Business Monthly Volume IV, No.5 Part 1 and DPRK Business Monthly Volume IV, No.5 Part 2

The nearly deserted Kaesong Industrial Complex (Photo by Arirang News)

Titles of articles found in this issue include:

“Stunned Disbelief” at Cancellation of Talks
Mongolian Firm Buys Stake in NK Refinery
NK to Import Chinese Smartphones
North Korea Building “World-class” Ski Resort
N-S Trade Virtually Zero in May
P’yang Hosts International Organic Agriculture Workshop
NK’s Android-based Achim Tablet on Video
Visible Progress Toward Economic Reform
Invitation for International Public Tender
Work Going Ahead on NK-China Economic Zone
New Law on Economic Development Zones
N.K. Plans New US$200 m International Airport

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

Comment by the Business Monthly Editor:

The news that talks between the two sides on the Korean peninsula –due to be held in mid-June and heralding the end of a period of unprecedented tension — were cancelled at the last minute was both disappointing and puzzling.

Negotiators for the two sides agreed to hold the talks after 17 hours of discussions, and the fact that the talks were to be held in Seoul marked a major concession by the North. Cui bono?

It is hard to see who benefits from a return to tension and sabotage of economic exchanges between the South and the North. But given that Pyongyang plans to build more joint economic zones and is unhappy with having only one economic partner (Who wouldn’t be?) and that South Korean business people are missing out on a golden opportunity to cash in on the North’s labor and minerals as well as a market for the South’s rice and other foodstuffs, it is reasonable to suppose that the talks will resume before long.

Please feel free to consult the full issue by clicking on these links: DPRK Business Monthly Volume IV, No.5 Part 1 and DPRK Business Monthly Volume IV, No.5 Part 2