[Cankor] Report #202

[cankor at cankor.ca]

Dear subscriber,

Welcome to issue #202 of the CanKor Report.

For articles not original to CanKor, direct links are available in the
Contents section, should you wish to consult the originals on the internet.
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The CanKor team

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CANADA-KOREA ELECTRONIC INFORMATION SERVICE

CanKor # 202

Friday, 8 April 2005

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The vote on a new EU-Japanese sponsored UN resolution on North Korean human 
rights is scheduled for the birthday of the late DPRK leader Kim Il Sung. 
The ROK intends to abstain from voting for the third year in a row.

The DPRK has given notice that the memorandum concluded a year ago with KEDO 
might be abandoned. The memorandum stipulates agreements on such matters as 
the safety of about 120 South Korean workers who are still at the 
construction site after suspension of the light water reactor project. Top 
KEDO officials prepare to visit Pyongyang for discussions.

ROK and DPRK are working to set up another industrial park for small and 
medium-sized companies, this time close to the North Korean capital.

A new study by ROK's Korean Institute of National Reunification (KINU) 
examines the progress of North Korea's economic reforms, concluding that the 
DPRK's evolution to a market economy is "irreversible." This week's FOCUS 
section of CanKor examines some of the unpredictable consequences of 
economic reform. It includes articles about the increase in the economic 
strength and status of women, the launch of foreign currency time deposits 
at a time when the local currency sinks to historic levels, the appearance 
of a Samsung logo in Pyongyang's football stadium, and the way in which 
electronics are penetrating the DPRK's isolation.

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Contents:

1.      ROK TO ABSTAIN ON DPRK HUMAN RIGHTS RESOLUTION AT UN

http://times.hankooki.com/lpage/nation/200504/kt2005040817344211980.htm

2.      DPRK MAY ABANDON KEDO MEMORANDUM

http://www.asahi.com/english/english.html

3.      KOREAS PUSH FOR JOINT INDUSTRIAL PARK IN PYONGYANG

http://english.yna.co.kr/Engnews/20050329/430100000020050329112240E8.html



FOCUS: Unpredictable consequences of economic reform

4.      REPORT SAYS ECONOMIC REFORM IN DPRK "IRREVERSIBLE"

http://www.voanews.com/english/2005-03-24-voa17.cfm

5.      DPRK MARKET FORCES HAVE FEMALE FACES

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Korea/GD06Dg01.html

6.      DPRK LAUNCHES CURRENCY TIME DEPOSITS

http://english.chosun.com/w21data/html/news/200504/200504030027.html

7.      DPRK CURRENCY SINKS TO HISTORIC LOW LEVEL

http://www.itar-tass.com/eng/

8.      SAMSUNG LOGO ADORNS FOOTBALL STADIUM IN PYONGYANG

http://times.hankooki.com/lpage/200503/kt2005032515480210160.htm

9.      HOW ELECTRONICS ARE PENETRATING DPRK ISOLATION

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F20A1FFE39580C768DDDAA0894DD404482

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1.      ROK TO ABSTAIN ON DPRK HUMAN RIGHTS RESOLUTION AT UN

by Ryu Jin Staff Reporter, The Korea Times, 8 April 2005



South Korea is expected to abstain from voting on a UN resolution to be 
introduced next week that criticizes North Korea's human rights abuses, 
according to sources Friday. Drafted by the European Union for a third time 
since 2003 and supported by Japan for the first time this year, the 
resolution is expected to be presented to the ongoing general assembly of 
the UN Human Rights Commission in Geneva. Voting is scheduled for April 15, 
the birthday of the late North Korean leader, Kim Il-sung.

The government has been reluctant to participate in criticizing the North's 
human rights record, for fear it would provoke Pyongyang. Seoul did not 
attend the voting in 2003, when the resolution was passed on a 28 to 10 vote 
with 14 blank ballots, and abstained in last year's voting.

"We have not made any decision on changing our existing position," a 
government official said on condition of anonymity. "It hasn't even been 
submitted yet. But we'll have to think about the resolution in consideration 
of the implications to inter-Korean relations."

Pursuing reconciliation between the two countries, South Korea is concerned 
about the possible negative impact its support for the resolution might have 
on the inter-Korean relations at a time when efforts are exerted to bring 
the North back to the nuclear talks.

The government's ambiguous position has drawn criticism this time around 
from the conservative forces, critical of the North's human rights abuses.

"The government only panders to the North Korean regime," Rep. Maeng 
Hyung-kyu, chief policymaker of the main opposition Grand National Party, 
said during a meeting of the party's key post-holders. "The human rights 
issue should take precedence over any other issues," he argued, adding the 
South Korean government "should not justify" the North's infringements on 
the basic human rights of the people there.

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2.      DPRK MAY ABANDON KEDO MEMORANDUM

Asahi Shimbun: April 5, 2005



North Korea hinted to the Korean Peninsula Energy Development Organization 
(KEDO), which has suspended the project to build light water reactors in 
North Korea, that it would abandon a "memorandum" concluded between North 
Korea and KEDO in March last year, a high-ranking US government official has 
told the Asahi Shimbun. The memorandum stipulates agreements on such matters 
as the safety of about 120 workers who are still at the construction site 
and free visits to the site. To examine the DPRK's real intentions, KEDO is 
hastening preparations to send high-ranking officials to North Korea this 
month.

In late March, North Korea sent a fax letter to the KEDO Secretariat in New 
York. In the letter, North Korea said the memorandum it concluded after the 
suspension of the light water reactor project "is about to become invalid," 
and requested that talks among high-ranking officials be held to discuss 
various issues, including the memorandum issue. (...) If the memorandum 
becomes void, there will be a possibility that about 120 South Korean 
workers who are staying at the construction site for maintenance and repair 
of half-finished facilities and people concerned with the governments of 
Japan and the United States will be deprived of privileges that are similar 
to diplomatic privileges, including immunity from arrest.

After the project was suspended, North Korea has told KEDO that it will not 
allow KEDO to remove about 275 pieces of heavy equipment such as bulldozers 
and cranes from the site. Therefore negotiations between North Korea and 
KEDO, which wants to remove the heavy equipment, have bogged down. (...)

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3.      KOREAS PUSH FOR JOINT INDUSTRIAL PARK IN PYONGYANG

Asia Pulse/Yonhap News, Seoul, 29 March 2005



South and North Korea are working to set up another joint industrial 
complex, this time in Pyongyang and for small- and medium-sized companies, a 
business association in Seoul said Tuesday. The two Koreas are already 
operating a pilot industrial park in Kaesong, just north of their heavily 
guarded border, a highlight of Seoul's efforts to engage the reclusive 
Stalinist regime.

"We have forged an agreement with representatives from the North to push for 
the construction of an industrial complex in Pyongyang," said Kim Young-il, 
who heads an inter-Korean business investment association. While the Kaesong 
complex is spearheaded by the government and conglomerates, the envisioned 
industrial town in the North's capital will be organized by smaller firms, 
he added.

Kim's organization started talks with North Korea about the project last 
year. In the first stage, the two sides plan to build a complex whose size 
will be 150,000-200,000 pyeong. One pyeong equals 3.3 square meters.

"The North will provide the site, labour, and raw materials, while the South 
will supply capital, technology and other facilities," Kim said. 
Economically, the inter-Korean project is a guaranteed success, he added.

The site for the planned complex is only 2 km away from the East Pyongyang 
Power Station and is also adjacent to the Pyongyang-Kaesong highway, 
allowing easy access to electric power and transport route to Seoul.

"It is a win-win project, as the South will benefit from cheap labour and 
the North will be able to lay the groundwork for economic development," he 
said. "A number of South Korean manufacturers of basic industrial products 
such as glass and furniture are poised to move into the complex."

Politically, however, it remains to be seen whether the civilian-level 
project will bear fruit.

"We are aware that some small- and medium-sized firms are pushing for the 
creation of an industrial park in the North," a Unification Ministry 
official said. "But it has yet to receive government approval as an 
inter-Korean economic cooperation project."

Seoul is coming under growing pressure to slow the pace of economic aid to 
Pyongyang, which has boycotted multilateral nuclear disarmament talks since 
last June. The government so far has adhered to the policy of separating the 
nuclear crisis and inter-Korean economic cooperation.

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FOCUS: Unpredictable consequences of economic reform



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4.      REPORT SAYS ECONOMIC REFORM IN DPRK "IRREVERSIBLE"

by Kurt Achin, VOA News, 24 March 2005



A new report says North Korea is making progress in market reforms, as it 
looks to China and elsewhere for economic expertise. The report says free 
market activity is increasing in North Korea, and along with it, so is 
Pyongyang's appetite for management expertise. It says privately owned shops 
are emerging in greater numbers across the country, while in larger cities, 
wholesale outlets and 24-hour convenience stores are beginning to open. 
South Korea's Unification Ministry and the state-run Korean Institute of 
National Reunification, or KINU, released the report this week. Kim 
Young-Yoon, head of the North Korean Economic Research Center at KINU, says 
he based the report on defector testimony, North Korean media reports, and 
interviews with Chinese and South Korean businessmen who travel to North 
Korea.

North Korea began experimenting with modest market reforms in the mid-1990s 
in hopes of alleviating severe food shortages, and introduced wider reforms 
in 2002. Limited access to the country and a lack of detailed economic 
surveys make it virtually impossible to quantify whether the reforms have 
succeeded. Still, Professor Kim says the attitude of ordinary North Koreans 
is undergoing a major change. Mr. Kim says North Koreans now have a material 
incentive to work harder and compete in an open market, so they can improve 
their standard of living.

The report says North Korean authorities are looking to China and Russia for 
lessons in reforming their fragile, state-dominated economy, and hope to 
attract Chinese and Russian partners to open shopping centers. The report 
says some students in the North are encountering free-market ideas in 
economic textbooks, while others are allowed to study management abroad.

Gradual transformation of North Korea is a central goal of the South Korean 
government's policy of engagement with Pyongyang. Ruling party officials, 
including President Roh Moo-hyun, say helping the North to reform will 
improve living conditions and make an eventual reunification less traumatic 
for the highly developed South Korean economy.

Researchers say there are still major challenges to North Korea's economic 
evolution. They point to inflation, income disparities, and corruption as 
inevitable by-products of economic reform. They also say it is nearly 
impossible for Pyongyang to officially embrace capitalism after reviling it 
for more than half a century. However, many analysts say North Korea could 
come to resemble China - which has a Communist Party government although the 
economy has become largely market-driven. Professor Kim of KINU agrees, 
saying the reform process will certainly move forward because of the change 
in public attitude. He describes the North's evolution to a market economy 
as "irreversible."

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5.      DPRK MARKET FORCES HAVE FEMALE FACES

by Andrei Lankov, Asia Times Online, 6 April 2005



A defector from the North, a typical tough Korean auntie with trademark 
permed hair, smiled when asked about "men's role" in North Korean families: 
"Well, in 1997-98 men became useless. They went to their jobs, but there was 
nothing to be done there, so they came back. Meanwhile their wives went to 
distant places to trade and kept families going."

Indeed, the sudden increase in the economic strength and status of women is 
one of manifold changes that have taken place North Korea over the past 10 
or 15 years. The old Stalinist society is dead. It has died a slow but 
natural death over the past decade and, in spite of Pyongyang's frequent and 
loud protestation to the contrary, capitalism has been reborn in North 
Korea. The old socialist state-managed economy of steel mills and coal mines 
hardly functions at all, and the ongoing economic activity is largely 
private in nature.

But the new North Korean capitalism of dirty marketplaces, charcoal trucks 
and badly dressed vendors with huge sacks of merchandise on their backs 
demonstrates one surprising feature: it has a distinctly female face. Women 
are over-represented among the leaders of the growing post-Stalinist 
economy - a least on the lower level, among the market traders and 
small-time entrepreneurs.

This partially reflects a growth pattern of North Korean neo-capitalism. 
Unlike the restoration of capitalism in the former Soviet Union or China, 
the "post-socialist capitalism" of North Korea is not an affair planned and 
encouraged by people from the top tiers of the late communist hierarchy. 
Rather, it is capitalism from below, which grows in spite of government's 
attempts to reverse the process and turn the clock back.

Until around 1990, the markets and private trade of all kinds played a very 
moderate role in North Korean society. Most people were content with what 
they were officially allocated through the elaborate public distribution 
system, and did not want to look for more opportunities. The government also 
did its best to suppress the capitalist spirit. The rations were not too 
generous, but still sufficient for survival.

And then things began to fall apart. The collapse of the Union of Soviet 
Socialist Republics brought a sudden end to the flow of the Soviet aid 
(which was, incidentally, happily accepted but never publicly admitted by 
the North Korean side). This triggered an implosion of the North Korean 
economy. In the early 1990s people discovered that the rations were not 
enough for survival, and thus something had to be done. In a matter of years 
acute shortages of food developed into a large-scale famine, and in 1994-96 
the public distribution system ceased to function in most parts of the 
country.

But men still felt bound to their jobs by their obligations and rations 
(distributed through workplaces). Actually, rations were not forthcoming, 
but this did not matter. Being used to the stability of the previous 
decades, the North Koreans saw the situation as merely a temporary crisis 
that soon would be overcome somehow. No doubt, they reasoned, one day 
everything will go back to the "normal" (that is, Stalinist) state of 
affairs. So men believed that it would be wise to keep their jobs in order 
to resume their careers after eventual normalization of the situation. The 
ubiquitous "organizational life" also played its role: a North Korean adult 
is required to attend endless indoctrination sessions and meetings, and 
these requirements are more demanding for males than for females.

Women enjoyed more freedom. By the standard of the communist countries, 
North Korea has always had an unusually high percentage of housewives among 
its married women (for example, in the northern border city of Sinuiju, up 
to 70% of married women were estimated to be housewives in the 1980s). While 
in most other communist countries women were encouraged to continue work 
after marriage, in North Korea the government did not really mind when 
married women quit their jobs to become full-time housewives.

Thus when the economic crisis began, women were first to take up market 
activities of all kinds. This came very naturally. In some cases they began 
by selling those household items they could do without, or by selling 
homemade food. Eventually, this developed into larger businesses. While men 
continued to go to their plants (which by the mid-1990s had usually ceased 
to operate) women plunged into market activity. In North Korea such trade 
involved long journeys in open trucks, and nights spent on concrete floors 
or under the open skies; they often bribed predatory local officials. And, 
of course, women had the ability to move heavy material, since the vendor's 
back tends to be her major method of transportation.

This tendency was especially pronounced among low- and middle- income 
families. The elite received rations even through the famine years of 
1996-99, so the women of North Korea's top 5% usually continued with their 
old lifestyle. Nonetheless, some of them began to use their ability to get 
goods cheaply. Quite often, the wives of high-level cadres were and still 
are involved in resale of merchandise that is first purchased from their 
husbands' factories at cheap official prices. It is remarkable that in the 
case of North Korea such activities are carried out not so much by the 
cadres themselves, but by their wives. Cadres had to be careful, since it 
was not clear what was the official approach to the new situation of nascent 
capitalism. Thus it was assumed that women would be safer in such 
undertakings since they did not, and still do not, quite belong to the 
official social hierarchy.

But for the cadres' wives, these market operations were a way to move from 
being affluent to being rich. The lesser folks had to do something just to 
stay alive.

Perhaps, had the state given its formal approval to nascent capitalism (as 
did the still formally "communist" state of China), the men would be far 
more active. But Pyongyang officialdom still seems to be uncertain what to 
do with the crumbling system, and it is afraid to give to unconditional 
approval to capitalism. Thus men are left behind and capitalism is left to 
women.

This led to a change in the gender roles inside families. On paper, 
communism appeared very feminist, but real life in the communist states was 
an altogether different matter, and among the communist countries North 
Korea was remarkable for the strength of its patriarchal stereotypes. Men, 
especially in the more conservative northeastern part of the country, seldom 
did anything at home, with all household chores being exclusively the female 
domain. But in the new situation, when men did not have much to do while 
their wives struggled to keep the family fed and clothed, many men changed 
their attitude that housework was something beneath their dignity (at least 
this is what recent research among the defectors seem to suggest). As one 
female defector put it, "When men went to outside jobs and earned something, 
they used to be very boastful. But now they cannot do it and they become 
sort of useless, like a streetlight in the middle of the day. So a man now 
tries to help his wife in her work as best as he can" to keep the family 
going.

Recently, when it is increasingly clear that the "old times" are not going 
to return, some men are bold enough to risk breaking their ties with 
official employment. But they often go to market not as businessmen in their 
own right but rather as aides to their wives who have amassed great 
experience over the past decade. Being newcomers, males are relegated to 
subordinate positions - at least temporarily. Or alternatively, they are 
involved in more dangerous and stressful kinds of activity, such as 
smuggling goods across the badly protected border with China. As one woman 
defector said: "Men usually do smuggling. Men are better in big things, you 
know".

Economic difficulties and change in money earning patterns as well as new 
lifestyle and related opportunities in some cases led to family breakdowns. 
In South Korea the economic crisis of 1998 resulted in a mushrooming divorce 
rate. In the North, the nearly simultaneous Great Famine had the same 
impact, even if in many cases the divorce was not officially recognized.

Of course, we are talking about a great disaster here, and a large part of 
the estimated 600,000-900,000 people who perished in those years were women. 
Of the survivors, not all women became winners, bold entrepreneurs or 
successful managers: some were dragged into prostitution, which has made a 
powerful comeback recently, and many more had to survive on whatever meagre 
food was available. But still, it seems that years of crisis changed the 
social roles in North Korean families. For many women, the social disaster 
became the time when they showed their strength, will and intelligence not 
just to survive, but also to succeed.

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6.      DPRK LAUNCHES CURRENCY TIME DEPOSITS

Chosun Ilbo, 3 April 2005



North Korea's Foreign Trade Bank recently created a stir among Pyongyang's 
expatriates by launching foreign currency time deposit accounts with 
preferential interest rates, the Tokyo Shimbun reported.

Quoting an official familiar with the North, a Beijing dispatch on Saturday 
said the business handled four foreign currencies - the US dollar, Japanese 
yen, euro and Swiss franc - offering interest rates of 3 percent for 
six-month deposits, 4 percent for annual deposits and 5 percent for deposits 
of two years or more. The paper quoted the official as saying this was the 
first time in its history the reclusive country handled foreign currency 
deposits.

An agency specialized in international financial transactions, the Foreign 
Trade Bank of the People's Republic of Korea handles foreign exchange 
business, determines exchange rates and settles trade accounts. North Korea 
streamlined and expanded financial businesses under its July 2002 economic 
reform, as part of which the deposit accounts were launched, the report 
added.

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7.      DPRK CURRENCY SINKS TO HISTORIC LOW LEVEL

by Stanislav Varivoda, ITAR-TASS, Pyongyang, 29 March 2005



Exchange rate of North Korea's national currency, the won, has sunk to a 
historic low level since the day of emergence of the DPRK. Black market 
currency peddlers are offering 3,000 won for one euro and 2,600 won for one 
US dollars - several times more than the officially established 170 won per 
euro and 140 won per US dollar.

Runaway inflation and the resultant price leaps are among the major social 
and economic headaches for this country. Over the past twelve months the 
won's value slimmed by more than a half - one euro would sell for 1,400 won 
and one US dollar, for 1,200 won in April 2004.

Since an average salary in North Korea stands at around 6,000 won, the rapid 
depreciation of national money may bring about grave social problems, 
experts say. Last October, the government tried to fix the upper limits to 
market prices of staple foods - rice, flour and meat, but the measure fell 
short of the desired results as the prices are well above those limits now.

The system of public distribution of foods that ensures a food ration for 
every North Korean cushions off the impact of the situation to some degree. 
Those rations mostly consist of foods coming to the country by way of 
foreign humanitarian aid.

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8.      SAMSUNG LOGO ADORNS FOOTBALL STADIUM IN PYONGYANG

by Kim Sung-jin, Korea Times, 26 March 2005



The Samsung logo on Friday adorned the Kim Il-sung stadium in Pyongyang, the 
venue for an Asian World Cup qualifying match between North Korea and 
Bahrain. It was the first time a corporate logo of a South Korean firm had 
been displayed for advertising purposes in the North Korean football 
stadium. Samsung Electronics said Friday it is sponsoring all Asian 
qualifying matches as it became an official sponsor of the Asian Football 
Confederation (AFC) in 2005.

Under the sponsorship deal, the Korean electronics maker will also 
officially sponsor AFC Champions League. As an official sponsor, the world's 
third-largest mobile handset maker will have maximum opportunities to expose 
its corporate identity by installing large billboards inside football 
stadiums in eight Asian countries where qualifying matches for the 2006 
World Cup finals will be held. It can also print its corporate logo on 
official brochures and leaflets that will be distributed at qualifying match 
venues and put up giant outdoor electric billboards,

"We have improved our worldwide corporate brand image through sponsorship of 
various international sports events such as becoming an official partner at 
the Olympic games," said Chu Woo-sik, investor and public relations head of 
Samsung Electronics.

"I hope Samsung will be able to further promote our corporate brand and 
expand our global mobile phone market share as an official sponsor of 
qualifying matches for the 2006 World Cup finals," he added.

A total of 11 companies, including Samsung Electronics (mobile phone), 
Toshiba (AV and white goods), Epson (printer), Coca Cola (beverage), JCB 
(credit card) and Minolta (film), are official sponsors for the Asian 
qualifying matches for the 2006 World Cup in Germany. Meanwhile, North Korea 
earlier this week allowed dozens of foreign journalists to enter Pyongyang 
to report on the North's World Cup football campaign, a rare media 
opportunity in the reclusive Communist state.

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9.      HOW ELECTRONICS ARE PENETRATING DPRK ISOLATION

by James Brooke, New York Times, 14 March 2005



Halfway through a video from North Korea, the camera pans on a propaganda 
portrait of Kim Jong Il, North Korea's leader, magnificent in his general's 
dress uniform with gold epaulets. Scribbled in black ink across his smooth 
face is a demand for "freedom and democracy."

If genuine, the graffiti speaks of political opponents willing to risk 
execution to get their message out. If staged, the video means that a North 
Korean hustler was willing to deface a picture of the "Dear Leader" to earn 
a quick profit by selling it to a South Korean human rights group. Either 
way, the 35-minute video is the latest evidence that new ways of thinking 
are stealing into North Korea, perhaps corroding the steely controls on 
ideology and information that have kept the Kim family in power for almost 
60 years.

The construction of cellular relay stations last fall along the Chinese side 
of the border has allowed some North Koreans in border towns to use prepaid 
Chinese cell phones to call relatives and reporters in South Korea, 
defectors from North Korea say. And after DVD players swept northern China 
two years ago, entrepreneurs collected cast-off videocassette recorders and 
peddled them in North Korea. Now tapes of South Korean soap operas are so 
popular that state television in Pyongyang, North Korea's capital, is 
campaigning against South Korean hairstyles, clothing and slang, visitors 
and defectors have said.

"In the 1960's in the Soviet Union, it was cool to wear blue jeans and 
listen to rock and roll," said Andrei Lankov, a Russian exchange student in 
the North at Kim Il Sung University in 1985, who now teaches about North 
Korea at Kookmin University here in the South. "Today, it is cool for North 
Koreans to look and behave South Korean, as they do in the television 
serials. That does not bode well for the long-term survival of the regime."

Interest in the political hold of the Kim family has spiked since the 
North's claim that it has nuclear bombs and will continue to boycott 
disarmament talks. Analysts of the North usually focus on the governing 
elite, and some cracks have appeared there in the past year: the demotion of 
Kim Jong Il's brother-in-law, the defection of a few high-ranking military 
officers, the huge explosion that destroyed a rail station a few hours after 
Mr. Kim's train had passed through, and what appears to be the start of a 
succession battle among his three sons.

Analysts are debating the importance of Mr. Kim's visits to military bases, 
which accounted for almost two-thirds of his 92 publicly divulged 
appearances last year, compared with one-third in 2003. With North Korea 
closed to American journalists, it is hard to decipher whether Mr. Kim is 
shoring up his power base in the army out of fear of a foreign attack or of 
an internal coup. Past predictions that Mr. Kim's power was ebbing have not 
been borne out.

"We have very meagre intelligence resources, and we're sort of flying 
blind," Howard H. Baker Jr. said on Feb. 16 in Tokyo, in his final news 
briefing as American ambassador to Japan. "My country has no alternative but 
to assume that Kim Jong Il will continue in power. There won't be any 
significant change in the governance of that country."

Reviewing North Korea's political elite, "we see no big change," said 
Noriyuki Suzuki, director of Radio Press, a Japanese government monitoring 
service that focuses on the North Korean media. "But the bigger worry for 
him should be not in the core part of his power structure, but any move of 
distrust or dissatisfaction with the regime among the general public," Mr. 
Suzuki said, referring to Mr. Kim. He cited a recent joint editorial 
published in North Korea's three most important newspapers "strongly warning 
against the flow of information from outside the country, warning against 
the inflow of capitalist elements through travel outside."

In the recording studio of a radio station here, Seong Min Kim, a former 
North Korean Army captain who is now the director for the South Korean radio 
station Free NK, explained how Chinese cell phones in North Korea have 
enabled him to nurture sources there.

"He just dials 0082 to get the Korean-speaking Chinese operator, then makes 
a collect call to here," Mr. Kim said of one source. The prepaid cell phones 
are usually paid for by journalists in South Korea, he said, and the North 
Koreans go along largely out of curiosity or to try to make business deals. 
He added: "They are getting more and more tech savvy. Now they are asking 
for cell phones with cameras attached."

At a human rights conference here on Feb. 15, defectors estimated in 
interviews that about one-third of the defectors in South Korea regularly 
talk to family members back in North Korea, calling owners of prepaid 
Chinese cell phones at a prearranged time. To counter this, North Korea has 
reportedly started border patrols using Japanese equipment that can track 
cell phone calls. Reporters tell stories of their contacts that only make 
calls from their private garden plots in the hills, burying the cell phone 
in the ground after each call. While Chinese cell phones only work a few 
miles inside North Korea, the videocassette phenomenon has reportedly spread 
throughout the nation, reaching into every area where there is electricity.

"They are within the reach of the average family," said Dr. Lankov, who 
regularly interviews recent defectors. "They watch, almost exclusively, 
smuggled and copied South Korean movies and drama. Only a few weeks after 
airing here, they will go throughout North Korea."

More than showing middle-class family lifestyles, which can be staged in a 
studio, the soap operas also provide images of a modern Seoul - the forest 
of high-rise buildings, the huge traffic jams, the late-model cars. With 
such images showing a stark contrast with primitive conditions in North 
Korea, Mr. Kim ordered the formation of a special prosecutor's office last 
November to arrest people who deal in South Korean goods, largely 
videotapes, or who use South Korean expressions or slang, analysts in South 
Korea say.

To crack down on home viewing of imported videotapes, the North Korean 
police developed the strategy of encircling a neighbourhood in the evening, 
cutting off electricity, then inspecting players to find videotapes stuck 
inside, according to Young Howard, international coordinator of the Network 
for North Korean Democracy and Human Rights, a Seoul-based group. Recent 
defectors have also told Mr. Howard that police cars with loudspeakers have 
patrolled neighbourhoods, warning residents to maintain their "socialist 
lifestyle" and to shun South Korean speech and clothing and hairstyles, he 
said.

Aggressive moves by the United States have added to the information leaking 
into North Korea. Last fall, Congress unanimously approved the North Korea 
Human Rights Act, which provides for increased Korean-language radio 
broadcasting to North Korea and for helping North Korean refugees in China.

The law has been a favourite target of harsh denunciations from North Korea. 
In January, the official radio network blamed the United States for societal 
decay, accusing Washington of increasing the broadcasting hours of Radio 
Free Asia toward North Korea and "massively infiltrating" into North Korea 
"portable transistor radios and impure publications and video materials."

Inside North Korea, social, political and economic controls have been eroded 
by two other changes over the past decade: private markets and a breakdown 
in travel restrictions, Dr. Lankov said.

"You have private money lenders, you have inns, you have brothels, you have 
canteens," he said, adding that most North Koreans survive through a 
combination of foreign aid and a fledgling private economy.

Draconian controls on internal travel and on travel to China have been 
breaking down, he said, and hundreds of thousands of North Koreans have 
traveled to and from Korean-speaking areas of China, exposing them to a 
thriving market economy and more South Korean television broadcasts.

"They are gradually learning about South Korean prosperity," Dr. Lankov 
said. "This is a death sentence to the regime. North Korea's claim to 
legitimacy is based on its ability to deliver the worker's paradise now. 
What if everyone sees that it is not delivering?"

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End CanKor # 202



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