• Reports on economic policy and sessions of the Supreme People's Assembly
• International training of DPRK officials
• Railways, including N-S rail links, ROK rail developments and Trans Siberian Railway

2005

• December
• November
• October
• September
• August
• July
• June
• May
• April
• March
• February

• NK Leader's Bank Accounts Moved to Luxembourg
  TOKYO (Yonhap) -- North Korean leader Kim Jong-il switched a number of his secret bank accounts from Switzerland to Luxembourg several years ago, a news report said Tuesday.
  North Korean officials, who have managed Kim's money in Switzerland, were confirmed as having visited Luxembourg several times, the Japanese news weekly AERA reported in its latest edition, citing former unnamed intelligence officials in South Korea.
  Kim owns a substantial percentage of the money, which is believed to be revenue from the sale of missiles and counterfeit U.S. dollars, the report said.
  The money is distributed worldwide and managed by locally established insurance companies, but controlled by the head office of North Korea's National Defense Commission, Kim's main office, the report said. [Black] [Sanctions] {personalisation]
• The Status on the Gaeseong Industrial Complex
  (As of Dec. 19)
  1. The status on the provision of telecommunications services The installation work of the telecommunications equipment provided to the Gaeseong Telephone Office was completed on December 15. The trial runs of the telecommunications network will take place around December 20 to 21. Construction works to build facilities away from the cold is underway in preparation for the ceremony to celebrate the initiation of telecommunications services on December 28. The event will be attended by around 400 guests including the Minister of Information and Communication, Minister of Unification, vice-minister of Foreign Affairs, the committee on science technology and information of the National Assembly, and members from the Committee of Women and Family.
  2. The status on authorization of businesses for the main complex On December 14, Artrang, and Mansun in the fabric, sewing, and textile cooperative division, Korea Micro Filter, and Fine Lenown were authorized to do businesses with the North. With this authorization, 13 out of 24 businesses have obtained the authorization. This week the authorization process for cooperative businesses for the apartment-type factories in the industrial complex is scheduled to take place.
• The First Pyongyang Autumn International Exhibition Opens
  About 90 Companies at Home and Abroad Participate The First Pyongyang Autumn International Commodity Exhibition was held at the Three-Revolution Exhibition on October 24 to 27. The Korea International Exhibition Corporation, its sponsor said: We will make the International Commodity Exhibition, which advertises foreign products at home and helps develop trade contacts among companies, regularly in autumn, as requested by business people at home and abroad.
• Consultation Office Opens for North-South Economic Cooperation
  An opening ceremony of the Consultation Office for the North-South Economic Cooperation took place in the Kaesong Industrial Zone on October 28. The office was opened in the Kaesong Industrial Zone in accordance with an agreement of the 10th meeting of the North-South Committee for the Promotion of Economic Cooperation. The office, an organ for liaison, assistance and consultation between the authorities of both sides to promote inter-Korean economic cooperation, will activate and realize the cooperation of economic personnel in the North and the south.
  Vice-Chairman Kim Song Il said that the establishment of the office was a meaningful fruit which showed a bright prospect for active inter-Korean economic cooperation, and that a condition for North and the South Korean economists to gather in one place and discuss problems more easily and efficiently was prepared. Kim Gwan Se, the head of the Unification Policy of the Ministry of Unification, stressed that he deeply congratulated the start of the office established in the Kaesong Industrial Zone, which was a symbol of inter-Korean exchange and cooperation, and expected that it would play an important part in the formation of an economic community in the Korea peninsula. The delegates of the North and the South unveiled a hanging board of the office. There are the South side's office on the second floor and the North side's office on the third floor in the three-floor building. The offices are managed by the North and the South jointly, and about 10 members each will be stationed there.
• Consultation Office to Promote Economic Cooperation Rapidly
  11th Meeting of NSCPEC Held The 11th meeting of the North-South Committee for the Promotion of Economic Cooperation (NSCPEC) was held at the Consultation Office of North-South Economic Cooperation newly opened in the Kaesong Industrial Zone on October 28. At the meeting both sides had consultations on the issues arising in positively promoting the already agreed economic cooperation projects and made public a joint press release of the meeting. According to the joint press release, both sides decided to continue to consult practical matters regarding the promotion of the provision of light industrial raw materials and cooperation in the development of underground natural resources as agreed upon at the 10th meeting of the NSCPEC and proposals were discussed for the realization of the relinking of railways and roads, fishery cooperation, the construction of the Kaesong Industrial Zone, the prevention of flood damage from the River Rimjin and others at an early date for the common interests of the nation.
• New Artificial Lake Paekma
  Lake Paekma, an artificial one, has come into being in the DPRK. Lake Paekma for the Paekma-Cholsan Waterway is located at the foot of Mt. Paekma in Phihyon County, North Phongan Province. Its source of water is the Samgyo River. It is the largest irrigation reservoir in the country with a capacity of reserving hundreds of millions of cubic meters of water. The waterway with a gravity-fed irrigation system fully irrigates more than 40,000 hectares of cultivated land in six cities and counties including Ryongchon, Yomju and Cholsan counties and Sinuiju City of North Pyongan Province. The lake has the main, subsidiary and overflow dams and an intake structure. In particular, the overflow dam has been built in a unique form. Kim Jong Il, the General Secretary of Workers' Party of Korea, named it "Lake Paekma".
• Irrigation System Help Solve Food Problems
  Paekma-Cholsan Waterway Completed The Paekma-Cholsan Waterway was completed and a ceremony to mark its completion was held on October 2. The more than 270 km-long waterway is a huge modern gravity-fed irrigation system to supply tens of thousands of jongmi of water (one jongmi is approximately 10,000 cubic meters) from Lake Paekma to a vast area of cultivated land in six cities and counties including Ryongchon, Yomju and Cholsan sounties and Sinuiju City. The completion of the waterway in little more than two years perfects the irrigation system in the western area of the DPRK on a higher stage.
• Foreign Stockholding Declining
  By Seo Jee-yeon Staff Reporter Foreigners' shareholdings fell below 40 percent of the main bourse market capitalization for the first time in two years as they continued selling local stocks to take profits this year. The Korea Exchange (KRX) said that foreign investors' shareholdings fell to 39.93 percent of the market capitalization of the main Korea Stock Exchange as of Tuesday from 42.03 percent at the beginning of the year. [Sovereignty]
• US Firms Welcome at Kaesong: Seoul
  WASHINGTON (Yonhap) _ South Korea's point man on North Korea called Tuesday for U.S.-based firms to operate businesses in the Kaesong industrial complex. Chung Dong-young, who is on a visit to Washington, also said Seoul's policy towards Pyongyang in the new year would be focused on easing military tension and accelerating the inter-Korean project to build a large-scale industrial town in Kaesong, North Korea. Chung's remarks came during a meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and White House national security adviser Stephen Hadley. "If the Kaesong complex project succeeds, it is likely to become the seed of changing North Korea through economic development," Chung was quoted as telling the U.S. officials.
  "If U.S. companies operate in Kaesong, it would have a symbolic meaning," Chung told Sampson. With regard to the request, Sampson was quoted as saying that U.S. firms would be able to have businesses in Kaesong as South Korean companies do. He added that as the U.S. evaluates the Kaesong industrial complex as important, it will help with the success of the complex. 12-21-2005 [Sanctions] [In denial]
• Inter-Korean trade to top $1 billion this year
  Inter-Korean trade is to surpass $1 billion this year for the first time as a result of the Gaeseong industrial complex in North Korea, a report said yesterday. The Korea International Trade Association said inter-Korean trade surged 57.7 percent from a year ago to $978.6 million in the January-November period. The figure will thus reach over $1.1 billion, based on the calculation that monthly inter-Korean trade averages $100 million, it said. The association said the operation of the industrial park in the North Korean border city Gaeseong contributed largely to the surge following the completion of the first-phase of development. [Kaesong] [Trade] [Statistics]
• NK Changes Banking Channel to Austria
  By Park Song-wu Staff Reporter North Korea has changed its main channel for financial transactions to Austria in October as its Macau route became unavailable due to Washington's continued sanctions, sources in South Korea said on Thursday. The Pyongyang regime asked Hyundai Asan, which manages the Mt. Kumgang tourism project, to transmit the sightseeing fees to a bank in Austria, they said.
  South Korean officials said that it is necessary to conduct a fact-finding process. Kim Sook, director-general of the foreign ministry's North American affairs bureau, said during an interview with a KBS radio program that Seoul expects to have a chance to see whether Washington has the evidence. ``As the U.S. first raised the issue, I think there will be a chance for us to check the fact sheet in a composed manner,'' he said. Another foreign ministry official said that Seoul needs to give Pyongyang the ``benefit of the doubt'' due to the absence of full evidence. ``But if it turns out to be true, we will take a tough stance,'' he said. In a related development, Chosun Ilbo, a South Korean daily, reported that forged dollars have been circulated in North Korean markets since early 2000. The newspaper also quoted an unidentified North Korean refugee as saying that a 100-dollar bill was traded as a commodity and the spot price of it was around 30 dollars. [Counterfeiting] [Friction] [Sanctions] [Evidence]
• Wealth Gap Widens for South, North
  By Kim Sung-jin Staff Reporter The gross national incomes (GNI) of South Korea and the North Korea showed the widest gap ever in 2004. The National Statistical Office (NSO) said that South Korea's GNI, the nation's real purchasing power, was 32.8 times larger than that of the reclusive communist nation last year. [Statistics] [Victim]
• Economic and Social Status of South and North Korea
  Summary Economic and Social Status of South and North Korea consists of analyses and statistical tables on environment, population, economy, finance, agriculture, fishery, mining and manufacturing of South and North Korea.
  ROK National Statistical Office publication
• International Aid for North Korea: Sustainable Effects or a Waste of Resources?
  By Ruediger Frank
  [Japan Focus 12 December 2005]
  The focus of international efforts in North Korea used to be on food aid. With the announcement of a policy change by the North Korean government this fall, sending home humanitarian NGO's and reinforcing the Public Distribution System for food, attention has shifted to developmental assistance. However, the basic question remains the same: Will international support improve the situation in North Korea, or will it just prop up the regime? It will probably do both, not only because "North Korea" and "the regime" are two categories that are not easily separable. But are there any visible developments that would justify taking the pain of further engagement? Thinking that the last years went by without any significant economic change in North Korea would mean ignoring reality. Walking through an extraordinary, festive Pyongyang in October 2005 - freely, without any guide, and left unmolested - I found a hand-written poster (in Korean) at a watch store reading "To celebrate the important holiday [60th anniversary of the foundation of the Korean Worker's Party, RF], we are selling many goods at a 10% discount from Oct. 10th until Oct. 31st." [Economic reforms]
• EU replaces the U.S. as 2nd-best market
  December 12, 2005 ? The European Union has replaced the United States as Korea's second- largest export market, officials here said yesterday. China is Korea's largest market
• Koreas to set direct phone ties at Kaesong
  December 10, 2005 ? The two Koreas will have the first direct telecommuncations network late this month as KT Corp., Korea's largest fixed-line operator, will establish a telephone branch in Kaesong, North Korea. "KT's first-ever North Korean branch will be set up and a telecommuncations network that directly connects the Kaesong Industrial Complex and Seoul will begin operation on Dec. 28," Nam Joong-soo, KT's chief executive, said in an interview with Yonhap News Agency. Thus far, inter-Korean telecommunication has been possible through an international telephone network routed through Japan via satellite.
• The Status on the Gaeseong Industrial Complex
  (As of Dec.5,2005)
  Agreements to initiate telecommunications services within the Gaeseong Industrial Complex before the end of this year Korea Telecom, a business in charge of telecommunications within the Gaeseong Industrial Complex, has recently negotiated and agreed with North Korea to initiate telecommunications services between the Gaeseong Industrial Complex and South Korea before the end of this year. After receiving the necessary license to export telecommunication equipment by the U.S. Department of Commerce on November 16, Korea Telecom held two negotiating sessions on November 24 and 29 with North Korea. Korea Telecom will install the necessary telecommunications equipment during mid-December, and after conducting trial-runs of the system, will initiate services that will directly connect the Gaeseong Industrial Complex and South Korea. [Sanctions] [Friction] [Sovereignty] [Kaesong]
• Kim Jong Il Gives Field Guidance to Industrial Establishments
  Pyongyang, December 5 (KCNA) -- Kim Jong Il, general secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea and chairman of the National Defence Commission of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, gave field guidance to the Pukjung Machine Complex and the Pukjung Electrode Factory. The first leg of his guidance was the Pukjung Machine Complex. After acquainting himself in detail with the modernization of the complex and its production, he expressed great satisfaction over the many successes made by the workers of the complex this year by waging a widespread technical innovation movement true to the WPK's idea of attaching importance to science
• Water Service Extension Project Completed in Pyongyang
  Pyongyang, December 2 (KCNA) -- An extension project of water-supply system has been completed in the capital city of Pyongyang. The newly laid pipes were successfully linked with the existing ones some days ago. The completion of the project makes it possible to provide ample drinking water to the citizens in Kwangbok Street and in Pothonggang, Sosong and Moranbong Districts. Several ten-thousand cubic meters of water is supplied through the newly laid pipes a day.
• National Brand Ranking Falls to 13th This Year
  By Choi Kyong-ae Staff Reporter Korea is in dire need of a systematic effort to raise its national brand value, a government- affiliated research organization said Tuesday. At the Brand Conference 2005 in Seoul, the Korea Institute for Industrial Economics and Trade, the organizer, announced the rankings of 37 countries on the basis of their national brand value. Korea ranked 13, marking the third consecutive drop in the annual rankings.
  The United States placed No. 1 with its brand value estimated at $4.165 trillion. Germany was second with $2.890 trillion; Britain third at $1.771 trillion and France came fourth at $1.639 trillion. Japan, which was third last year, slid two notches to the fifth place with its brand value amounting to $1.676 trillion. China placed eighth with a shade under the $1 trillion mark, going up one place from last year.
• FTA With ASEAN Benefits Kaesong Products
  By Ryu Jin Staff Reporter Goods made in the North Korean border city of Kaesong will likely benefit from a free trade agreement (FTA) to be signed between South Korea and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) next year, a senior presidential aide said Tuesday. ``It means that the products made in Kaesong will be treated as `Made in Korea' in the trade agreement so that they can enjoy such benefits as the preferential tariffs,'' Chung Woo-sung, presidential advisor for foreign policy, said in a press briefing. ``It is all but certain they will be included in the agreement.''
• Unification Chief to Visit Kaesong
  By Park Song-wu Staff Reporter Unification Minister Chung Dong-young will visit Kaesong, North Korea, on Friday to encourage workers at the inter-Korean industrial complex there, Seoul officials said Tuesday. It is Chung's second visit to Kaesong since Dec. 15 last year when he attended a South Korean manufacturer's inauguration of a branch factory. The visit comes prior to an inter-Korean ministerial meeting at Cheju, South Korea's resort island, next week.
• Seoul Helps NK Economic Experts
  By Park Song-wu Staff Reporter The South Korean government has recently started supporting North Korea's economic experts, the Unification Ministry belatedly confirmed on Sunday. A government body on inter-Korean exchange and cooperation held a meeting on July 29 and approved a project of supporting North Korea's economic experts, the ministry said. Accordingly, Seoul provided Pyongyang with 454 million won ($378,000) through an international organization free of charge, a ministry official said.
• Economics classes for the North
  December 05, 2005 ? South Korea has provided 454 million won ($436,748) in grants to North Korea to help the isolated communist state train experts on the market economy, a Unification Ministry official said yesterday. The government made the decision on the grants in July and is undertaking the aid plan in close cooperation with an international organization as part of its efforts to help North Korea join the international market system in a smooth manner, the official said. [Training]
• Sharp increase in applications for the visits to the Gaeseong Industrial Complex by foreigners
  (Nov.25, 2005) p051129.pdf , p051129.doc 2005-11-29
  The Gaeseong Industrial District Management Committee said that 109 foreigners from 25 countries such as the U.S., Japan, China, France and Germany have applied for invitation letters to the Gaeseong Industrial Complex and among them, the invitation letters have been issued for 104 foreigners with 49 foreigners actually paying visits to the Complex. The Committee reported that concerning the status on issuing invitation letters for foreigners, the letters were issued for 18 investors and technicians, for 32 buyers, 58 general people, with four people's visits on June, eight people's on July, two people's on October, 35 people's on November on a monthly basis. A related official from the committee said that even though increase in foreigners' applications for visits to the Complex this month was mainly due to the group visits of the members of the European Union Chamber of Commerce in Korea to the complex, the increasing numbers of the visits reflect foreigners' growing interests in the Complex, calling it a very encouraging phenomenon. [Kaesong]
• Korea's own bullet train to go into service in 2009
  December 03, 2005 ? A domestically designed bullet train will be put into service as early as 2009 as Korea's new state-sponsored train manufacturer won the first round of bidding for the Honam and Jeolla lines linking the nation's southwestern regions.
• Workers in Kaesong Can Call South This Month
  By Seo Dong-shin Staff Reporter South Koreans working in the inter-Korean industrial complex located in the North Korean border city of Kaesong will likely be able to call their homes in the South at 40 cents per minute before the year's end. Direct phone link-ups between South Korea and the Kaesong Industrial Complex will open this month, Vice Unification Minister Rhee Bong-jo said in a press briefing Thursday.
  The plan to open direct phone lines was accelerated after KT obtained approval from the United States to use equipment with U.S. components. The U.S. Department of Commerce issued a long-awaited license to KT on Nov. 16, to allow ``strategic items'' needed for installation of telecommunication equipment to be taken to the North. The U.S. bans shipments of items or technology of strategic importance to the countries it believes sponsor terrorism, including North Korea. ``The opening of the direct landlines comes with close cooperation with the U.S. We hope this has set a good example for the future development of the Kaesong Industrial Complex,'' Rhee said. [Sanctions] [Sovereignty]
• KT to open phone line between Koreas soon
  December 02, 2005 ? Rhee Bong-jo, the vice minister of unification, said yesterday that the Kaesong industrial complex in North Korea will be connected by telephone lines to South Korea before the end of the year. "KT contacted the North on Tuesday and reached an agreement on the opening of inter-Korean phone lines," Mr. Rhee said. "Construction work and testing will take place in the middle of this month." The U.S. Commerce Department recently gave KT approval to install seven dual-purpose switchboards and other electronic devices in North Korea, enabling the completion of the phone connection. Goods considered "dual-purpose" with potential military uses are strictly controlled by U.S. export regulations. Washington does not allow the export of such items to countries on its trade blacklist without prior approval. [Friction] [Sanctions] [Sovereignty]
• NK Offers More Incentives to Foreign Investors
  By Ryu Jin Staff Reporter North Korea has recently brought in a set of reform measures to revive its economy, lifting or drastically easing regulations imposed on joint-venture companies and other foreign investors, according to a source close to the socialist state Wednesday. The new guidelines, worked out by the Workers' Party and presented to its local chapters, government ministries and frontline enterprises in early November, give the foreign investors tax cuts and allow them to sell goods produced in the North in the domestic market without tariffs. Discriminatory regulations such as requesting higher costs for the use of harbors, electricity and industrial water by domestic firms were also abolished. [FDI]
• N. Korea Joins Kyoto Protocol
  By Yoon Won-sup Staff Reporter North Korea agreed to the Kyoto Protocol, an international agreement aimed at reducing emissions of greenhouse gases, last April, a South Korean government official said on Sunday. The official said on condition of anonymity that the North joined the Kyoto Protocol under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change on April 27 and that the communist country is expected to carry out the obligations stipulated in the accord. ``North Korea appears to have had the Supreme People's Assembly ratify the pact,'' he said. ``The North is likely to send its delegation to a United Nations meeting on global climate change in Montreal, Canada, on Nov. 28.''
• Trade Will Double to $1 Trillion in 10 Years
  By Kim Yon-se Staff Reporter South Korea's trade volume for this year is certain to surpass the $500 billion mark for the first time in history. The Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Energy (MOCIE) projects the nation's trade volume to double and reach $1 trillion within 10 years.
• North Korean Capital Appears Brighter
  By JAE-SOON CHANG The Associated Press Monday, November 28, 2005; 1:43 PM
  PYONGYANG, North Korea -- As dusk falls in North Korea's capital, lights beam from high-rises, apartments and shops, while street lamps cast an orange glow over scant traffic _ a surprising sight in an energy-starved country known for being shrouded in blackness at night. North Korean officials bragged of having developed ways to compensate for power shortages during a recent visit by South Koreans, who said Pyongyang appeared much brighter than in recent years. The delegation was accompanied by an Associated Press reporter.
  Still, experts say the North isn't producing nearly as much power as it needs, which is why the government insists it be given a nuclear reactor for generating electricity in exchange for giving up its atomic weapons program. It is unclear whether the brighter look of Pyongyang, the North's model city that is home to about 3 million people, was staged as a propaganda exercise for the South Koreans' trip or was a true indication of gains in power output for its struggling economy. "I was astonished to see how much Pyongyang has brightened over the past few years," said Oh Yeon-ho, head of South Korean Internet newspaper OhmyNews, which organized an inter-Korean marathon in the city this month. "When I was here a few years ago, Pyongyang was in almost total darkness."
• Perils of Investing in N. Korea Become Clear to a Pioneer
  By Anthony Faiola and Joohee Cho Washington Post Foreign Service Thursday, November 24, 2005; Page A23
  SEOUL -- Hyundai Group, a major industrial conglomerate, pioneered South Korean economic development in North Korea in recent years, building hotels and restaurants and sending busloads of cash-laden tourists across the world's most militarized border. At the same time, company officials argued that they were giving their communist northern kin a lesson in capitalism. But instead Hyundai has learned a hard lesson: Doing business on the Cold War's last frontier can make bad business sense. Hyundai is attempting to resolve a dispute with the North Korean government that has jeopardized more than $1 billion worth of investments and cast a shadow on South Korea's "sunshine policy" of engagement with the North. [Friction]
• Made in which Korea?
  [EDITORIALS] JoongAng Ilbo 4 November 2005
  James R. Lilley, a former U.S. ambassador to South Korea, said it would be difficult for the United States to regard import goods produced in the Kaesong Industrial Complex as South Korea products. Although Mr. Lilley is out of service at the moment, he is still one of the leading experts on issues regarding the Korean Peninsula. The fate of the Kaesong Industrial Complex, a symbol of inter-Korean economic cooperation, is highly likely to depend on the issue of which country should be labeled as the products' origin. Meanwhile, negotiations with the United States played a crucial role in allowing strategic goods such as computers in and out of the North Korea-based complex. The remaining issue now is how to declare the place of origin for goods produced in the Kaesong complex. According to international convention, they should be labeled "made in North Korea." However, countries like the United States and Japan either ban the import of made-in-North Korea products or impose a heavy tariff rate. In such a situation, it will be almost impossible to export goods produced in the Kaesong complex. [Friction] [Sanctions] [Sovereignty]

• Agreement on Cooperation in Trade Signed between DPRK and Venezuela
  Pyongyang, November 15 (KCNA) -- An agreement on cooperation in trade was signed between the governments of the DPRK and the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela in Caracas on Nov. 8. It was inked by the minister of Foreign Trade who is heading a government economic delegation of the DPRK and the minister of Light Industry and Commerce of Venezuela.
• Seoul-Kaesong Telephone Link-Ups Will Open This Year
  By Seo Dong-shin and Kim Tae-gyu Staff Reporters South Korea will start installing telecommunications equipment in the Kaesong Industrial Complex in North Korea with the aim of opening direct telephone link-ups between the two Koreas this year, officials at the Unification Ministry and KT said yesterday. KT is the South's biggest fixed-line operator. The long-delayed move was given a go-ahead as the U.S. Department of Commerce Wednesday approved the South's shipment to the North of seven product materials needed for the installation of the equipment. Under the Export Administration Regulation (EAR), the U.S. bans exports of items or technology believed to be of strategic importance to countries considered to sponsor terrorism, including North Korea. The rule applies to materials of which more than 10 percent of components are sourced from the U.S. The U.S. issued the first-ever license for inter- Korean business to KT, thanks to the coordinated efforts of relevant government agencies in South Korea, KT executives said. The Seoul government hopes that the planned direct telecommunication lines will help ease the difficulties of southern businesses that operate factories using North Korean manpower in the Kaesong Industrial Complex [Sanctions][Friction]
• DPRK Cadres Visit New Power Station
  Pyongyang, November 14 (KCNA) -- Leading Officials of ministries and national institutions visited the newly built Naephyong Kunmin Power Station No. 2 on Nov. 13. The power station jointly built by servicepersons and people in Kangwon Province is another proud edifice in the era of Songun strikingly demonstrating the validity and vitality of the idea of the army-people unity of the Workers' Party of Korea. Leader Kim Jong Il, after going round the power station recently, highly praised the servicepersons and their helpers for having constructed by their concerted efforts the power station of eternal value for the prosperity of the country and the happiness of the posterity. The construction of the gigantic and modern power station makes it possible to supply enough electricity needed for the economic development of the country and the cultural life of the servicepersons and the people
• Number of NK Students Enrolled in US Increases
  By Seo Dong-shin Staff Reporter The number of North Korean students enrolled in higher education institutions in the United States rose in the academic year 2004-2005, despite an overall decline in the number of international students enrolled in the U.S., according to a U.S. report released on Wednesday. Two hundred and nineteen North Korean students studied in the U.S at higher education institutions during that period, a 25.6 percent increase from the 174 who studied in the U.S. in 2003-2004, according to the Open Doors 2005 report published annually by the U.S. based Institute of International Education (IIE). One hundred and sixty-eight or 76.7 percent were undergraduate students. Forty-five or 20.5 percent were graduate students. South Korea, meanwhile, sent the third largest group to the U.S., with 53,358 students, up two percent from the previous year. India tops the list with 80,466 students, followed by China with 62,523.
• DPRK Cabinet Hosts Reception for Delegation of Korean Traders and Industrialists in Japan
  Pyongyang, November 12 (KCNA) -- The DPRK Cabinet hosted a reception at the Mansudae Assembly Hall on Friday evening in honor of the delegation of Korean traders and industrialists in Japan on a visit to the socialist homeland to mark the 60th anniversary of the formation of the Federation of Korean Traders and Industrialists in Japan. Present on invitation was the delegation with Ryang Su Jong, vice- chairman of the Central Standing Committee of the General Association of Korean Residents in Japan (Chongryon), as its adviser and Ri Pong Guk, chairman of the federation, as its head. Premier of the Cabinet Pak Pong Ju, Vice- Minister of Foreign Trade Ri Myong San, and officials concerned were present.
• Pak Pong Ju Meets Delegation of Korean Traders and Industrialists in Japan
  Pyongyang, November 11 (KCNA) -- Premier of the DPRK Cabinet Pak Pong Ju Friday met and had a compatriotic talk with a delegation of Korean traders and industrialists in Japan with Ryang Su Jong, vice-chairman of the Central Standing Committee of the General Association of Korean Residents in Japan, as its adviser and with Ri Pong Guk, chairman of the Federation of Korean Traders and Industrialists in Japan, as its head on a visit to the socialist homeland on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the formation of the FKTIJ at the Mansudae Assembly Hall.
• Grain Threshing Makes Brisk Headway
  Pyongyang, November 8 (KCNA) -- All farms across the country are concentrating all efforts on grain thrashing to conclude the year's farming as early as possible. According to data available from the Ministry of Agriculture, the thrashing of rice and maize is progressing 1.3 times faster than it did in the same period of last year, taking the country as a whole, thanks to the high-pitched labor drive waged by the officials and other working people in the field of agriculture and their helpers.
• Decision of the 57th Meeting of Council of Korea- China Hydroelectric Power Company Signed
  Beijing, November 7 (KCNA) -- A decision of the 57th meeting of the Council of the Korea-China Hydroelectric Power Company was signed in Beijing on Monday. Present at the signing ceremony from the DPRK side were members of the DPRK delegation headed by Vice-Minister of Electricity and Coal Industries Sin Yong Song who is managing director of the council of the DPRK and Choe Jin Su, DPRK ambassador to China, and from the Chinese side members of the Chinese delegation headed by Zheng Baoshen, deputy director general of the China State Electric Network Corporation, who is managing director of the council of China.
• Kim Jong Il Inspects New Power Station
  Pyongyang, November 7 (KCNA) -- Supreme Commander of the Korean People's Army Kim Jong Il, general secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea and chairman of the National Defense Commission of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, inspected the Naephyong No. 2 Kunmin Power Station built by servicepersons of Large Combined Unit 549 of the KPA in cooperation with people in the area where they are stationed
• Seoul Cautious in Setting Up S-N Cooperation Body
  By Ryu Jin Staff Reporter South Korea will take a phased and cautious approach in setting up a state-run corporation, which would be in charge of inter-Korean economic cooperation projects, Chong Wa Dae said Monday. In a meeting of related Cabinet ministers earlier this month, the government decided to push for the establishment of the corporation, while taking into account the development of economic cooperation between the two Koreas, according to the presidential office. ``There was a brainstorming session and participants agreed on the need to approach the issue in a systematic and prudent manner as its establishment requires a careful preparation process,'' presidential spokesman Kim Man-soo told reporters.
• Landmark event: EUCCK delegation visits Gaesong
  (Nov.2, 2005) In a landmark event, the European Union Chamber of Commerce in Korea (EUCCK, www.eucck.org), in association with the Ministry of Unification, organized a field trip for European Investors to Gaesong Industrial Project Complex in North Korea on November 2nd.This is the first time that the complex has thrown open its doors to a delegation of foreign investors from South Korea, so that they get a first hand feel of the development that is taking place. The Gaeseong Industrial Complex development project is an unprecedented project since it goes beyond existing inter-Korean economic cooperation programs, under which the two Koreas make a concerted effort to pursue mutual interests. It is expected that the combination of South Korea's capital and technology with North Korea's land and labor will ease the burden of high production costs facing South Korean companies and contribute to resolving the economic slowdown in North Korea. The project is also wooing European Investors who can contribute to making it a success. The EUCCK is therefore providing its full support to the completion of the project and is giving its full cooperation to the Ministry of Unification in this endeavor. [FDI] [Kaesong]
• Kim Jong Il Inspects New Duck Farm Built by Servicepersons
  Pyongyang, November 5 (KCNA) -- Supreme Commander of the Korean People's Army Kim Jong Il, general secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea and chairman of the National Defence Commission of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, inspected the new Duck Farm No. 115 built by servicepersons of the KPA. The farm covering a total plottage of more than 50,000 square meters has been equipped with the latest facilities under a far-reaching plan of Kim Jong Il to supply more meat and eggs to the people. [Military economy]
• Trade Minister Sees 'Small Unification' in Kaesong Complex
  By Ryu Jin Staff Reporter Minister for Trade Kim Hyun-chong South Korean enterprises can find good opportunities in the joint industrial complex of Kaesong in North Korean in terms of economy and trade, Seoul's trade minister said on Sunday. ``I have a feeling a small reunification is taking place in the industrial park there,'' Minister for Trade Kim Hyun-chong said on his recent trip to Kaesong in an interview with Yonhap news agency. ``It could be an alternative for South Korean companies.'' He cited the low prices of products made in Kaesong and the low wages there as the basis for his belief that Kaesong is a suitable object for investment. ``At present there are 15 companies but this could grow to 2,000 with roughly a million people working in the plants or in related service industries,'' he said, stressing that the park would not only contribute to the North's economy but be beneficial to outside investors.
• The Joint Statement of the 11th Meeting of the Inter-Korean Economic Cooperation Promotion Committee
  (Oct.28,2005)
• Spring Water Wasabi Goods Enjoying Popularity
  Pyongyang, October 26 (KCNA) -- The goods of natural spring water wasabi (a kind of horseradish) exhibited by the Korea Pugang Company are enjoying popularity at the ongoing First Pyongyang Autumn International Commodity Fair. Typical of them are spices and kimchi made with wasabi growing in quality spring water in different parts of the country including Mts. Kumgang, Myohyang and Chilbo under the ecological environment free from pollution.
• 'NK Essential for Building Northern Economy'
  By Seo Dong-shin Staff Reporter Vice Unification Minister Rhee Bong-jo A top Unification Ministry official said Wednesday that it is time to look at ways of linking the Korean Peninsula to the continent by opening the era of the ``Northern economy.'' ``We'll be able to embody the geographical and economical characteristics of the peninsula completely when we recover the missing piece called North Korea,'' said Rhee Bong-jo, vice minister of unification, during a seminar organized by the Junghak Institute, a private think tank in Seoul. To open the era, three kinds of networks _ physical distribution, energy and communications _ must be set up to link the Korean Peninsula with the continent, Rhee said. He stressed that it is time for the concept of economic community on the peninsula, which pertains to the peace mechanism of the region. ``In the process of building the economic community, military tensions will ease,'' he said. Noting economic and social changes in North Korea, Rhee also said that ``there is no going back'' in expanding inter-Korean ties. This year will become a milestone in that the number of separated family members who have been reunited surpassed 10,000, he said. Since 1998, the number of those who visited North Korea has passed 100,000, while the number of South Korean tourists to Mt. Kumgang reached one million as of June this year. Rhee also predicted that inter-Korean trade will top $1 billion by the end of the year.
• Among firms in the North, marketing strategies take hold
  November 05, 2005 ? While capitalism may still be a rather unfamiliar concept in North Korea, the idea of actively marketing products seems to have taken root, a phenomenon that government officials attribute to the recent Arirang festival that saw many tourists spending their money in the North. One North Korean trading company has produced a brochure in which a North Korean woman wearing hanbok, the traditional Korean attire, promotes a skin lotion and "nutrition cream" called "spring scent" that the company claims is four to five times more effective than Japanese products. The brochure explains the company's product line, which includes night creams, and features company officials in a photo along with an e- mail address for contact purposes. A shop at the Koryo Hotel in Pyongyang features an advertising slogan for a Chinese-made motorcycle that says: "Before you saddle a Bugang motorcycle, don't discuss the features of motorcycles!" The poster also advertises a warranty under which repairs will be made for free. North Korea's Choson Bugang Trading Co. imports the motorcycles from China and sells them under the Bugang brand name. The marketing is not only visible in Pyongyang but also in the Kaesong area, where South Korean tourists have begun to venture. A traditional North Korean inn posted an advertisement for an eel dish at the Pakyon Waterfall that read: "We broil eels that taste so good you will regret it if you don't taste them today!" A government official said yesterday that measures taken three years ago to stimulate the North's ailing economy have encouraged North Korean companies to switch to a performance- oriented system and compete. "This is why North Korean companies that didn't care much about sales previously are now engaged in a sales competition using advertising phrases that are close to capitalism," said the official. by Lee Young-jong
• Americans unlikely to see Kaesong goods
  November 05, 2005 ? James Lilley, a former U.S. ambassador to Korea, said yesterday that it will be hard for the United States to import products made in the Kaesong Industrial Complex for "geographical" reasons. According to Mr. Lilley, one of the major trade issues that South Korea and the United States will face in the near future is U.S. imports of Kaesong-made products. "The United States cannot regard those goods as 'made in South Korea' because they were produced in the North Korean border city," he told businessmen at a briefing organized by the Korea International Trade Association. The Koreas recently opened a joint economic cooperation office at the complex, which was developed with the South's capital and employs North Korean workers. [Sanctions]

• China, N.Korea Plan Large-Scale Railway Link
  Economic cooperation between North Korea and China is to be given a massive shot in the arm with an agreement to open the North's railroads to the Chinese. Beijing has pledged to provide support with heavy industry. Under the agreement, the Chinese and North Korean railway ministries and Chinese railway companies will set up a joint corporation, and the North has agreed to open all its railways to the corporation, the Yazhou Zhoukan magazine reported Sunday. It would open up new trading routes between Pyongyang and Shenyang, Chongjin, Najin and Tumen. The corporation will buy 200 used freight trains for some 30 million yuan, with another 500 to 1,000 trains to be acquired in the long term. A significant number of Chinese and Hong Kong-based companies have reportedly signaled interest in the project. (englishnews@chosun.com )
• Pujon Potato Starch Factory Built
  Pyongyang, October 25 (KCNA) -- The Pujon Potato Starch Factory situated in the township of Pujon County, South Hamgyong Province, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, was commissioned on the occasion of the 60th birthday of the Workers' Party of Korea. It, with a total floor space of over 3,000 square meters, covers more than 20,000 square meters. It has a capacity to produce thousands of tons of potato starch a year. All the production processes ranging from weighing, measuring dirt and starch content of potatoes, pulverizing, processing and heating to packing are operated on an assembly-line.
• DPRK Markets: A Defector's Perspective
  October 25th, 2005
  The Institute of Far Eastern Studies at Kyungnam University released this report on the status of markets in the DPRK. The report states: "However, as North Koreans gradually become more quality- conscious, Chinese-made goods will loose market strength, especially as better quality imports -- such as those from South Korea, which are imported on a limited basis -- begin to raise the awareness of North Koreans." [Economic reforms] [Markets]
• First Pyongyang Autumn International Commodity Exhibition Opens
  Pyongyang, October 24 (KCNA) -- The First Pyongyang Autumn International Commodity Exhibition was open at the Three-Revolution Exhibition Monday. Attending the opening ceremony were Ro Tu Chol, vice-premier of the DPRK Cabinet, Rim Kyong Man, minister of Foreign Trade, Ryang Man Gil, chairman of the Pyongyang City People's Committee, officials concerned, delegations and delegates of the DPRK and various countries and regions [Opening]
• DP Leader Proposes S-N Business Corps
  By Seo Dong-shin Staff Reporter Rep. Hahn Hwa-kap of the Democratic Party (DP) Monday suggested an investment fund and business corps for North Korea be set up in the South. In a speech at the National Assembly, Han, chairman of the third largest opposition DP, said that the inter-Korean exchanges, especially business transactions in the civilian field, should be expanded according to the principle of separation of politics and economy.
• Forming and runing a civilian assessment team to enhance transparency of the spending of the Inter-Korean Cooperation Fund
  (Oct.20, 2005)
  1.The South Korean government formed a nine-member assessment team consisting of civilian experts to enhance transparency of the spending of the Inter-Korean Cooperation Fund. The team is composed of four consultants from accounting firms, three from civilian organizations and two experts on inter-Korean relations. 2. The civilian assessment team will check the funds already spent up to now for its efficiency, appropriateness and transparency, and suggest measures to enhance transparency and efficiency in its spending before the end of this year in response to the expansion of inter-Korean economic cooperation. The South Korean government will incorporate the suggestions provided by the civilian assessment team into the results of its own assessment and ones of the Board of Audit and Inspection of Korea. Based on the incorporated results, it will improve necessary systems and ensure that the Inter-Korean Cooperation Fund will be executed in an improved way. 3. Starting from next year, the government will make a use of the civilian assessment team as a monitoring organization to evaluate the details of the fund's spending on a quarterly basis. [Corruption]
• Sand imports from North surge
  October 24, 2005 ? Imports of North Korean sand jumped in this year's first nine months from a year earlier, the Korea International Trade Association said yesterday. The South imported 2.1 million cubic meters of sand from the communist state worth $15.7 million from January to September, up 1,321 percent from the same period last year, figures from the group showed. Seoul officials attribute the rise to an inter- Korean agreement that shortens the sea route linking South Korea's western port city of Incheon and Haeju in the North, which increased profits for South Korean sand importers.
• Wonsanman Saltern Pays off
  Pyongyang, October 21 (KCNA) -- The newly built Wonsanman Saltern situated in Yomjon-ri, Chonnae County, Kangwon Province of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, is meeting the demand of the province for salt from this year. The province had to bring salt from western coastal areas so far. True to the behest of President Kim Il Sung and intention of leader Kim Jong Il on building a saltern in the eastern coastal area to solve the salt issue there, people of the province started the construction of the saltern in reed fields in March Juche 87 (1998). They had never suspended the huge project of three stages even in difficult conditions and thus succeeded in building salt fields covering hundreds of hectares. The saltern, which has already overfulfiled this year's production plan, also produces refined salt. Kim Jong Il, who called at the saltern on a sultry day of July this year, was very satisfied with the grand industrial construction carried out by the province for the people and clearly indicated the ways for increasing salt production.
• Group: Most inter-Korean businesses end badly
  October 22, 2005 ? After North Korea threatened to cut off its business relations with Hyundai Asan, a civic group here claimed yesterday that most South Korean companies which had established joint ventures with the North have suffered perennial losses. The Forum for Inter-Korea Relations, a coalition of civic groups focusing on inter-Korean economic exchanges, said most of the 1,000 South Korean companies that forged business deals with the North had either declared bankruptcy or given up mid-venture. The number of inter-Korean joint ventures continued to grow after the June 2000 summit between the two Koreas, but many of the firms have performed poorly. The Korea Institute of National Unification conducted a survey earlier this year of 150 South Korean firms that had traded with the North, and 45 companies said they ceased business within six years of its launch. In another survey, 30 percent of the 241 firms which operated factories in the North said they also shut down in the first year of business. Only 22 firms continued business for more than five years. In addition to small-scale joint ventures, South Korean conglomerates also suffered from the peculiar nature of doing business with the communist regime. Daewoo built a clothing manufacturing facility in the North in 1996, but stopped its operation in 1999 after losing more than $10 million annually. Hyundai Asan, in its seven years of operating tours to Mount Kumgang, recorded hardly any profit. "North Korea's attitude is extremely disappointing," said Nam Sung-wook, an economics professor at Korea University. "The North has no respect for basic business ethics and, by threatening Hyundai Asan, it made a bad bet. It may see short-term gains, but in the long term, no one will want to do business with it." Hyundai Asan yesterday said its officials, scheduled to visit Pyongyang today for talks to discuss the firm's new tour program to Mount Paektu, were unable to leave as planned because the North did not invite them. Meanwhile, Kim Yoon-kyu, fired from the business's leadership on charges of embezzlement, is expected to return to Seoul from China today. by Ser Myo-ja
• Koreas Discuss Agenda for Economic Talks
  SEOUL (Yonhap) _ Working-level officials from South and North Korea met Thursday in the North's border town of Kaesong to fine-tune the agenda for their upcoming economic cooperation talks, officials at Seoul's Unification Ministry said. It is the first time for the two
• Hyundai considers India diesel engines
  October 19, 2005 ? Hyundai Motor Co., Korea's largest automaker, said it may produce diesel engines in India for locally assembled cars, cutting costs and making them more affordable in Asia's fourth-biggest automobile market. Hyundai, with $500 million of investments earmarked until 2008 for raising its share of India's vehicle market to 25 percent by 2010, is studying a plan to make diesel engines, said S.S. Yang, the carmaker's managing director for India. Hyundai may fit diesel engines on Santro and Getz compact cars in India. Vehicles that burn diesel, which is up to 25 percent cheaper than gasoline in India, are increasingly popular.
• International Commodity Exhibition to Be Held
  Pyongyang, October 17 (KCNA) -- The First Autumn International Commodity Exhibition will be held in Pyongyang from October 24 to 27 under the sponsorship of the Korean International Exhibition Corporation. The exhibition will be participated in by foreign enterprises from Europe, Asia and the rest of the world. On display there will be equipment for developing latest technologies and various kinds of ironware, machine tools, poultry facilities, medicines, agricultural chemicals and fertilizers, petrol chemical goods, electric and electronic goods, foodstuffs and daily necessities. During the exhibition trade consultations and exchanges will be conducted and joint venture and economic cooperation between enterprises discussed. More than 80 companies and enterprises in China, Romania, Malaysia, Thailand, Japan, Taiwan, Italy and Sweden have applied for the participation and have been registered. The number of applicants continues to increase. The Korean International Exhibition Corporation organizes the international commodity show in each May and October in order to promote cooperation and trade activities.
• Tobacco firm has Pyongyang plant
  October 18, 2005 ? British American Tobacco has been secretly operating a factory in North Korea for the past four years despite Britain's position that it will not officially support investment in the country due to Pyongyang's nuclear aspirations, a British newspaper reported yesterday. According to The Guardian, BAT, the world's second-largest cigarette manufacture, has been quietly operating the plant in the communist country's capital city. The British company launched its joint venture with North Korea in September 2001 after signing a deal with a state-owned firm, Korea Sogyong Trading Corporation. The British firm made an initial investment of $7.1 million and owns 60 percent of the joint venture, Taesong-BAT, the report said. [Double standards]
• Chilgol Korean Restaurant Opens
  Pyongyang, October 14 (KCNA) -- The Chilgol Korean Dishes-serving Restaurant was opened to public with due ceremony in the time-honored area of Mangyongdae on Oct. 13. The restaurant was built thanks to the deep loving care shown by leader Kim Jong Il for making the excellent tradition of the Korean nation shine forever and the ardent patriotic desire of overseas Koreans to contribute to the prosperity of their motherland. The two-storey building has a dining hall capable of accommodating 150 persons at a time, ondol (Korean floor heater) rooms, a wedding hall and souvenir stalls, etc. The restaurant will mainly serve traditional Korean dishes such as rice-cake soup, cold noodle, tangogi soup, fried rice, green gram pancake and unrefined liquor, etc. according to 24 subdivisions of the seasons. It will also produce and sell foodstuffs such as bean-curd needed for the diet of Koreans. The opening ceremony was attended by overseas Koreans visiting the socialist homeland. Han Yong Suk, manager of the restaurant, made an opening address to be followed by a speech by Han Sung Su, Korean residing in Australia. The participants looked round the restaurant after the ceremony
• S. Korea, Russia to Jointly Develop Natural Gas
  Seoul and Moscow have agreed to cooperate on developing natural gas reserves in Siberia, finance officials said Wednesday. Finance and Economy Minister Han Duck-soo met with Russian Transport Minister Igor Levitin and agreed to sign a contract this year to promote joint energy projects. The two countries will work towards the construction of a pipeline to transport gas from Siberia to South Korea, officials said. They also agreed on boosting joint development of other energy resources, space technology transfers and construction of transportation infrastructure. In addition, South Korea and Russia plan to hold a meeting with North Korea on linking the Trans-Siberian Railway and the Trans-Korean Railway, the finance ministry said. 09-28-2005 19:33
• S-N Joint Farming to Start Next Year
  By Seo Dong-shin Staff Reporter Lee Myung-soo, left, vice minister of agriculture and forestry and the South's top delegate to the inter-Korean cooperation committee on agriculture, shakes hands with his North Korean counterpart Moon Ung-jo after signing an agreement on agricultural cooperation in Kaesong, North Korea, late Friday. Joint Press Corps South and North Korea will select a few collective farms in the North for cooperation on agricultural management early next year, a Unification Ministry official said on Sunday. South Korea will provide fertilizer aid, agricultural machinery and technology to the farms as early as February or March when the farming season begins on the Korean Peninsula, Bahk Heung-yuel, coordinator for South-North dialogue at the ministry, told The Korea Times.
• Tobacco firm has secret North Korea plant Firm with Tories' Ken Clarke on payroll runs factory in country with grim human rights record
  Ian Cobain and David Leigh Monday October 17, 2005 The Guardian British American Tobacco, the world's second largest cigarette company, has secretly been operating a factory in North Korea for the past four years, the Guardian has learned. The company opened the plant in a joint venture with a state owned corporation shortly before the regime was denounced by George Bush as a member of the "axis of evil", and despite widespread concern over the country's human rights record. BAT has never mentioned the factory in its annual accounts, and it is thought that many shareholders are unaware of its links with the country.
  BAT launched its business in North Korea in September 2001 after forming a joint venture company with a state-owned enterprise called the Korea Sogyong Trading Corporation, whose main interest had previously been exporting carpets. BAT made an initial investment of $7.1m in the enterprise, and owns 60% of the company they formed, which is known as Taesong-BAT. It has since increased its investment, but declines to say by how much. This company employs 200 people at its factory in Pyongyang, the capital, producing up to two billion cigarettes a year. It initially produced an inexpensive brand called Kumgansan, named after a mountain in the east of the country, and is now producing brands that are known as Craven A and Viceroy. Despite its previous involvement in smuggling, BAT denies that any of its cigarettes produced in North Korea are intended for the Chinese market, and insists that they are all for consumption in North Korea. [Double standards] [human rights] [FDI]
• GNP Proposes Inter-Korean Economic Zone
  By Jung Sung-ki Staff Reporter The main opposition Grand National Party (GNP) Friday proposed that a special inter-Korean economic zone connecting border cities of the two Koreas be established, as part of efforts to achieve the reunification of the peninsula. In a speech at the National Assembly, Rep. Kang Jae-up, floor leader of the GNP, called for the inauguration of a pan-government ad hoc committee for the new economic zone. Members of the panel include lawmakers and business leaders as well, he said. The proposed economic zone encompasses the South's Paju near the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) and the North's Kaesong industrial complex and Haeju.
• European Union Holds Workshop on N. Korean Economic Reform
  By Park Song-wu Staff Reporter
  The European Union and North Korea held a four-day workshop on economic reform in Pyongyang, the second of its kind, the Delegation of the European Commission in South Korea said in a press release Friday. The first workshop was held in the North's capital in August 2004 to get a general overview of economic transition processes and the changes in the communist country since 2002. Main topics of the seminar, which began on Sept. 11, included the role of the state in economic management, strategies to attract foreign direct investment and the restructuring of state-owned enterprises and agriculture, the delegation in Seoul said. North Korea's Vice Foreign Minister Kung Sok-ung led its delegation to the workshop, which was attended by almost 100 North Korean officials from economy-related ministries and institutions. [Economic reforms] [Training]
• DPRK and China Cooperate in Economy
  Pyongyang, October 11 (KCNA) -- An agreement on economic and technological cooperation between governments of the DPRK and China was signed at the Mansudae Assembly Hall on Monday. Present at the signing-ceremony from the DPRK side were Vice-Premier of the Cabinet Ro Tu Chol, Minister of Foreign Trade Rim Kyong Man, Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs Kim Yong Il, Vice-Minister of Construction and Building Materials Industries Yun Su Ryong, Vice-Minister of Foreign Trade Ri Ryong Nam and other officials concerned, and from the Chinese side were members of the Chinese government delegation led by Wu Yi, member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and vice-premier of the State Council of China, and Chinese Ambassador to the DPRK Wu Donghe. The agreement was inked by Rim Kyong Man and Bo Xilai, minister of Commerce of China. Meanwhile, an agreement on establishment of joint venture enterprise between the DPRK Ministry of Foreign Trade and the Chinese Wugang Group Corporation was signed.
• N. Korea to Produce Joint Films With Foreigners
  By Kim Ki-tae Staff Reporter PUSAN _ Pyongyang, one of the most reclusive regimes in the world, is in favor of cooperating with other nations to make films, said director Park Jun-hee, who just completed the film ``The Secret of Rikidozan,'' the first co-production by China and North Korea. ``It was not us but the North which first suggested the co-production,'' Park said on Monday during a press conference at the Paradise Hotel in Pusan. He was visiting on the occasion of the 10th Pusan International Film Festival. ``They even sent a script of the late Korean wrestler Rikidozan, which I think was quite well written.'' Director Park, whose Chinese name is Piao Zunxi, is an ethnic Korean working at Changchun Film Studio in China. He said the joint production was first initiated last May and began shooting last October. Most of the scenes were shot in North Korea. ``While shooting, the North's authority even helped us mobilize more than 5,000 extras in a gymnasium around 13 hours a day for some 10 days. Without complaint, everyone moved like a single person,'' Park said.
• Trade Minister Plans to Visit Kaesong
  By Kim Yon-se Staff Reporter Trade Minister Kim Hyun-chong will visit a large- scale industrial park being built in the North Korean town with South Korean capital on a mission to make it attractive to foreign investors. During his visit, Kim will try to see how Korea's free trade agreement (FTA) will help boost the Kaesong complex. South Korea signed an FTA with two countries _ Chile and Singapore. A clause under the pacts provisionally allows goods produced in Kaesong to have the same status as those produced in the South.
• Pyongyang Bicycle Joint Venture Factory Commissioned
  Pyongyang, October 8 (KCNA) -- The Pyongyang Bicycle Joint Venture Factory has been commissioned. The factory, a joint venture by the DPRK Committee for Promotion of External Economic Cooperation and the Tianjin, China, Digital Trade Company, Ltd., will produce various kinds of bicycles of good quality for the convenience of the Korean people's living. A commissioning ceremony was held on the spot on October 7. Congratulatory speeches were made at the ceremony. Paek Hyon Bong, chairman of the DPRK committee, expressed thanks to the Chinese friends for making sincere efforts for the commissioning of the factory, noting that the commissioning of the factory in a significant period greeting the 60th birthday of the Workers' Party of Korea is of very significance in the favorably developing relations of economic cooperation between the DPRK and China. The construction of the factory made him feel that if the two peoples sincerely cooperate with each other for their common interests, they will achieve greater successes, he said, expressing the conviction that the production and operation of the factory will record a great good result. Chinese Ambassador to the DPRK Wu Donghe expressed the belief that both sides of China and the DPRK would actively cooperate with each other to successfully operate the factory and set an example of reciprocal cooperation between the two countries, saying that China and the DPRK are directing great efforts to the economic development, the strengthening of national power and socialist construction for the promotion of the standard of people's living. Liang Tongjun, managing director of the Tianjin, China, Digital Trade Company, Ltd., in his speech hoped that the two peoples would pool their efforts to turn out good products and contribute to meeting the vital and productive requirements of the Korean people. A commissioning address was made. A reception was given in connection with the commissioning of the factory in the evening.
• Pyongyang Electric Appliances Joint Venture Company Commissioned
  Pyongyang, October 7 (KCNA) -- The Pyongyang electric Appliances Joint Venture Company was commissioned Thursday. The company is a joint venture of the DPRK Card Watt-hour Meter Assembling Factory and the Chinese Beijing Fu Xing Xiao Cheng Electronic Technology Stock Co., Ltd. It will produce card watt-hour meters needed for scientifically controlling the consumption of electricity. The production of this type of meters will contribute to the development of national economy as they will help factories, enterprises and families make a rational use of electricity. [Economic reforms]
• Ro Tu Chol Meets President of SG Automotive Group, China
  Pyongyang, October 7 (KCNA) -- Vice-Premier of the DPRK Cabinet Ro Tu Chol Friday met and had a talk with Li Hai Yang, president of the SG Automotive Group of China, and his party at the Mansudae Assembly Hall in a friendly atmosphere. On the occasion the president said that he would contribute to the development of the Sino-Korean relations of friendship by consolidating economic cooperation with Korea. He wished the Korean people greater success in the construction of socialism.
• Dam Project of Nyongwon Power Station Completed
  Nyongwon, October 5 (KCNA) -- The Nyongwon Power Station has been built in the upper reaches of the River Taedong as a gift of loyalty to the 60th anniversary of the Workers' Party of Korea by Korean People's Army soldiers and builders. The dam of the power station is another monumental edifice of the Songun era which was built across the breadth of the river flowing in the remote mountainous region thanks to President Kim Il Sung's grand nature-harnessing plan and leader Kim Jong Il's wise guidance. A commissioning ceremony took place here on Oct. 5.
• Pyongyang IP Center Brisk in Operation
  Pyongyang, October 5 (KCNA) -- The Pyongyang IP Center is conducting brisk business activities. It was founded with a mission to register intellectual products, protect them and realize their commercial circulation under the deep care of the government of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea which is directing many efforts to the development of the intellectual industry with information as the resources. The center consists of sections for research and development consultancy, intellectual property and for technology transfer. The work of the intellectual property section is done by the Pyongyang Patent and Trademark Agency that has the longest history and is biggest in scale among the intellectual property law firms of the DPRK. [Economic reforms]
• Kim Jong Il Gives On-the-spot Guidance to Completed Taean Friendship Glass Factory
  Pyongyang, October 4 (KCNA) -- Kim Jong Il, general secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea and chairman of the DPRK National Defence Commission, gave on-the-spot guidance to the completed Taean Friendship Glass Factory. He was greeted on the spot by Ryang Jang Gyun, vice- minister of Construction and Building Materials Industries, and leading officials of the factory. The factory built with grant-in-aid provided by the Chinese party and government is a symbol of the DPRK-China friendship growing stronger day by day
  Noting that the Taean Friendship Glass Factory has been built on the highest level from its design to technical equipment and construction, he expressed great satisfaction with the fact that the modern glass factory has been successfully completed in a short span of time thanks to the high-pitched drive waged by the builders of the two countries. The Chinese party and government with Comrade Hu Jintao as General Secretary provided a modern glass factory to us free in the period when we were undergoing a trial and rendered sincere help in its construction, he said, adding that the Korean people feel grateful for their disinterested fraternal friendship and cooperation and will always remember and set store by this great friendship. [China] [Aid]
• Feeding the People: Possible Agricultural Normalization in North Korea
  Nam Sung-wook EAST ASIAN REVIEW . Vol. 14, No. 3, Autumn 2002, pp. 87-115
  INTRODUCTION Throughout the 1950s and 60s, Kim Il-sung stressed the significance of agricultural administration and its role in socialist economic development. Rapid development, he reasoned, would satisfy the food demand as well as facilitate industrial development by providing the raw materials for light industry. It was clear that the North Korean government saw agriculture as the linchpin in overall economic development, and to that end, demanded the active participation of farmers in government policy, promising that the government would do its utmost efforts to guarantee efficient food production. As a result of those endeavors, the North Korean government managed to produce enough food to meet the demand until the end of 1980s, despite the relatively limited amount of arable land and the 2 to 3 percent population increase. However, the situation for North Korea's agriculture has been desperate since the mid 1990s. National disasters and economic failures have plagued the country resulting in persistent food shortages that have left countless people starving. [Agriculture]
• North Korean Markets and the Reactivation of the Public Distribution System: Dialogue between a Pessimist and an Optimist
  By Ruediger Frank
  Policy Forum Online 05-81A: October 6th, 2005
  Ruediger Frank, a Distinguished Visiting Professor at Korea University, Seoul, writes, "aside from the possibility that this might either be a temporary measure or turn out to be a misunderstanding altogether, such a move calls for some attempts at an interpretation. Would the reintroduction of the 100% PDS coverage be a sign of failure, or of success? Should we be happy or concerned? Here is a fictive dialogue between a pessimist and an optimist to answer these questions." [Economic reforms] [PDS]
• A harvester from South
  [Photo] October 06, 2005 ?
  North Korean farmers at a cooperative farm at Shinchon county learning to operate a combine harvester provided by a South Korean relief group and Jeolla province's local governments to help ease their perennial food crisis. By Lee Young-jong
• Pyongyang puts brakes on reforms
  Rolling back some of its economic reforms, North Korea is banning the sale of rice and grains at private markets and strengthening its old communist- style public distribution system under which all citizens are supposed to get rations.
  Barbara Demick Tuesday, October 04, 2005
  Rolling back some of its economic reforms, North Korea is banning the sale of rice and grains at private markets and strengthening its old communist- style public distribution system under which all citizens are supposed to get rations. The changes were supposed to be implemented October 10, a holiday in North Korea marking the 60th anniversary of the ruling Workers' Party. But reports from the World Food Program office in Pyongyang indicate that merchants have been told already they can no longer sell grain.
  The UN agency said that as of last Saturday, reports were that cereal sales in the markets were to cease and "public distribution centers will take over countrywide distribution." North Korea experts say the moves do not necessarily indicate an abrupt U-turn in the impoverished country's economic policies so much as concern that change was taking place too quickly.
  "You can't move too fast into free- market economics without softening the blow for people who have grown up in a planned economy," Richard Ragan, who heads up the World Food Program office in Pyongyang, said recently. "This is not that different from what you saw happening in China in the 1990s."
• Paekma-Cholsan Waterway Completed
  Phihyon, October 2 (KCNA) -- A ceremony of commissioning the Paekma-Cholsan Waterway took place on Oct. 2. The more than 270 km-long waterway is a monumental edifice that appeared in the Songun era in accordance with the plan of leader Kim Jong Il for grand nature-remaking. It is a huge modern gravity-fed irrigation system for supplying tens of thousands of jongmi of water (one jongmi is approximately 10,000 cubic meters) from Lake Paekma to a vast area of cultivated land in six cities and counties including Ryongchon, Yomju and Cholsan counties and Sinuiju City of North Phyongan Province.
• Samsung Vulnerable to Foreign Takeover
  By Kim Jae-kyoung Staff Reporter Samsung Group, the nation's largest conglomerate, looks increasingly vulnerable to a hostile foreign takeover, as foreign holdings in the group have risen amid growing calls from lawmakers for reform of the group. As of Aug. 8, the foreign stake in Samsung Group reached 61.59 trillion won, accounting for 53.79 percent of the group's total market capitalization valued at 114.49 trillion won, according to a report submitted by the government to the National Assembly.
  In the meantime, foreign investors held a stake average of 46.81 percent in the nation's top 10 conglomerates, higher than their 42.04 percent stake in all listed stocks, the report said.
• If Korea Is So Cool, Why Is Seoul In A Lather?
  By Guy de Jonquieres Financial Times, 13 September 2005
  Suddenly, South Korea is cool. Its once dour and dowdy image abroad has been transformed by the success of its stylish consumer electronics products and the smash-hit popularity in the rest of Asia of its glamorous rock bands, film stars and television soap operas. "Made in Korea" is fast becoming a byword for chic. But if the world is warming to Korea, the embrace is not reciprocated. Far from brimming with self-confidence, the national mood is prickly, defensive and inward-looking. Its butt is not the world's last hardline communist state, whose heavily armed border lies just 50km from Seoul. It is global capitalism.
• Koreas Set Up Joint Venture in Pyongyang
  By Park Song-wu Staff Reporter South and North Korea Friday inaugurated an inter-Korean joint venture textile company in Pyongyang. It is the first time for the two Koreas to establish a company in the North's capital and manage it together. Seoul's Andong Hemp Textile and Pyongyang's Saebyol General Company each funded $5 million to set up the Pyongyang Hemp Textile Company. Eight technicians and two managers from the South plan to stay in Pyongyang to co-manage the startup company. ``Our endless efforts to persuade the North over the past five years finally paid off,'' Kim Jung-tae, president of the Andong Hemp Textile, told Yonhap News Agency. ``I think we opened the way for the South's manufacturing industry that is on the decline to make a leap forward.''
• North Korea woos, berates South's firms
  October 04, 2005 ? PYONGYANG ? North Korea has shown a flash of capitalism, staging an investor relations meeting for South Korean businessmen here. North Korea's National Economic Cooperation Federation, which handles economic relations with South Korea, gave a presentation to about 100 businessmen from South Korea on Saturday and held individual consultations with group members. Trust was one of the themes sounded by the North Koreans. "We created this event so that North and South Korea can trust each other and our businesses can proceed smoothly," said Kim Chon-gun, the vice chairman of the federation in his opening speech. "Like South Korea's Andong Hemp Textiles and North Korea's Saebyol General Trading Company, I hope other companies can form similar joint ventures with trust in carrying out business." A ceremony just before the presentation marked the inauguration of Pyongyang Hemp Textile Joint Operated Co., which will employ 330 North Korean workers; Mr. Kim was referring to that business. But in private conversations, the North's officials sounded another theme: dissatisfaction with North-South business links. "South Koreans complain that Northern companies don't meet deadlines, but if they would send the raw materials to us on time, that kind of thing wouldn't happen," said Kim Yong-hak, president of Saebyol. "Southern businessmen press us to write statements of agreement," he continued, "but when we do, there have been many cases where they have not kept their promises. I have a stack of proposals on my desk at my office, papers full of unkept promises." The Korea Industrial Complex Corp., which runs the industrial site at Kaesong, described plans to create another industrial complex in Pyongyang, but a senior director at the federation said that North Korea does not have any plans for any complexes in addition to the one at Kaesong. by Ko Soo-suk
• Daewoo signs accord on Myanmar gas field
  October 04, 2005 ? Daewoo International Corp., a Korean trading company, signed a formal agreement yesterday with two Indian state-run oil and gas companies and a Korean gas corporation to explore a gas field in Myanmar, the company said.
• N. Korean Officials Keen on International Finance
  By Staines Reuben, Seo Dong-shin Staff Reporters Bernhard Seliger, resident representative of the Hanns Seidel Foundation in Seoul, was mildly surprised when a North Korean official stood up and asked if Seliger could give an evaluation of a rise of interest rates in the United States that started that very day, during a seminar in Pyongyang in June 2004. The German foundation organized the seminar on international finance for the first time in the reclusive communist capital. Among those present at the seminar were officials from North Korea's central bank, Ministry of Finance and Kim Il-sung University. ``Clearly, being in Pyongyang, I didn't hear about the news,'' the 30-year-old German with doctorate degree in economics recalled in an interview with The Korea Times. ``So I told them, `Oh I didn't see this on Pyongyang TV the other evening.' And people suddenly started laughing and it was very funny.'' The incident showed that North Korean officials were following international affairs very closely. But the laughing, Seliger said, also indicated they knew what he meant _ that in Pyongyang, TV news is not exactly news but propaganda. The foundation is a non-profit organization operating worldwide with links to the conservative Christian Social Union of Germany. It opened a Seoul branch office in 1987. [Training]
• Harvest Brisk in DPRK
  Pyongyang, September 30 (KCNA) --All people in the DPRK are now out to give helping hands to the farmers in harvesting. Special trains are in service to thousands of officials, workers and members of the neighborhood units in Pyongyang going everyday to the farms in North Hwanghae Province and on the outskirts of the capital city to help the farmers there in harvesting and threshing. The daily number of them averages at least 1.17 million. The rice and maize harvesting quotas have been carried out at 12.9 and 52.4 percent respectively, taking the country as a whole.

• Korea Resources to Set Up Pyongyang Office
  By Seo Jee-yeon Staff Reporter
  The state-run Korea Resources Corporation (KORES) Monday said it is proceeding with talks with North Korea to form a partnership for mineral resources development projects, with one of the first visible results expected to be made in the opening of a liaison office in Pyongyang. ``We will firm up the talks, with the North Korean investment environment getting a green light following a recent landmark six-nation accord on ending the North's nuclear programs,'' KORES president Park Yang-soo said. ``We are developing five projects with the North, including the development of a black lead mine located in Yonan County, South Hwanghae Province.''
• Korea's per-capita income expected to reach $45,000 in 2040, BOK says
  Korea's per-capita income, which amounted to $13,000 in 2003, is forecast to reach $45,000 - roughly two-thirds of those for the United States and Japan - in 2040, according to the Bank of Korea. The central bank's report on the long-term Asian economic outlook also forecast that Korea will account for 2 percent of the global economy in 2040, compared to 1.7 percent in 2003. The Chinese economy is expected to catch up with the United States in 2040, taking up a fifth of the global economy, after surpassing Japan in 2020, the report said. The Indian economy, which overtook Korea last year, is likely to outstrip Japan in 2030, according to the report published by the central bank's Institute for Monetary and Economic Research.
• Regulator debunks image of foreign 'vulture capital'
  September 23, 2005 ? A senior financial official said emphatically yesterday that South Korea must recognize the contribution that foreign capital made to the country's recovery from the 1997-98 financial crisis. Yoon Jeung-hyun, the head of the Financial Supervisory Service, asserted that foreign investment in Seoul's financial sector after the Asian crash had goaded domestic financial companies to reform and recover faster than their counterparts in other Asian countries. Mr. Yoon was speaking to a business forum at Korea University in Seoul. He said that Korea must also acknowledge the right of foreign investors to repatriate the profits they earned here in legal business transactions and operations. His remarks were presumably aimed at countering the widespread public impression here that investors from overseas gobbled up Korean assets when the nation was in trouble and are now reaping unwarranted gains.
• Rodong Sinmun Calls for Directing All Efforts to Harvesting
  Pyongyang, September 20 (KCNA) -- All the agricultural workers and helpers should give full play to the might of the campaign for directing all efforts again in the harvesting campaign with the same vim and vigor with which they did in the spring farm work and thus fully demonstrate to the world once gain the heroic spirit of the army and people of the DPRK that they can do everything when the Party is determined, says Rodong Sinmun Tuesday in an editorial. Rice precisely means socialism and the campaign to fill the nation's store with rice is the most important one to defend socialism, the editorial says, and goes on:
• S. Korea's Ratings Expected to Climb
  By Kim Jae-kyoung Staff Reporter North Korea's agreement Monday to scrap its nuclear weapons programs has allowed South Korea to gain a foothold in removing the so-called ``Korea Discount,'' which has heavily weighed on local financial markets and the economy.
• Kim Jong Il Gives On-the-Spot Guidance to Industrial Establishments
  Pyongyang, September 16 (KCNA) -- Kim Jong Il, general secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea and chairman of the DPRK National Defence Commission, gave on-the-spot guidance to the Ryongsong Machine Complex and the Hungnam Pharmaceutical Factory. He was greeted on the spot by Hong Song Nam, chief secretary of the South Hamgyong Provincial Committee of the WPK, Kim Phung Gi, chairman of the South Hamgyong Provincial People's Committee, and leading officials of the complex and the factory.
• IC Credit Card Introduced in DPRK
  Pyongyang, September 16 (KCNA) -- The North East Asia Bank of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea has introduced IC credit card. In order to modernize its settlement business, the bank has issued credit cards for the first time in the country with the help of the Information Technology Center No. 626. The IC card ensures the safety of the data registered in it. And it is impossible to counterfeit it so as to prevent money from being lost. Six kinds of currencies can be deposited in a card at a time. With this card, one can exchange money instantly without going to a money exchange booth. A card can be shared by several persons (family members, relatives, friends, etc.). The bank enjoys popularity among depositors. [Economic reform]
• North, South Agree to Agricultural Cooperation
  Meeting of Inter-Korean Committee for Agricultural Cooperation
  The first meeting of "the Committee for North- South Agricultural Cooperation" was held in Kaesong from August 18 to 19. Both sides discussed "stable and continuous cooperation in agriculture" and issued a seven-point agreement on developing inter-Korean agricultural cooperation.
• Inter-Korean Road to Open in Latter Half of October
  North, South Hold Talks on Reconnection of Inter- Korean Railway and Road Links North and South Korea held their 5th round of the meetings of "the North-South Panel for Reconnecting Rail and Road Links" from July 28 to 30 in Kaesong, a city near the Military Demarcation Line. The meeting was held in accordance with an agreement reached at the 10th meeting of "the North-South Committee for the Promotion of Economic Cooperation" held in Seoul from July 10 to 12. Both sides had an in-depth discussion on the issues of completing the reconnection of the rail and road links between the North and the South of Korea. Both sides also discussed the trial operation of trains running on the eastern and western coastal railways and the holding of a ceremony to mark the opening of the road to traffic. An agreement was adopted by the meeting. The North and the South agreed to complete the project of reconnecting the rail and road links on the eastern and western coasts "as early as possible." Both sides also agreed on the provision of additional equipment and materials needed for the construction of a railway station by South Korea; joint checking of the project of reconnecting the eastern rail links from August 23 to 25 and that of reconnecting the western rail links from August 18 to 20; and joint trial operations of trains on both lines in latter half of October.
• Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) opens new Pyongyang restaurant
  In June, ADRA opened a European style Café in the centre of Pyongyang. This economic development project is linked to ADRA's own bakery and produces around 5 MT of bread rolls and high calorie biscuits each day for two school feeding projects in conjunction with WFP and German Agro Action (GAA)....
  In collaboration with the Peoples Services committee, ADRA found a suitable shop location in February 2004; a former fish shop close to the Koryo Hotel.....
  Eleven staff members have been recruited and trained in Management, Marketing, Business Planning, Customer Service and western cooking styles [Economic reform]
• Japan surges, Korea stalls
  Nikkei Business, a leading Japanese weekly, recently reported that Japanese businesses that left Japan in search of cheap labor in China and Southeast Asia 20 years ago were coming back. They began to be confident that they could have a competitive edge even if they paid more in wages and for land at home, because productivity has increased with the development of ultra- modern technology and automation. When they started to invest at home again, jobs were created and the chances of technology leaks were reduced. With the halt of the industrial vacuum, the Japanese economy has started to sail smoothly. It had a 5.8-percent annual growth rate in the first quarter of the year and 3.3 percent in the second quarter. The Japanese government and the Bank of Japan have officially declared that the economic recession is over and structural economic recovery has started. As consumption revives and investment increases, the economy will certainly grow more. When we look at Korea, we feel gloomy. Many businesses are lined up to relocate overseas, and foreign investment in Korea has decreased drastically.
• N. Korea Legislates Bill on S-N Economic Cooperation
  By Seo Dong-shin Staff Reporter North Korea's Supreme People's Assembly passed a law on inter-Korean economic cooperation during a recent standing committee meeting, according to the official organ of the North Korean Cabinet, monitored by Yonhap News Agency in Seoul Sunday. The July 29 edition of ``Minju Choson'' said that the law ``laid the legal ground for boosting inter-Korean economic relations to a higher level.'' Consisting of 27 articles, the law suggests some basic principles of the two Korea's economic cooperation such as benefiting the whole people, balanced development of the people's economy, and mutual respect and trust.
• Kim Jong Il Gives On-the-Spot Guidance to Kwangpho Duck Farm
  Pyongyang, September 14 (KCNA) -- Kim Jong Il, general secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea and chairman of the DPRK National Defence Commission, gave on-the-spot guidance to the rebuilt Kwangpho Duck Farm.
• NORTH KOREA'S INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC RELATIONS: TRENDS AND FUTURE PROSPECTS
  by Oh Seung-yul
• National Day of DPRK Observed
  Pyongyang, September 12 (KCNA) -- A seminar and a film show were held in Bangladesh and Mexico on Sept. 1 and 3 and meetings, film shows and photo exhibitions in Tanzania, Egypt and India on Sept. 3 and 4 respectively to mark the 57th anniversary of the DPRK. Korean films including "Comrade Kim Il Sung Is Always with Humankind" and the "55th Anniversary of the Republic" were screened at the film shows.

• Fresh Water Fish Breeding Encouraged in DPRK
  Pyongyang, August 2 (KCNA) -- Breeding of fresh water fish is encouraged throughout the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. Fish farms and spawning ponds under the Pyongyang City Fish Farm Management Bureau have released 80 million fry of fish including carp and gibel in rivers and reservoirs.
• DPRK and UK Establish Joint Credit Bank in Pyongyang
  "The Koryo-Global Credit Bank" opened in Pyongyang under the financial cooperation between the DPRK and the UK, the official KCNA reported on June 4. An opening ceremony of the bank was held at the Yanggakdo International Hotel on June 3. Present at the ceremony were Pak Yong Chil, president of the Koryo Bank, and officials and employees of the bank, officials concerned, David Arthur Slinn, British ambassador to the DPRK, foreign diplomatic envoys and embassy members. It was also attended by Chairman of the Global Group Johnny Hon and his party. Referring to the establishment of the bank, Chairman Hon said that it will contribute to promoting economic cooperation and exchange between the U.K. and the DPRK [Economic reform] [Opening]
• Unsliced Cabbage Kimchi
  Pyongyang, August 1 (KCNA) -- Unsliced cabbage kimchi is popular among citizens of Pyongyang these days. Various kinds of kimchi are made according to seasons and their taste is varied. The unsliced cabbage kimchi is made in winter.
• Expert-training Center for National ICM
  Pyongyang, August 1 (KCNA) -- The Training Center of Experts of National Integrated Coastal Management (ICM) in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea is conducting colorful activities. The center started its operation in July 2004 according to the working plan of the "Nampho national demonstration object of the DPRK for integrated coastal management" under the Regional Program on "Building Partnerships in Environmental Management for the Seas of East Asia" (PEMSEA) set forth by the Globe Environment Faculty, United Nations Development Program and International Maritime Organization. Its purpose is to increase the capability for successfully implementing Nampho ICM.
• Land ready for lease in Kaesong complex
  August 02, 2005 ? The Korea Land Corp., a state- run developer, said yesterday that it has started receiving applications from South Korean investors who want to lease land inside the Kaesong Industrial Complex in North Korea. The corporation said 16.5 hectares (41 acres) of land is available at 45,000 won ($44) per square meter (square yard). South Korean firms leasing the land will be allowed to occupy it for 50 years. The land will be available for manufacturing facilities, mostly textiles, shoes and leather goods. The corporation is encouraging mid-size investors to participate in the inter-Korean project. South Korea has been operating a pilot project inside the industrial complex, at which 15 South Korean firms opened factories. The average salary of a worker in Kaesong was quoted as $57.50 a month.
• Inter-Korean Railway and Road Panel Meeting Held
  Kaesong, July 30 (KCNA) -- The 5th meeting of the North-South Panel for Reconnecting Rail and Road Links was held in Kaesong from July 28 to 30 under an agreement reached at the 10th meeting of the North-South Committee for the Promotion of Economic Cooperation. At the meeting both sides had an in-depth discussion on issues arising in completing the project of reconnecting the rail and road links between the north and the south and issues related to the trial operation of trains on the eastern and western railways and the holding of a ceremony of opening the road to traffic in the basic spirit of the June 15 North-South Joint Declaration and adopted an agreement of the 5th meeting of the North-South Panel for Reconnecting Rail and Road Links
• Pilot cross-border rail to start in October
  August 01, 2005 ? North and South Korea agreed Saturday to start operating two pilot cross- border train links starting at the end of October. At the fifth working-level inter-Korean talks in Kaesong, the two sides agreed to conduct joint inspections of the Gyeongui Line connecting Seoul with Shinuiju, the North Korean city bordering China, from August 18 to 20, and of the Donghae line in the east from August 23 to 25. Seoul promised to provide additional equipment for the construction of railroad stations in the North. An official said, "As pilot trains will be operated from October, cross-border rail services will commence normal business operations, barring any problems, this year." The two sides also agreed to hold an official opening ceremony, which had been delayed from last November, this October.
• Korea Isolated in Global Business Investment Boom
  By Kim Jae-kyoung Staff Reporter The Korean economy is losing vitality, as corporate investment has stayed in the doldrums despite a world economic upturn led by an investment boom in major countries, including the U.S. and Japan.

• Pyongyang Undertakes Face-lift
  Pyongyang, July 28 (KCNA) -- Pyongyang, the capital city of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, is changing its looks with the approach of the 60th anniversary of the Workers' Party of Korea. The Mangyongdae revolutionary site, the hometown of President Kim Il Sung, has been spruced up to suit the requirements of the new century in order to convey his greatness and revolutionary exploits down through generations. Projects for facelifting a lot of monumental edifices and their surroundings including the April 25 House of Culture are getting into full stride. The construction of dwelling houses including those of the Pyongyang Textile Mill is progressing on an extensive scale. And Sungri, Kaesonmun, Chilsongmun and other streets are taking on a new look. More than 10 nurseries, kindergartens and clinics are under construction in Thongil Street. Scientific, educational, cultural and public health institutions are also being constructed. The construction of Pyongyang Conservatory buildings and the E-library and gymnasium of Kim Chaek University of Technology will be soon completed. The construction of General Dental Hospital, Heart Hospital attached to the Red Cross Hospital and Tudan Duck Plant are going on successfully.
• NK Leader Makes Field Inspection
  SEOUL (Yonhap) _ North Korean leader Kim Jong-il claimed his country is steadily increasing its wealth despite the difficult situation facing the country and urged what he called a "sacred struggle" to build a great, prosperous nation, the North's official news agency reported Saturday.
• Pyongsu Joint Venture Company
  Pyongyang, July 21 (KCNA) -- The Pyongsu (Pyongyang-Swiss) Joint Venture Company situated in Pyongyang produces various kinds of medicines to suit GMP (Good Manufacturing Practice). It, which has produced Pyongsuspirin (aspirin), will shortly start to manufacture anodynes such as Pyongsucetamol (paracetamol) and Pyongsuprofen (ibuprofen) and antibiotic medicines including doxycycline. The company was founded in June Juche 93 (2004) with the joint investment of the Pyongyang Pharmaceutical Plant under the DPRK Ministry of Public Health and the North Development Corporation supported by Swiss Inter Pacific Holding Group. Its deputy manager O Song Gun told KCNA that the buildings, environment, sanitation and medicine quality examination of the company fully suit GMP. Its pharmaceutical plant is furnished with latest machines and equipment. All the production processes are controlled by SOP (Standard Operating Procedure).
• Kim Jong Il Gives Field Guidance to New Saltern in Wonsan Bay
  Pyongyang, July 22 (KCNA) -- Kim Jong Il, general secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea and chairman of the DPRK National Defence Commission, gave field guidance to the new saltern in Wonsan Bay which has put its production on a normal footing. He was greeted on the spot by Ko Jong Dok, chairman of the Kangwon Provincial People's Committee, Pak Jong Nam, secretary of the Kangwon Provincial Committee of the WPK, and senior officials of the province and the saltern. He mounted a gazebo from which he commanded a- bird's-eye-view of the saltern and learned in detail about its construction and production. Feasting his eyes on a vast expanse of salt fields, the salt refining shop and other production buildings and cosy dwelling houses and cultural facilities standing in lines at the foot of a mountain, he noted with great satisfaction that such a gigantic project completed by the province by itself was a great success
• `Neo-Liberalism, Wrong Recipe for Korean Economy'
  By Kim Ki-tae Staff Reporter
  Chang Ha-joon Jeong Seung-il Since the early 1990s, democratic activists in the 1970s and 1980s have slowly seized power in South Korea. The landmark was the 1998 inauguration of Kim Dae-jung, the first opposition party candidate to win the presidential election. The progressives, including the following President Roh Moo-hyun, have been widely expected to boost equality in the market and maintain the nation's economic growth. Now, seven years later, the expectation has disappeared. The nation has suffered from a lingering slump, widened economic gap and lack of job security. Many believe that the middle-class has been collapsing. Why has economic equality deteriorated in the process of democratization? Even though the progressives take hold of power, social polarization gets worse. One of the most frequently used explanations for this seemingly nonsensical situation is that it is due to the inevitable and somehow cyclical economic downturn after the financial crisis in the late 1990s. However, Chang Ha-joon and Jeong Seung-il say that it is not a cyclical economic slump but the nation has encountered a structural problem that discourages investment and dampens vitality in the economy. The two economists last week published a book titled ``Cutting the Gordian Knot of Korean Economy (Koaedo Nanma Hanguk Kyongje)'' and suggested that the structural snag will come from the new ruling block's critical mistake in adopting neo-liberalism as their economic guideline. The writers are both economic professors, Chang is at Cambridge University in England and Jeong at Kookmin University.
  They note that neo-liberalism is not suitable for an economy eyeing high growth.
• Gov't Dismisses Concerns Over Long-Term Slump
  By Kim Jae-kyoung Staff Reporter The government has dismissed concerns over a Japanese-style long-term economic slump led by real estate deflation and ruled out the possibility of a real estate bubble burst. The Ministry of Finance and Economy (MOFE) said yesterday that chances are low that the Korean economy will follow in the footstep of the Japanese economy as there exists no real estate bubble and firms' excess facilities problems were resolved while overcoming the 1997-1998 financial crisis. The ministry stressed that the economic situation Korea is facing is quite different from Japan's when that country entered its long- term recession in 1980s. The ministry said that Japan's long-term slump began with the Japanese government's opting for low-interest expansionary policies to boost domestic demand after the yen sharply appreciated following the Plaza Agreement in September, 1985. [US dominance]
• Pukchong County, Home of Pomiculture
  Pyongyang, July 20 (KCNA) -- Pukchong County, South Hamgyong Province, is called the home of pomiculture in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. The county, with mountains covering 65 percent of its area, had been unsuitable for people to live in. In March Juche 46 (1957) President Kim Il Sung climbed a mountain in the county and indicated a way of building orchards in tiers. Afterwards, he gave on-the-spot guidance to the county several times with a plan to supply people with fruits in all seasons. In those days he gave detailed instructions ranging from issues of mechanizing fruit-culture and introducing chemicals into it to those of manuring and cultivating fruit trees, and took steps to convert the county into a model in building orchards throughout the country.
• Efficient Farm Machines Introduced in DPRK
  Pyongyang, July 19 (KCNA) -- The Institute of Agricultural Mechanization under the Academy of Agricultural Science of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea has invented and introduced various kinds of efficient machines in farming. Typical of them is a mobile universal thrasher. The machine can thrash rice, wheat, barley and bean, 1.5-2.5 tons per hour, with the power of an electric motor or tractor engine
• Korea May Fall to G12 Economy
  Russia, India Expected to Join G10 by 2020
  By Kim Jae-kyoung Staff Reporter
  The South Korean economy may see its global ranking fall by two notches to 12th by 2020 if growth remains below the growth potential of 5 percent, the state-run Korea Development Institute (KDI) said.
• Kim Jong Il Inspects Newly-built General Foodstuff Processing Factory under KPA Unit 534
  Pyongyang, July 17 (KCNA) -- Supreme Commander of the Korean People's Army Kim Jong Il, general secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea and chairman of the National Defence Commission of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, inspected a newly-built general foodstuff processing factory under KPA Unit 534. The factory built in an area covering more than 130,000 square metres is a general foodstuff processing base that can turn out all kinds of non-staple foods and a variety of foodstuffs including basic foodstuffs and, at the same time, process grains. The builders wrought such a miracle as successfully finishing the construction project in a matter of a little more than two years. [Military economy]
• GNP Head Opposes Gov't-Led Economic Projects With NK
  By Jung Sung-ki Staff Reporter The chairwoman of South Korea's largest opposition party made it clear Monday that she opposes government-led economic projects with North Korea unless the communist country abandons its nuclear ambitions. Rep. Park Geun-hye, leader of the Grand National Party (GNP), stressed that any economic projects with the North should be implemented based on the ``principle of market economy,'' and not be led by the government.
• Efficacious Mud Goods Made in DPRK
  Pyongyang, July 6 (KCNA) -- Various kinds of mud goods made in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea are popular in local and foreign markets for their medicinal and nutritive properties. A place on the west coast of the DPRK abounds in uncontaminated mud. It contains S, mineral matters, various vitamins, essential amino acid, organic acid, hormone, antibiotic medicine, enzyme, anti-oxidants and other useful substances.
• Fresh Economic Upsurge in DPRK
  Pyongyang July 14 (KCNA) -- The people of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea are effecting a new upswing in the efforts to implement the slogans jointly issued by the Central Committee and the Central Military Commission of the Workers' Party of Korea to greet its 60th anniversary. The agricultural working people have turned out to bring about a great turn in the agricultural sector, the major front of the socialist economic construction this year.
  Meanwhile, workers of hydro-power stations increased the electricity production by 20 percent in the first seven days of July than the same period of the last year. Silk producers are carrying out their daily quota at 120 percent. Servicemen are playing a big part in the efforts to implement the joint slogans of the Party.
• NK Hopes to Observe WTO
  By Park Song-wu Staff Reporter North Korea aims at acquiring observer status at the World Trade Organization (WTO), an eight- member EU parliamentarian delegation which recently visited Pyongyang said at a news conference in Seoul Friday. ``We are aware that North Korea is in contact with the WTO secretariat for technical advice,'' said Glyn Ford, a member of the European Parliament's delegation for relations with the Korean Peninsula. He and seven other members visited North Korea July 9-14.
• Foreign Firms Leave Korea
  Danish Toy Makers' Move Provides Food for Thought
  Lego Korea's decision to shut down local production lines could be looked on as an everyday occurrence in the world of business. The globally renowned toy brick maker plans to phase out its manufacturing facilities in Korea, keeping only marketing operation here. Earlier this year, three global pharmaceutical firms - GlaxoSmithKline, Eli Lilly and Wyeth - also left this country. These companies, not big manufacturers or employers, had different reasons for leaving. But their departures point to a common issue that requires serious attention. [FDI]
• North, South reach accord on projects
  July 12, 2005 ? Ending a round of economic cooperation talks, the two Koreas agreed yesterday on a range of projects that include the opening of a new office in Kaesong to channel investments to the North and an agreement to meet later this month to discuss commercial fishing operations near inter-Korean waters. The two sides also reached an accord to hold ceremonies in October to mark the restoration of cross-border railroad lines. Trial train runs using the reconnected railways will take place at the time. With the new agreements, North Korea will receive aid in the form of 500,000 tons of rice, the amount promised at last month's ministerial talks.
• Inter-Korean Economic Cooperation Meeting Kicked Off
  Seoul, July 10 (KCNA Correspondent) -- The 10th meeting of the North-South Committee for the Promotion of Economic Cooperation was kicked off Sunday in Seoul under an agreement reached at the 15th North-South Ministerial Talks. �@Present at the meeting were members of the north side's delegation headed by Choe Yong Gon, vice-minister of Construction and Building Materials Industry who is the north side's chairman of the committee, and its suite members and members of the south side's delegation with Pak Pyong Won, vice-minister of Finance and Economy who is chairman of the south side of the committee, as its chief delegate and its suite members.
• Kaesong Becomes Cross-border Business Center
  By Park Song-wu Staff Reporter The two Koreas Monday agreed to establish an office in the North's border city of Kaesong in September to discuss measures for economic cooperation, said a 12-point joint communique that was released after the end of a three-day meeting in Seoul. The Kaesong office, which was first conceived of in November 2003, will function as a business center for companies from the two Koreas, South Korean officials involved in the talks said. It would be the first time for the two Koreas to have such an office since the division of the Korean Peninsula in 1945. ``Both sides needed to create it because the current communication channels in China require higher costs,'' Yang Moon-soo, professor at the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul, told The Korea Times.
• Seoul to Tap Into N.Korean Minerals
  By Reuben Staines Staff Reporter
  North Korea has agreed to let South Korea tap into its mineral deposits in exchange for a massive food loan and raw materials to produce basic necessities. The resource trade was announced yesterday as part of a 12-point joint statement at the end of three days of inter-Korean economic cooperation talks in Seoul. ``South and North Korea agreed to push for a new way forward in economic cooperation projects by combining each other's economic assets _ resources, capital and technology _ for the balanced development of the national economy,'' Unification Ministry spokesman Kim Hong-jae told reporters. Under the agreement, Pyongyang will guarantee Seoul the rights to mine minerals deposits in the North, including coal, zinc and magnesite. In return, South Korea will provide raw materials allowing the communist North to produce soap, clothing and footwear.
• Kelp Picking at Full Swing
  Pyongyang, July 5 (KCNA) -- Kelp picking is at full swing these days on the offshore farms on the east and west coasts of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. It has long been encouraged in the country to cultivate various species of kelp including Laminaria japonica, ochotensis, narrow-row tangle and latifoliate tangle and to expand the scope of its utilization. Kelp is natural health food which prevents aging.
• Construction of Power Stations and Roads and Forestation in Mt. Paektu Area
  Pyongyang, July 4 (KCNA) -- The construction of power stations, power transmission lines, bridges and roads is going on simultaneously with that of dwelling houses and cultural and sport facilities in the Mt. Paektu area of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. The members of the national Party information workers' shock brigade have built the June 18 and Sobaeksu Power Stations defying the unfavourable geological conditions of the area to create more generating capacity. They have also reconstructed or repaired several power stations including Samjiyon Power Station No. 1 and Phothae Power Station No. 4.
• Koreas in talks on coal project
  July 04, 2005 ? Seoul and Pyongyang have had working-level talks about jointly mining North Korea's coal reserves, and will discuss the possibility further in two days of talks that will begin in Kaesong tomorrow, Seoul officials have told the JoongAng Ilbo. Kim Ji-yeop, president of South Korea's state- run Korean Coal Corporation, will lead a five- member team in the discussions, officials said yesterday. Pyongyang's Ministry of Power and Coal Industries will represent North Korea. The North's coal reserves are estimated at 14.7 billion tons; coal accounts for 70 percent of its energy consumption, according to the South's Unification Ministry. Its coal production peaked at 37 million tons in 1985; by 2002, it had dropped by 42 percent because of equipment problems, according to the ministry.
• Asian Highway to Link 32 Nations
  Transnational Project to Make Tokyo-Istanbul Travel Available By Kim Rahn Staff Reporter
  A transnational project to build an Asian highway linking 32 countries is gaining momentum as an agreement on it takes effect today. The intergovernmental agreement will create the network to link 141,000 kilometers of roads with 55 routes throughout the Eurasian Continent, making direct travel from Tokyo to Istanbul available. At a session of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asian and Pacific (UNESCAP) held in Shanghai on April 2004, 27 countries among the total of 32 participating nations informally signed off on the construction of the highway on condition of each government's ratification. ``The international highway is a milestone in regional cooperation that will enlarge trade and tourism among the countries. It will also contribute to boosting cooperation between the two Koreas,'' a Construction and Transportation Ministry official said.
• Construction of Taean Friendship Glass Factory Progresses 85 Percent
  Pyongyang, June 30 (KCNA) -- One year has passed since the start of the construction of the Taean Friendship Glass Factory on July 1 last year, which is now under way amid the deep concern of the parties, governments and peoples of the DPRK and China. In the period, the builders moved 1.5 million cubic meters of earth to lay out more than 200,000 square meters of building lot and pushed forward at the same time the project of the groundwork of the objects as a whole such as the main production buildings and auxiliary systems. They have finished earlier than schedule the building of the frame of the chimney of the waste heat boiler and built a gigantic sand- unloading wharf on the Taedong riverside. Soldier builders worked a miracle by winding up in a matter of two months the laying of the bed of the railroad branching into the factory, which had been said to be hardly completed in ten months. The Chinese technicians have paid deep care to see that the construction of all the objects was carried out as required by the designs without the deviation of 1 mm.
• Housing Construction in Thick Forests
  Pyongyang, June 30 (KCNA) -- The Mt. Paektu area has changed beyond recognition in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea over the last five years. The members of the national Party information workers' shock brigade have spruced up the area as a good place to live in and a scenic place to suit the features of the socialist country as President Kim Il Sung had planned. They have constructed or reconstructed over 1,490 dwelling houses for more than 5,080 families in towns in forests at the foot of Mt. Paektu.
• Pyongyang Streets Undergo Facelift
  Pyongyang, June 29 (KCNA) -- Projects to facelift eight main streets of Pyongyang including Sungri, Kaesonmun, Chilsongmun and Podunamu streets are at full swing. Dwelling buildings for over 13,000 households are being reconstructed or repaired at the final stage. While keeping the original style of architecture of each building, its outer walls are being plastered on vertical and horizontal lines and its walls and verandas decorated in relief in harmony with the formation of the streets. The buildings painted in light grey, light green and light pink colors make people feel refreshed. Wooden sashes of dwelling houses have been replaced with plastic ones and windows installed on verandas. The inside of apartments along Sungri, Podunamu and Kaesonmun Streets has been repaired. Their water, sewage and electric facilities have been replaced as a whole and sanitations for more than 1,700 households built. Public service facilities are also changing their looks to add beauty to the city. They are of various architectural styles such as circular, vaulted and zigzag shapes. Many porches have been built and outer walls colorfully tiled and painted to suit the building shapes. Sidewalks along Sungri Street have been also paved with color-blocks of various patterns.

• Symposium to explore strategies for N.K. economy
  The University of North Korean Studies and the Export-Import Bank of Korea will conduct a two-day symposium in July to gather ideas on how to develop North Korea's economy.
  The symposium titled "North Korea Development and International Cooperation" will take place at the Shilla Hotel's reception hall on July 6 and 7. Four sessions will focus on the role of international agencies, inter-Korean economic cooperation, development choices and avenues toward advancement, and stability in Northeast Asia.
  Speaking at the symposium will be former economic policymakers who have had practical experience in aiding former socialist countries in transition. Johannes F. Linn, former vice president of the World Bank, will speak on his experience in providing financial aid to help East European nations switch to a market economy. Other speakers will focus on international and regional cooperation in helping North Korea develop. Possible strategies and prospects for North Korea's development will be explored, taking experience from the examples of China and Eastern Europe who have made successful transitions from socialist to free market economies. South Korean government officials, diplomatic envoys, professors and officials from international organizations and financial institutions are expected to attend. (jkwon@heraldm.com) By Kwon Ji-young Korea Herald 2005.06.30 [Economic reform] [Opening]
• Memorandum of Understanding Signed
  Pyongyang, June 28 (KCNA) -- A memorandum of understanding on economic and technical cooperation was signed between the governments of the DPRK and Kenya in Nairobi. Present at the signing ceremony were the members of the DPRK government economic delegation led by Rim Kyong Man, minister of Foreign Trade, and officials concerned including Peter Anyang Nyongo, minister of Planning and National Development, from the Kenyan side. The memorandum was signed by the two ministers.
• Yemeni Prime Minister Meets DPRK Government Economic Delegation
  Pyongyang, June 26 (KCNA) -- Prime Minister of the Yemeni Cabinet Abdul Kader Ba-Jammal met and had a friendly talk with the DPRK government economic delegation headed by Minister of Foreign Trade Rim Kyong Man on a visit to Yemen. Present there were Yemeni Minister of Industry and Commerce Khalid Rajeh Sheikh and officials concerned.
• Pothonggang Joint Exchange Market Opens
  Pyongyang, June 24 (KCNA) -- There were exhibition and opening ceremony of the Pothonggang Joint Exchange Market on June 23. The market will be jointly managed by the Central Company for the Exchange of Imports under the DPRK Ministry of Foreign Trade and Chinese companies including the Liaoning Taixing International Trading Co. Ltd. It will sell by wholesale and retail products needed to economic construction of the DPRK to institutions and enterprises. Congratulatory speeches were made at the opening ceremony. Ri Ryong Nam, vice-minister of Foreign Trade of the DPRK, noted that the exchange market was opening through cooperation between the governments of the DPRK and China. It will be conducive to the further development of cooperation and exchange between the two countries and to the work for their common interests and prosperity, he added. [Economic reform]
• Pyongyang Slag Prefab Parts Factory
  Pyongyang, June 23, (KCNA) -- The Pyongyang Slag Prefab Parts Factory has produced a new kind of lagging wall slab, light bricks and ornamental wall slab. The lagging slab can preserve heat much more than other kinds. The ornamental wall slab, which can be used instead of tiles, is very popular among users for it improves the quality of floors and interior walls. The factory has also solved technical matters of producing slag prefab parts with materials easy to find in the country. It, which started operation in February Juche76(1987), is situated in Phyongchon District, Pyongyang.
• Trade Fair Attracts Visitors
  The 8th Pyongyang International Commodity Fair held at the Three Revolution Exhibition in Pyongyang from May 16 to 20. The 8th Pyongyang International Commodity Fair was held in Pyongyang from May 16 to 20. The event held at the Three-Revolution Exhibition attracted visitors at home and abroad with up-to-date items showcased at the exhibition.
• DPRK and UNDP Hold Trade Forum
  A trade forum was held on May 4 and 5 at the Yanggakdo International Hotel in Pyongyang under the co-sponsorship of the DPRK Ministry of Foreign Trade and the UN Development Programme (UNDP). Kim Myong Chol, general director of the Bureau of Cooperation for International Organizations, said in an inaugural speech that the current forum would help DPRK trading personnel improve their foreign trade business, enhance their trading activities, understand the methods of standard international trade and grasp trends in trade development in Asia and other parts of the world.
• Wise Leadership for Solving Socialist Rural Question
  Pyongyang, June 22 (KCNA) -- Rodong Sinmun Wednesday dedicates a signed article to the 15th anniversary of President Kim Il Sung's celebrated work "Let Us Thoroughly Implement the Theses on the Socialist Rural Question". Clarified in the work are realistic problems in successfully solving the rural question in the country including the matter of realizing overall irrigation, mechanization, electrification and extensive use of chemicals on a high level in all the rural areas by energetically stepping up the rural technical revolution, and drastically improving the living conditions of farmers so as to reduce distinctions between town and countryside. The validity and vitality of the work have been patently proved in the practices for building the socialist countryside in the past, the article says, and goes on:
• DPRK Committee for National Economic Cooperation to Be Set Up
  Pyongyang, June 22 (KCNA) -- A decree of the Presidium of the DPRK Supreme People's Assembly on setting up the DPRK Committee for National Economic Cooperation was promulgated. The decree dated June 22 said that the SPA Presidium of the DPRK decided to set up the DPRK Committee of National Economic Cooperation to rev up the north-south economic cooperation in the idea of the June 15 North-South Joint Declaration, a reunification programme common to the Korean nation.
• NK Launches Body for Economic Cooperation
  SEOUL (Yonhap) _ North Korea officially launched a government body overseeing Pyongyang's economic cooperation projects with South Korea, the communist state's official news agency reported Wednesday.
• Visits
  Pyongyang, June 21 (KCNA) -- A delegation of the DPRK Central Bank led by its President Kim Wan Su left here today to participate in the 75th annual meeting of the Bank for International Settlements in Switzerland. Meanwhile, delegate of the WHO Xiaorui Zhang and delegates of the WHO Regional Offices for South-East Asia and West Pacific, delegations and delegates from Nepal, Maldives, Myanmar, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Indonesia and Thailand arrived here today to participate in the WHO South-East Asia regional workshop on traditional medicine. Also arriving was a delegation of India headed by Smt Uma Pillai, secretary of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. [Opening]
• Acacia Seed Treatment Machine Made in DPRK
  Pyongyang, June 20 (KCNA) -- Researchers of the forestry sector of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea has developed an acacia seed treatment machine. The sprouting rate of acacia seeds, not treated, is only 20-30 percent because of their solid hulls.

• Origin of Nature-Remaking in DPRK
  Pyongyang, May 20 (KCNA) -- President Kim Il Sung initiated the River Pothong improvement project, first of its kind in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, as an important work for building a new Korea. On May 21, Juche 35 (1946), he broke the ground for the project. Before the liberation of the country (1945), the river had been flooded in rainy season every year, submerging lots of houses and cultivated land. Addressing the ground-breaking ceremony, he said that the project should be carried out successfully to mark the start of the nature- remaking work for building a rich and powerful democratic and independent state. Greatly inspired by his speech, Pyongyang citizens completed the project, in which they had to build a five-kilometer-long dam with transport of more than 420,000 cubic meters of earth, in a matter of 55 days.
• Pak Pong Ju Meets Chinese Corporation Officials
  Pyongyang, May 20 (KCNA) -- Pak Pong Ju, premier of the DPRK Cabinet, met and had a friendly talk with Teng Fuquan, general director of the Yaohua Glass Group Corporation of China, which is participating in the construction of the Taean Friendship Glass Factory, and his party at the Mansudae Assembly Hall Thursday
• Briefing on Swedish Products Held
  Pyongyang, May 20 (KCNA) -- A briefing on products of the Atlas Copco Group of Sweden participating in the 8th Pyongyang International Commodity Fair was held at Yanggakdo International Hotel on May 18 and 19. Present there were officials in the fields of the metal and machine-building industry, extractive, electricity and coal industries and foreign delegations to the fair. A briefing was made on the scientific and technical specifications of various types of equipment including mining machines, generators and compressors produced by the Atlas Copco Group.
• Hyundai Downplays Rumors on Possible Sanctions in US
  By Na Jeong-ju Korea Times Correspondent MONTGOMERY, Alabama _ A top Hyundai Motor official yesterday denied rumors that the United States Congress is considering measures against foreign automakers to protect the U.S. automobile industry. ``If you take a closer look at what's happening in this sector, you will find the possibility (of economic sanctions) is very low,'' Robert Cosmai, president and CEO of Hyundai Motor America, told The Korea Times. ``Hyundai Motor has made a largest investment in the U.S., and its economic effect is huge. The U.S. should thank Hyundai's existence. There is no reason for the U.S. government to take action against Hyundai.''
• Commodity Fair Goes On
  Pyongyang, May 18 (KCNA) -- The 8th Pyongyang International Commodity Fair which has opened on the 16th is going on amid great public interest. Participating in it are more than 100 companies from the DPRK, China, Thailand, Romania, Italy, Malaysia, UK, Taiwan, Sweden and Netherlands. The fair showcases at least 20,000 pieces of over 5,000 items such as steel ware, machine tools, poultry equipment, medical supplies, agricultural medicines and chemical fertilizers, petrochemicals, electric and electronic goods, foodstuffs and daily necessities.
• Inchon Seeks Road to Kaesong
  By Reuben Staines Staff Reporter Inchon Mayor Ahn Sang-soo is seeking to visit North Korea late this month to propose the construction of a road between the port city and an inter-Korean industrial complex located just north of the military border. ``After several contacts with North Korean officials, Mayor Ahn agreed to visit Pyongyang from May 30 to June 2,'' an aide said Wednesday. ``He will be accompanied by about 40 officials from various Inchon-based organizations.'' The mayor's proposal would link Inchon, South Korea's main logistics hub, with the Kaesong Industrial Complex, a fledgling inter-Korean business venture that began churning out products late last year.
• Pyongyang International Commodity Fair Opens
  Pyongyang, May 16 (KCNA) -- The 8th Pyongyang International Commodity Fair opened at the Three- Revolution Exhibition today. Present at the opening ceremony were Ro Tu Chol, vice-premier of the DPRK Cabinet, officials concerned and delegations and delegates of the DPRK and various other countries and regions that came here to participate in the fair. Also on hand were diplomatic envoys and embassy officials of various countries here.
• Quality Plastic Sashes Manufactured
  Pyongyang, May 16 (KCNA) -- The Pyongyang Kumgang Company in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea mass-produces quality plastic sashes of various kinds. Among them are casement, sliding and fixed windows, windows with mosquito net, window set for veranda and doors of various shapes. It also manufactures cupboards, pipes for water supply and drainage, electric raceway, computer desks and other plastic fittings and furniture. The stream-lined production processes are controlled by computers. The two-ply vacuum windows produced with the help of latest equipment meet all technical indices such as preventing noise and damage by rain and wind and ensuring proper temperature and humidity in rooms. The sashes are neither decoloured or deformed by sunrays and high heat nor broken by high pressure or bombardment. The company manufactures sashes of various sizes and colors by order. The serviceable life of the sashes is more than 30 years
• DPRK and Syria Cooperate on Marine Transport
  Pyongyang, May 15 (KCNA) -- An agreement on marine transport between the governments of the DPRK and Syria was signed in Damascus on May 11.
• Foreign Delegations and Delegates Here
  Pyongyang, May 14 (KCNA) -- Delegations and delegates of Malaysia, Thailand, Romania, Sweden and Britain arrived here by air today to participate in the 8th Pyongyang International Commodity Fair. Chinese delegations arrived here yesterday by train.
• World watches 1 tunnel of 8,200 in North
  May 14, 2005 ? Following reports on North Korea's activities at a tunnel near its northeastern city of Kilju, which is viewed by some intelligence analysts as a possible nuclear weapons test site, South Korean sources said yesterday the North has many such underground facilities. Intelligence sources in Seoul estimate that North Korea has 8,200 such tunnels nationwide, with a total length of 547 kilometers (340 miles). A South Korean businessman who visited Pyongyang recently for an economic project told the JoongAng Ilbo he had seen thousands of laborers and soldiers disappearing into a tunnel between the city center and Sunan Airport. He said South Korean intelligence officials told him after his return that the tunnel may be an entrance to an underground munitions factory.
  North Korea has already gained significantly from the facilities. In 1998, after U.S. spy satellites detected that thousands of soldiers were working at Kumchang-ri in North Pyongan province, the United States, suspecting it was a nuclear facility, offered Pyongyang 600,000 tons of rice in return for surveying the site. The inspectors found nothing but empty tunnels. The underground facilities are maintained at a high cost, the officials said, noting that many were built in the 1970s and have fraying electrical systems. As a result, efficiency is extremely low, with about 30 percent of power lost during transmission, the South's Unification Ministry said. [Sanctions]
• Rodong Sinmun on Advantages of Socialist Planned Economy
  Pyongyang, May 12 (KCNA) -- The socialist economy is a planned economy and self-supporting economy, Rodong Sinmun Thursday says in a signed article. It calls for firmly abiding by the socialist principle in the economic construction, fully convinced of the advantages of the socialist planned economy, and thereby building a great prosperous powerful country of Juche on this land as early as possible. The article says: The planned economy is a method of managing and operating the economy suited to the nature of socialist society and it is incomparably superior to the capitalist market economy. The advantages of the socialist planned economy mean the superiority of collectivism to individualism and the indisputable superiority of the socialist ownership to the private ownership.
• EBA Starts to Work in Pyongyang
  Pyongyang, May 12 (KCNA) -- The European Business Association (EBA) has started to work in Pyongyang. It, jointly founded by all of the foreign business people who are resident in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and who represent European enterprises, will contribute to encouraging European businesses to invest and do more business in the country. According to its press release, it sees itself as a bridge builder between Europe and the DPRK to substantially increase trade between the two. Its founding ceremony took place at Koryo Hotel in Pyongyang on April 28. During the event the members of EBA expressed their hope that it will grow quickly in numbers over the coming years as a consequence of its work aimed at enhancing economic cooperation between Europe and the DPRK.
• NK Earns $20 Million a Year From Counterfeiting: Expert
  SEOUL (Yonhap) - Using state-of-the-art technology, North Korea earns $20 million each year by trading high-quality counterfeit dollar bills dubbed ``supernotes,'' an American expert said on Friday. Raphael Perl, an analyst at the U.S. Congressional Research Service, said that counterfeit currency and the arms trade represent the two biggest sources of income for the cash-strapped communist regime. ``The estimates that we have are between $15 and $20 million, and we assume the trade is growing as North Korea's need for hard currency is growing,'' he said in an interview with Radio Free Asia. He argued that Pyongyang is increasingly dependent on counterfeiting to offset the reduction in its income from the narcotics trade, with countries ever vigilant to its drug smuggling activities. Perl's claim comes amid widespread suspicion that North Korea operates a state-sponsored program to counterfeit U.S. dollars, an illicit cash cow that also serves to destabilize the U.S. economy. Pyongyang is suspected of churning out the supernotes and circulating them through diplomats and high-ranking officials who make overseas trips. A North Korean defector who used to work as a senior official at Pyongyang's intelligence agency said that the regime has manufactured counterfeit bills since the early 1990s and circulates them via nearby areas, such as China, Taiwan and Macau. Perl described North Korea as a global superpower in terms of its counterfeiting technology. ``For example, you can buy Viagra manufactured in North Korea that looks like U.S.-manufactured Viagra. One cannot tell the difference,'' he said. [Drugs] [Bizarre] [Evidence][Sanctions]
• All Efforts Focused on Agriculture in DPRK
  Pyongyang, May 10 (KCNA) -- All efforts have been concentrated on agriculture to solve the food problem in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. The rural communities across the country have made material and technical preparations for farming such as securing high- yielding seeds, making various kinds of big and small farm implements, producing or repairing farm machines and fertilizing fields. Despite of sharp temperature disparity between daytime and night and continued gale, they have sowed seeds in time.
• Despite U.S. Attempts, N. Korea Anything but Isolated
  Country's Regional Trade Boom Hints At Split Between Administration, E. Asia By Anthony Faiola Washington Post Foreign Service Thursday, May 12, 2005; Page A18 SEOUL -- Some people may be worrying about a possible North Korean nuclear test, but Lee Ju Hong, a well-coiffed retail manager for South Korea's largest department store, is preoccupied with his latest sales event -- a North Korean kitchenware fair. North Korean housewares are the rage these days. The Lotte department store sold out its first shipment of North Korean pots and pans last December and followed up with a bigger sale in January, when another 7,000 pieces of cookware were carted off by eager shoppers. Lee, 39, is now working on the store's largest North Korean venture yet: New lines of cutlery and frying pans go on sale within the next two weeks. [Sanctions] [Exports]
• Bean Farming Encouraged in DPRK
  Pyongyang, May 9 (KCNA) -- Great efforts are being directed to bean cultivation to solve the issue of edible oil and protein food in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. Bean farming had been almost neglected in the past because of its low yield. In recent years, however, great attention has been paid to the cultivation of high-yielding bean seeds. This year the acreage under bean cultivation will double that of last year. High-yielding bean seeds have already been supplied to the farms throughout the country. Rodong Sinmun, organ of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea, editorially calls on all the provinces, cities and counties to reap a rich bean crop this year by following the example shown by army units. On May 3, the agricultural working people of the Chongsan Co-op Farm, Kangso County, South Phyongan Province, challenged all the peasants across the country to a socialist emulation for finishing the transplantation of rice-seedlings and maize and bean sowing in time and in a qualitative way. Co-op fields are now animated with bean seeding. Korea is the home of bean and bean food is one of the Korean people's favorite dishes
• International Trade Fair in Pyongyang
  By Leonid A. Petrov The 8th International Trade Fair is opening next week at the New Technology and Innovation Hall in Pyongyang, the capital city of North Korea. For three days (May 16-19) its organizers _ DPRK Ministry of Foreign Trade and Korea International Exhibition Corporation _ will host the event. Pyongyang Trade Fairs usually draw dozens of companies from friendly nations such as China, Syria, Thailand, Romania, Germany, Italy, Britain, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Malaysia and sometimes Taiwan. Despite the friendly relations between the DPRK and Russia, no Russian companies express interest. American and South Korean companies are not expected to be present for political reasons.
• Report on State Budget Delivered at DPRK SPA Session
  PYONGYANG, April 11 (KCNA)- The 3rd Session of the 11th Supreme People's Assembly of the DPRK was held at the Mansudae Assembly Hall on April 11. Deputy Mun Il Bong, minister of Finance, delivered a report on the second agenda item "on the results of the implementation of the state budget for 2004 and the state budget for 2005." Reviewing the implementation of the state budget for last year, the minister said that the state preferentially allocated funds for the increase of the military strength while providing money for prosperity and development of the socialist country and the promotion of the people's well-being, including the spending for the national economy and popular policies.
• Premier on Last Year's Work of DPRK Cabinet and Its Tasks for This Year
  PYONGYANG, April 11 (KCNA)- Deputy Pak Pong Ju, premier of the DPRK Cabinet, delivered a report on the first agenda item "On the Review of the Work of the DPRK Cabinet in 2004 and Its Tasks for 2005" at the Third Session of the 11th Supreme People's Assembly of the DPRK held at the Mansudae Assembly Hall on April 11. According to the report, last year the Cabinet administered economic affairs with main stress on radically boosting the electricity, coal and metal industries and the railway transport and rejuvenating the production in all sectors of the national economy including light industry and agriculture, true to the line of the Workers' Party of Korea on economic construction in the Songun era, and took positive measures to round off the socialist economic management method our own way while powerfully stepping up the work of reconstructing and modernizing the national economy on the basis of modern science and technology. The U.S. imperialists were so base as to suspend even the supply of heavy fuel oil to our country last year, though they were committed to it as compensation. But industrial fields boosted the production on major indices. The electricity production went up 50 percent as against 2002.
• SPA Puts Emphasis on Settlement of Food Problem as Main Economic Task
  3rd Session of 11th SPA Approves State Budget Bill for 2005
• Vice Foreign Minister Kang Sok Ju Visits China
  Kang Sok Ju, first vice-minister of Foreign Affairs of the DPRK paid a working-level visit to the People's Republic of China from April 2 to 5 at the invitation of Dai Bingguo, executive vice-minister of Foreign Affairs. Vice Foreign Minister Kim Gye Gwan accompanied the first vice-minister. During his visit, he had talks with State Councillor Tang Jiaxuan and Dai Bingguo. Present at the meeting and talks from the Chinese side were Vice-minister of Foreign Affairs Wu Dawei and officials concerned. "Both sides exchanged their views on bilateral relations of friendship and international issues of mutual concern including the nuclear issue," Pyongyang's official KCNA reported on April 5. According to wire reports, they discussed the resumption of the stalled six-party talks. Three rounds of the multi-lateral talks produced little progress and the schedule for the fourth round of the talks still remains to be fixed.
• DPRK Increases Its Trade Year by Year
  Interview with Official of Trade Ministry Rim Tae Dok, counselor of the Ministry of Foreign Trade
  The People's Korea interviewed Rim Tae Dok, 51, a counselor of the Ministry of Foreign Trade about the foreign trade policy of the DPRK. He said that its export has grown since 2002 and "economic sanctions" or "blockade" by Japan will not influence the DPRK in any way under the present condition of a decrease in the DPRK-Japan trade. A summary of the interview follows.
  Exports of Machine Tools Growing to Southeast Asia and the Middle and Near East The DPRK has accomplished its consistent trade policy of "diversifying its trade" while maintaining its independence in trade activities. Although its export stagnated in volume during "the Arduous March" period, yet since the opening of the 21st century it has been growing year by year. Recently, we have declared that it is the state policy of the DPRK to increase export. We are setting up production bases for export, while reforming and modernizing existing ones. We are also increasing the percentage of secondary and tertiary products in our total export compared with export of primary products.
• 8th Pyongyang Int'l Commodity Fair to Be Held
  Pyongyang, May 6 (KCNA) -- The 8th Pyongyang International Commodity Fair will be held from May 16 to 19. It will bring together many companies of different countries and regions, including the DPRK, China, Syria, Thailand, Romania, Germany, Italy, Britain, Switzerland, Netherlands and Malaysia. It will mark a significant occasion in strengthening and developing cooperation and exchange among countries and regions in foreign trade, economy, science and technology and other fields.
• Signal Success in Tree Planting
  Pyongyang, May 5 (KCNA) -- The project to turn the country into a thick woodland and greenery is making a successful progress under a long- term plan in the DPRK. Many successes have been made in tree planting during the nationwide spring land management campaign this year. According to data available, at least 1 billion trees were planted in more than 150,000 hectares of forests across the country as of the end of April. Spectacular successes in tree planting are being reported without let-up from northern mountainous areas. Meanwhile, more than 70 million trees were planted on either sides of railways, motorways and tourist roads during the campaign.
• Trade Forum Held
  Pyongyang, May 5 (KCNA) -- A trade forum was held on May 4 and 5 at Yanggakdo International Hotel here under the co-sponsorship of the DPRK Ministry of Foreign Trade and the UN Development Programme. Kim Myong Chol, general director of the Bureau of Cooperation for International Organizations, in an inaugural speech, said that the current forum would help improve foreign trade, enhance trading effect, understand methods of international standard trade and grasp the trend of trade development in Asia and other parts of the world.
  He stressed that the DPRK would as ever boost foreign trade, raise the quality of highly demanded second and third processing products to the world's level by harnessing rich raw material resources, explore foreign markets and introduce advanced science and technology in a bid to steadily develop trading and economic relations with other countries of the world. Then followed discussions. Introduced at the forum were the trade policy and judicial system in the DPRK and its trading environment and conditions, the trend of international trade development and experience gained by different countries in trade. The forum discussed the issue of improving trading procedure and mode, co-relation between trade and investment and other technical matters. Present there were representatives of the UNDP and other international bodies, and trade experts of Malaysia, Singapore, Germany, the United Kingdom and Australia, UNDP Resident Representative a.i. Abu Selim and economic and commercial councilors of embassies here.
• Figures Show Great Changes
  Pyongyang, May 4 (KCNA) -- Gigantic nature- remaking projects for agricultural development have been carried on in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea to change the looks of the territory. Since May 4, Juche 87 (1998) when the historic consultative meeting was held to discuss land rezoning on Taebaek plain in Changdo County, Kangwon Province, 293,700 hectares of paddy and non-paddy fields have been rezoned throughout the country to suit the features of the socialist country.
• NK to Hold International Trade Fair
  SEOUL (Yonhap) - Pyongyang will host an international trade fair from May 16-19, with a dozen countries in attendance, North Korean media reported Friday. The (North) Korean Central news Agency said the eighth Pyongyang International Commodity Exhibition welcomes the participation of China, Syria, Thailand, Romania, Germany, Italy, Britain, Switzerland, the Netherlands and Malaysia. The fair will "find its significance in strengthening cooperation and exchanges in trade, economy and science and technology with many countries and regions," the report said. It did not provide information on how many companies from those countries would attend the event. Last year, the annual fair presented products from about 40 foreign companies. The event, held from May 17-20, displayed equipment and materials in such areas as energy, light industry and agriculture and electronic products, metal and daily necessities.
• Foreign Investment in North Korea: an Analysis of the Legal Framework
  LL.M. thesis Spring 2000 Submitted by Pilho Park I. Introduction The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK or North Korea) has suffered a great deal of economic depression during the last decade. North Korea recorded steady economic growth from the end of the Korean War in 1953 until 1989. However, in 1990 the economic growth plummeted and a minus growth rate has continued throughout the 1990s.[1] The economic depression was due to a change in the political and economic environment in China and the former Soviet Union bloc. The North Korean economy was directly affected by this change. [FDI]
• Finance minister says ADB should aid North Korea
  May 06, 2005 ? Finance Minister Han Duck-soo said yesterday that the Asia Development Bank should extend help to nonmember countries, including North Korea, to better prepare them for membership in the organization. Speaking at the annual meeting in Istanbul of the bank's board of governors, Mr. Han said, "I ask the ADB to positively consider its support to nonmember countries, namely North Korea. Through education and training projects, I believe we can and should give the necessary attention and encouragement to them so that they are well prepared before being admitted to the ADB." North Korea tried to join the ADB in 1974 and 2000, but the bids were rejected by member countries such as Japan on the grounds that Pyongyang should first become a member of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. [Sanctions]
• Visits
  Pyongyang, May 3 (KCNA) -- A DPRK delegation led by Ri Yong Hui, vice-chairwoman of the Central Committee of the Korean Democratic Women's Union, left here Tuesday by air to participate in a ministerial meeting of the non-aligned countries on the development of women to be held in Malaysia.
  Representatives of the UNDP and other international organizations and experts in trade from Malaysia, Singapore, Germany, Britain and Australia also arrived here to participate in a seminar on trade to be co-sponsored by the DPRK Ministry of Foreign Trade and the UNDP.
• North rail officials to visit South
  May 04, 2005 ? In a sign that inter-Korean relations could be warming, a Unification Ministry official said yesterday that a North Korean delegation will visit South Korea early next month to attend a railroad and logistics exposition. "North Korea's delegation will attend the 2005 Korea Railways and Logistics Fair, scheduled to open June 8, at the invitation of the host," the ministry official said. BEXCO, or the Busan Exhibition and Convention Center, has invited the North Koreans, he said. According to the ministry source, a half dozen North Korean delegates, including a cabinet member and a railroad expert, will visit the South. "During their stay, they will have a chance to survey South Korea's railroad facilities and experts," he said. North Korea, however, has not given the South details about the identities of the visitors or their schedule yet. The event will take place from June 8 to 11, and about 250 companies from home and abroad will display their technologies and products.
• North Korea Issues 200-Won Banknote
  By Choi Kyong-ae Staff Reporter North Korea issued a new bill with a face value of 200 won early this year, hinting that market opening is picking up in the reclusive North, a local auction company said Tuesday. NK Auction, a cyber marketplace where North Korean products are traded, Tuesday made the new 200-won bill public on its online bulletin. The bill has an anti-forgery feature in it. Unlike the present ones which have the portraits of North Korean founder Kim Il-sung or his son Kim Jong-il, the new bill has a magnolia, the national flower of North Korea, on it.

• North Korea Invites China into the Inner Room of Its Economy
  Nam Sung Wook
  Professor, Department of North Korean Studies Korea University
  The recent visit to Beijing by North Korea's Cabinet Premier Pak Pong-ju was intended mainly to persuade China to extend more assistance and capital to the North. In response, China offered a carrot and a stick. In order to pressure North Korea to return to the six-party talks, China consented to the conclusion of an "Agreement on Investment Promotion and Protection," which the Pyeongyang regime had been strongly pushing for since the beginning of the year.
  The Chosun Ilbo, April 1, 2005
• N. Korea Bird Flu Under Control: UN Agency
  SEOUL (Yonhap) - A U.N. agency said that a bird flu outbreak in North Korea is under control, but its veterinary consultant warned against declaring the isolated country free from the disease. ``It is too early to say that the disease has been eradicated,'' Voice of America (VOA) said Thursday, quoting Les Sims, a U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization consultant.``According to current guidelines, the country still cannot be regarded as being free from the disease... I mean, it takes time to be sure of that." Sims, who was in Pyongyang 10 days ago to help North Korea combat the outbreak of avian influenza, said he cannot explain why the bird flu broke out, noting that the North Korean farms were well run.
  Sims said the impoverished communist country needs to improve its ability to monitor for poultry diseases, which led Pyongyang authorities to cull approximately 218,000 chickens and vaccinate 1.1 million poultry in unaffected areas.
  The bird flu, which hit the North in February, turned out to be the H7 variety, which experts say poses no danger of human infection. The H7 strain is different from the virulent H5N1 strain of avian virus, which killed at least 51 people in Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia
• Kaesong-made goods garner export orders
  April 26, 2005 ? According to a Unification Ministry official, goods produced at the Kaesong Industrial Complex in North Korea are ready for export to Mexico. The official said yesterday that products worth $57,000, produced by the South Korean kitchen appliances producer Living Art, are expected to be shipped at the beginning of next month. The official said Mexico has asked for $120,000 worth of kitchen supplies, including frying pans and pots. The goods will be marked "Made in Korea. Gaesong," using the South Korean-style spelling of the North Korean industrial park. Another batch of orders from the Netherlands is reportedly in the pipeline. Fifteen southern companies have plants at the Kaesong Industrial Complex; 400 South Koreans and 1,900 North Koreans work there.
• North Korea: Can the Iron Fist Accept the Invisible Hand?
  International crisis Group Asia Report N°96 25 April 2005
  EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Despite the deepening nuclear confrontation between North Korea and the world, the North is undergoing the most profound economic changes since the founding of the state 57 years ago. It is unclear if the regime is capable of fully embracing the market; the final outcome cannot be predicted, and no major new economic engagement should be attempted until the nuclear issue is resolved. Nevertheless, the international community has an opportunity to increase the chances that North Korea will make a successful transition from a Stalinist command economy to one that is more market-driven and integrated into the global economy. [Economic reform]
• Once a rarity, wine is now marketed to the masses
  April 25, 2005 ? Twenty years ago, if you wanted a bottle of wine in Korea, not only would you have to pay dearly, you'd have to wait for it. And wait. "In the early 1980s, when I was working at a hotel, importing wine was very difficult," said Kong Seung-sik, an independent sommelier. "For instance, if we ordered a few dozen cases, sometimes we would have to wait a year or two for delivery." Once enjoyed only by the very wealthy, wine is now marketed to the masses in Korea, and countries that produce it are taking notice. [ROK]
• wine in Korea
  Shoppers flocked to a recent wine sale at Shinsegae Department Store in southern Seoul. Once the province of the elite, wine is now sold in Korean discount stores. By Shin In-seop [photo] [ROK]
• Quality Furniture Made in DPRK
  Pyongyang, April 22 (KCNA) -- Pieces of furniture made by the Yonggwang Furniture Joint Venture Company of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea are popular among foreign embassies and missions in Pyongyang and local people for their diversified shapes and kinds and good quality. The company is developing the furniture decoration method with the introduction of PVC, a high-tech method in the furniture industry. By this method, the company is producing furniture of various patterns and shapes. Several hundred pieces of 60 kinds of furniture have found their way to foreign embassies and missions in the DPRK. Some foreigners order them to bring with themselves to their countries. Its products of more than 200 kinds are highly appreciated at home
• Enlarged Plenary Meeting of Cabinet Held
  Pyongyang, April 20 (KCNA) -- An enlarged plenary meeting of the DPRK Cabinet was held. The meeting discussed two agenda items: "On the results of the implementation of the state budget for Juche 93 (2004) and the measures for fulfilling the state budget for this year adopted as an ordinance at the 3rd Session of the 11th Supreme People's Assembly" and "On the review of the implementation of the national economic plan for the first quarter of the year and the measures for fulfilling the national economic plan for the second quarter of the year".
• Power Station Completed
  Hamju, April 18 (KCNA) -- A ceremony for the completion of the Kumjingang Hungbong Youth Power Station in Hamju County, South Hamgyong Province, was held on April 18. It is one more proud creation made by officials and working people of the county by their own efforts in the hard time when everything was in short supply.
• Seoul Protects NK Copyrights
  By Park Song-wu Staff Reporter South Korea has agreed to protect the copyrights of North Korean books and music, following the North's request, the Unification Ministry said Monday.
• South to give North more railroad aid
  April 19, 2005 ? South Korea agreed yesterday to provide 26 billion won ($25.8 million) in material and equipment to be used to rebuild and improve rail facilities in North Korea. The spending is designed to reconnect severed rail lines between the two Koreas. The supplies will be used to plan and build six stations in North Korea, the government said. "We sent designs of railroad stations and lists of materials to the North in November," a Unification Ministry official said. "The North Koreans have now agreed to the plans, so we finalized the process at a meeting today." South Korean officials said some technical support will also be provided. Since 2000, the two Koreas have been working to connect the severed railroads running north and south on the east and west coasts of the Korean Peninsula.
• Seoul Protects NK Copyrights
  By Park Song-wu Staff Reporter South Korea has agreed to protect the copyrights of North Korean books and music, following the North's request, the Unification Ministry said Tuesday. Both the copyright holder's acknowledgement and the Pyongyang authorities' approval are required to sell North Korean literary and artistic works in South Korea, Ko Gyoung-bin, director of the ministry's Social and Cultural Exchanges Bureau, told reporters.
• Chung Hopes S-N Railway Available by 2008
  By Park Song-wu Staff Reporter Unification Minister Chung Dong-young said Monday that the government will try to make it possible for South Koreans to travel by train to Beijing for the 2008 Summer Olympics. Connection works for two cross-border railways _ in both the eastern and western parts of the Korean Peninsula _ began in 2003. But the construction has made slow progress with the inter-Korean relationship turning sour recently.
  In a separate development, the committee session saw a video clip of a public execution in North Korea, the first of its kind to be screened at an official session of the National Assembly. The main opposition Grand National Party (GNP) legislators wanted to run the video clip, allegedly taped in early March at a place in North Hamkyong Province. But the ruling Uri Party lawmakers opposed it, questioning the authenticity of the video clip. [human rights]

• Agreements on Cooperation Signed between DPRK and Chinese Governments
  Beijing, March 22 (KCNA Correspondent) -- An agreement on encouraging and protecting investment and an agreement on cooperation in the environmental protection between the DPRK and Chinese governments were signed in Beijing Tuesday. Present at the signing ceremony from the DPRK side were Premier of the Cabinet Pak Pong Ju, Vice-Premier Ro Tu Chol, Chairman of the State Planning Commission Kim Kwang Rin, Minister of Foreign Trade Rim Kyong Man, DPRK Ambassador to China Choe Jin Su, Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs Kim Hyong Jun, Vice-Minister of Agriculture Kim Hyok Jin, Vice-Minister of Chemical Industry Han Sung Jun and other suite members.
• Pak Pong Ju Visits Different Parts of Beijing
  Beijing, March 23 (KCNA Correspondent) -- Premier of the DPRK Cabinet Pak Pong Ju on an official goodwill visit to China today visited the Yanqing Beer Factory on the outskirts of Beijing. He was accompanied by Vice-Premier Ro Tu Chol and other members of his party and suite members. He was also accompanied by Chinese Ambassador to the DPRK Wu Donghe and officials concerned. After being briefed on the history of the factory, the premier and his party went round the raw material, fermenting and packing processes with keen interest. At the end of the visit Pak wrote in the visitor's book that he hoped the factory would register signal success and progress to greatly contribute to the improvement of the standard of people's living and the prosperity of China. The premier and his party visited the Nokia Co., Ltd. on Mar 22.
• Phone Rate Set for Kaesong at 40 Cents
  By Park Song-wu Staff Reporter The two Koreas agreed to set the phone charge at 40 cents a minute for the inter-Korean industrial complex in Kaesong, North Korea, according to South Korea's fixed telephone operator KT. At a meeting in Kaesong on Thursday, officials from KT and its North Korean counterparts also consented to begin the telephone and fax service by May 31, KT officials said Friday. It is the first time for the two Koreas to be linked with an optical communication network since the division of the peninsula in 1945. ``The establishment of this communication network represents a turning point for cross-border economic exchange programs,'' Kim Byoung-ju, managing director of KT's South and North Affairs Team, told reporters. Internet service is not covered by the agreement. But Kim said the two sides agreed to hold working-level meetings in the near future to connect South Korean companies in Kaesong to a high-speed Internet network.
• Talks on Inter-Korean Communication Network in Kaesong
  A working-level meeting for the construction of a cross-border communication network was held Thursday at the inter-Korean industrial complex in Kaesong, the Unification Ministry said. The talks centered on phone rates and profit sharing, a ministry official said. KT, South Korea's fixed telephone operator, has insisted that profits be shared according to the proportion of investment while North Korea demands that all of the profits should go to the North. KT also wants to lower rates to below 30 cents a minute, while its Northern counterpart hopes to set it somewhere between 45 and 50 cents. 03-24-2005 17:44
• Regulations Eased on Inter-Korean Trade and Traffic
  The government will ease regulations on inter-Korean trade and cross-border traffic as the two Koreas move toward greater economic cooperation, the Unification Ministry said Wednesday. Under the regulations, expected to go into effect next week, South Korea will abolish military inspections for its vehicles crossing over to a pilot industrial park in the North Korean border city of Kaesong, ministry officials said.
• Report says North Korean reforms spread
  March 23, 2005 ? A new government study has provided a more complete picture of the slow evolution North Korea's economy is undergoing with the appearance of more small, privately-run shops. The report mentions the possible opening of shopping malls and department stores as joint ventures with Chinese and Russian partners. The Ministry of Unification and the state-run think tank, the Korea Institute of National Unification, released a report yesterday about the status of economic reform in North Korea. Reforms experimenting with capitalism have been taking place in the North since July 2002 when Pyeongyang began seeking a means of breaking out of economic stagnation. Among the consequences have been sharp price and wage increases, the end of rationing except for grain and the devaluation of the North Korean won. Some state enterprises have also had the chance to manage themselves instead of being directed by the central government. According to the report, students at Kim Il Sung University are studying with textbooks that cover market principles, starting with the laws of supply and demand. The study said markets in the North have become more diverse. As a part of the policy shift, the study noted North Korea is looking for opportunities to cooperate with China and Russia to open shopping centers and department stores in large cities such as Pyeongyang and Cheongjin. Wholesale stores and 24-hour convenience shops have opened in the country's larger cities, catering to wealthier individuals, the report said. Although it is still forbidden for individuals to own and operate shops, some individuals are running illicit beer bars, karaoke clubs and computer cafes, the report said. The country's economy grew 1.8 percent in 2003, but wholesale and retail businesses have seen 9.8-percent growth, the report said. "In the North, the people began understanding the concept that they earn as much as they work," said Kim Young-yoon, head of the North Korea Economic Research Center at the Korea Institute of National Unification. by Seo Seong-wook, Ser Myo-ja [Economic reform]
• Water Resources Conserved in DPRK
  Pyongyang, March 21 (KCNA) -- Various activities are being conducted in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea on the occasion of the World Day of Water (March 22). Water is one of the crucial issues which draw public interest because they challenge humankind in the 21st century. With the approach of this day, the Central Committee of the DPRK Natural Conservation Union has launched a campaign to inform people of the importance of water in human life and its conservation and management through mass media.
• NK Crawls Toward Market Economy
  By Park Song-wu Staff Reporter Pyongyang has reduced idle manpower in its ruling system and picked up young experts to run economy-related institutions, the Korea Institute for National Unification (KINU) said Tuesday. Business owners in Pyongyang are frequently found to be soliciting foreigners, said Kim Young-yoon, a KINU official in charge of researching North Korea's economy. ``Visitors to Pyongyang can easily find small-scale stores, bars, karaoke rooms and Internet cafes that are run by individuals,'' Kim said. ``Foreigners are their main customers. I heard many foreigners have been asked to visit their shops and buy goods.''
  The Committee for the Promotion of Economic Cooperation, formerly a Foreign Trade Ministry sub-organization that worked to invite financial assistance from communist allies, is now directly responsible to Premier Pak Pong-ju, Kim said. ``Many businesses, formerly run by the communist party and the military, are currently managed by the cabinet,'' he said. Pyongyang's confidence in Pak, dubbed the ``chief economic policymaker,'' is recently growing as the communist party is gradually yielding its economy-related functions to the cabinet, North Korea researchers in Seoul said.
  ``The Kim Il-sung University has been teaching students market economy principles since March 2003,'' Kim said
• New Self-running Waterways Appear in Korea
  Pyongyang, March 20 (KCNA) -- Self-running waterways extending more than 280 kms have been built in the DPRK in the last couple of years. The construction of these waterways which run from rivers and reservoirs to fields of co-op farms has made it possible to water 17,000 hectares of paddy and non-paddy fields without using hundreds of pumping facilities which had been used for irrigation systems.
• Tokto Area Contains Vast Gas Reserves
  By Seo Jee-yeon Staff Reporter Behind Japan's claim to Tokto are reserves of a next-generation energy resource - gas hydrate, according to the state-run gas company. "We believe the gas hydrate reserves near the islets is the reason Japan persists in its claim,'' a senior official, requesting anonymity, from the Korea Gas Corp. (KOGAS) said.
• Economic Bodies Face Dilemma in Bolstering Ties With Japan
  By Kim Sung-jin Staff Reporter South Korean economic organizations are facing a dilemma with regard to carrying out prearranged economic events aimed at promoting business ties with Japanese counterparts amid escalating tension between Seoul and Tokyo. Korea's key umbrella business organizations have arranged various ceremonies and joint business events with Japanese firms to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the normalization of diplomatic relations between Korea and Japan. However, they are worried that carrying out the publicity events in the midst of the rising tide of anti-Japanese sentiment may deepen Korean society's anti-corporate attitude
• North Korea denies reports on avian flu
  March 19, 2005 ? North Korea has denied a series of news reports about a suspected avian influenza outbreak in the vicinity of Pyeongyang, the communist country's capital. According to the National Intelligence Service yesterday, Choe Ung-jun, the head of North Korea's Public Health Department, appeared on Central TV on Tuesday and said no cases had been detected. South Korea's Yonhap News Agency reported that bird flu had been found at a poultry farm near Pyeongyang last month. After the reports, the World Health Organization said it would launch an investigation into a possible outbreak there. Alarmed by the news reports, South Korea halted a planned import of North Korean poultry earlier this week. Japan also imposed a ban as a preventive measure.
• DPRK Commodity Exhibition Opens in Mongolia
  Pyongyang, March 18 (KCNA) - A DPRK commodity exhibition opened at the Mongolian National Information Technology Hall on Mar. 10. On display at the exhibition were famous works of President Kim Il Sung and leader Kim Jong Il and different kinds of commodities of the DPRK.
• Nampho Eel Farm
  Pyongyang, March 18 (KCNA) -- The Nampho Eel Farm of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea is breeding eels in an intensive and scientific way. Scientists and technicians of the farm have found out a unique method to raise elvers and thus boosted their survival rate remarkably. They have also developed a new kind of materials for improving water quality to suit the ecological character of eels and various kinds of fodder additive for their quick breeding. They have opened up a bright perspective for their artificial spawning. The farm, built in December Juche 91 (2002), is situated on the west coastal area of Nampho.
• Portable Heating Bag Made in DPRK
  Pyongyang, March 16 (KCNA) -- Portable heating bags have widely been used in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. The heating bag is good for treating stomach cramp, body chill and other diseases and for keeping body and bed warm. And it is popular among workers in the sectors of forestry, fishery and geological survey. The polyethylene resin bag contains heat- generating solid substances. When the bag is heated up, the solid substances turn into liquid at the temperature of above 58 degrees C to produce heat of 80 degrees C at the maximum for 5-6 hours. Its serviceable life is ten years.
• Bird influenza strikes North Korean poultry
  March 16, 2005 ? An avian flu outbreak occurred about a month ago at a poultry farm in Pyeongyang, killing thousands of chickens, Yonhap News Agency reported yesterday, quoting a source informed about North Korean affairs. The Unification Ministry is trying to confirm the outbreak according to an official who said recent broadcasts in the North have stressed the importance of preventing the disease. The news followed an earlier report that a South Korean buyer, Porky Trading Korea, will import 40 tons of North Korean chickens this week.
• Outbreak of Bird Flu Reported in N.Korea
  By Park Song-wu Staff Reporter North Korea might have slaughtered thousands of chickens last month after a suspected outbreak of bird flu at a chicken factory in Pyongyang, sources close to North Korean officials in China said Tuesday
• S. Korea to Supply Electricity to North From Tomorrow
  By Seo Jee-yeon Staff Reporter South Korea will provide electricity to a North Korean industrial complex in Kaesong from tomorrow for the first time in its history, the Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO) said Monday. The power supply is expected to facilitate the development of the industrial complex in Kaesong, just 60 kilometers north of Seoul, a KEPCO official said. So far, three small- and medium-sized Korean companies have established production lines in an area measuring 28,000-pyong (92,400-square- meter) in the complex. They have secured electricity from their own generators. The lack of infrastructure is one of the biggest challenges ahead for the Kaesong Complex.
• Tokto stamps
  The picture shows a sheet of North Korean stamps featuring Tokto islets being sold by NK Auction, an Internet auction firm specializing in goods from the North.
• North Korean poultry is coming South
  March 15, 2005 ? South Korea will import 40 tons of North Korean chicken this week, the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry said yesterday. The poultry is expected to go on sale at local stores as early as next month. According to the ministry, Porky Trading Korea, a South Korean poultry importer, plans to import 50 tons a week, aiming to sell about 2,000 tons of North Korean poultry a year on the South Korean market. The ministry said it had surveyed the poultry farms and slaughter facilities near the North Korean capital Pyeongyang to check sanitary and hygiene conditions. The ministry said North Korea had strict quality controls for all meat products. As of late 2003, South Koreans consumed 373,000 tons of chicken annually, 88,000 tons of which were imported.
• Kaechon-Lake Thaesong Waterway Pays off
  Pyongyang, March 14 (KCNA) -- The Kaechon-Lake Thaesong Waterway, built in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea in the era of Songun politics, has paid off over the last two years. The unique waterway was built in a short span of time with the design, technology and strength of Koreans. Over the years, a total of 100 million cubic meters of water has flown along the waterway from the River Taedong to over ten towns and counties in South Phyongan Province and Pyongyang to be used as irrigation and industrial water. Before the waterway was built, more than 500 water pumps in hundreds of pumping stations had to consume some 60,000 kW of electricity a year to supply needed water to these areas. The completion of the waterway has formed a natural-flow irrigation system without using any pump and electricity. When the sluice of the Taegak Youth Dam is opened, water flows into 20-odd reservoirs including Lake Thaesong and directly to different areas along the waterway.
• North Korean Stamps, Coins in Internet Auction
  SEOUL (Yonhap) - A South Korean company said Sunday it has put North Korean stamps and coins up for sale via the Internet. NK Auction Co., which specializes in auctioning off North Korean goods over the Internet, said two kinds of North Korean stamps and a set of coins are being sold on its Web site (www.nkauction.com).
• ICM National Demonstration Project in DPRK
  Pyongyang, March 11 (KCNA) -- A national demonstration project is going on in Nampho City, South Phyongan Province, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea under the Integrated Coastal Management (ICM) program. The national demonstration area of over 210 square kilometers covers Nampho city and the banks of the West Sea Barrage reservoir and coastal area near the city. The project is aimed at establishing a scientific and integrated management system of coastal areas such as development and sustainable use of coastal resources, economic development and environmental management in the coastal areas.
• Bicycle-Only Road to Be Built in Kaesong
  By Park Song-wu Staff Reporter South Korea plans to construct a bicycle-only road for North Koreans who commute to the inter- Korean industrial complex in Kaesong, North Korea, the Unification Ministry said Thursday. ``We are examining ways to build the road because many workers are commuting on foot or on bicycles,'' said Cho Myoung-gyon, in charge of the ministry's administrative affairs on the Kaesong Industrial Complex. Roads that only allow bicyclists and pedestrians are commonly found in North Korea. Around 1,900 North Koreans, including 740 for South Korean companies and 950 others who are working on constructing the infrastructure, are currently working in the industrial park, located south of the city. So far, Seoul has provided four buses for commuters in Kaesong. Hyundai Asan, the main developer of the complex, also runs three buses. North Korean workers are quickly acquiring skills necessary to produce goods. ``In some cases, North Korean apprentices show an average of 95 points (out of 100) in tests measuring how much they have learned,'' Cho said.
• How North lost control of its power
• Romanson Builds Factory in Kaesong
  A South Korean watchmaking firm will hold a groundbreaking ceremony today for the construction of a plant at a pilot industrial zone in the North Korean border town of Kaesong. ``About 10 company officials will travel to the North for the ceremony,'' said an official at Seoul-based Romanson, which will invest 15.5 billion won ($15.4 million) in the North by forming a consortium with five other South Korean firms. Romanson plans to complete construction by June and roll out products in the third quarter. The watchmaker is one of 15 South Korean labor- intensive companies that the Seoul government has authorized to move into the pilot zone to take advantage of the North's cheap but skilled labor
• Improvement of Economic Management System Called for
  Pyongyang, March 5 (KCNA) -- It would be possible to dynamically push forward the building of a great prosperous powerful socialist nation only when an original economic management system suitable to the developing reality and the specific conditions of the country is established and full play is given to its vitality, says Rodong Sinmun Saturday in a signed article. A steady improvement and perfection of the economic management system would provide a sure guarantee for correct guidance and management of the socialist economy, the article notes, and goes on: This would also provide an important guarantee for overcoming the present difficulties and stepping up the socialist economic construction as fast as possible
  What is important for improving the economic guidance and management to suit the nature of socialist society is to strictly observe the principle of attaching importance to profitability. It is necessary to steadily improve the economic management, while putting main emphasis on encouraging economic officials at all levels to conduct guidance and management assiduously in order to gain as much profits as possible in production and construction with least expenditure not only in the nationwide fields but in individual domains, regions or units. It is also important for improving the economic management to strictly abide by the principle of letting the state economic organs give economic technological guidance under the political stewardship of the party. It is an important socialist principle to be abided by in improving the economic management of the country to correctly combine the unified guidance of the state with the creative initiative at each unit. [Economic reform]
• Spring Sowing Expected to Be Late for Abnormal Weather
  Pyongyang, March 5 (KCNA) -- Wheat and barley sowing would be started in late February or early March every year in Korea. This year, however, it is expected to be some ten days late in almost rural communities because the atmosphere has remained lower than the average in March. Kim Mun Uk, a section chief of the Central Weather Forecast Institute of the Hydro- Meteorological Service, said that such abnormal weather is attributable to the lower temperature in winter than the average, caused by the fact that cold air has steadily come to Korea with the Siberia high atmospheric pressure and northwestern wind being further intensified than ever before.
• NK Tobacco Becomes Popular
  By Bae Keun-min Staff Reporter Cheap North Korean-made cigarettes have been gaining popularity in South Korea. The cigarette brand ``Pyongyang'' is being sold at traditional street markets and by roadside vendors at subway stations in Seoul and other cities for 1,000 won a pack and 8,000 won per 10-pack carton. The price is 50 percent lower than locally produced cigarettes, which has accelerated sales of the Northern tobacco.
• Inter-Korean zone in Russia being discussed
  March 05, 2005 ? Two South Korean nonprofit groups say they have begun discussions with the Russian government about creating a farming and light-industry zone in eastern Russia's Maritime Province that would utilize South Korean financing and North Korean labor. The Overseas Koreans Foundation, which is affiliated with Korea's Foreign Ministry, and the International Agricultural Development Institute, a non-government organization based in Seoul, said yesterday that they recently discussed the project with Russian officials. The area being considered for the project is a 2.1-million-acre tract near Lake Hanka, about an hour's drive north of Vladivostok. Mostly composed of grasslands, rice paddies and fields, the area includes 1.38 million acres owned by an agriculture firm which, in turn, is owned by Daesunjinrihoe, a South Korean religious order. The company bought the land from the Russian government in 2000. The land is said to be abundant in oil, natural gas and diamonds, according to the nonprofit groups. The hope is that private South Korean firms would eventually invest as well. According to the nonprofit groups, North Korea has said it would provide a workforce of 250,000 in exchange for the rice produced by the district, estimated at 800,000 tons annually.
• Chilean wine gaining ground on French in Korea
  March 05, 2005 ? For a long time, when Koreans thought of wine, they thought of France. Not anymore, thanks to the free trade agreement with Chile, which took effect in April 2004.
• North Korean Cigarettes Sell Like Hotcakes
  "How come these cigarettes are so cheap? It says 'Pyongyang' on the pack. Hey mister, is this really the Pyongyang in North Korea?" "Of course! These are from North Korea, and they're only W8,000 a carton. Give them a try."
  At a street stall in a traditional market in Dongdaemun, Seoul, tons of cigarettes from North Korea were piled up in red-cartons Wednesday afternoon. The packs are marked, "Ryongsong Cigarette Company, MADE IN DPR KOREA." The cigarettes from North Korea, which cost only half as much as South Korean cigarettes, are selling like hot cakes in Seoul. They sell for W1,000 a pack, and W8,000 for cartons of 10. Considering that South Korean cigarettes cost more than W2,000 a packet after the W500 price hike at the beginning of the year, they're a good deal. Pyongyang cigarettes can be found in traditional markets and vendors in subway stations. Mr. Kim, who started selling cigarettes from Pyongyang ten days ago, said he bought them from a wholesale dealer in mid-February, thinking they might make money after the hike in cigarette prices. He sells about 20 cartons of the cigarettes a day, he said.
  The biggest buyers of Pyongyang cigarettes are the elderly, who have really felt the price hike for South Korean cigarettes. "I've tried them. They were a bit strong, but they were still okay because you can't find anything else for W1,000," said 68-year-old senior citizen Mr. Lee, who bought a pack today. According to the law, it is not illegal to sell cigarettes made in North Korea. As long as they report it to regional authorities and the Ministry of Finance and Economy, importers can sell North Korean cigarettes at anytime. However, it is against the law to sell them for under W1,700 a packet because the tax imposed on a packet of cigarette itself is W1,700. Therefore, it is illegal to sell Pyongyang cigarettes for W1,000.
  An official at the Ministry of Finance and Economy who is in charge of dealing with imported cigarettes said it wasn't recommended to smoke cigarettes made in North Korea, firstly because the substances are unknown, and secondly because we do not know through what channel they were imported. Since we are unaware of how harmful North Korean cigarettes can be, it is not advisable to smoke them, the official said. (englishnews@chosun.com )
• Tree-planting Day Marked in DPRK
  Pyongyang, March 3 (KCNA) -- Spring tree planting started this significant year. Meetings of working people of different strata and school youth and children were held in the provinces, cities and counties on March 2, the tree- planting day, to plant trees on an extensive scale and thus cover the whole land with forests and gardens, true to the land upbuilding plan of the Workers' Party of Korea. Present at the meetings of working people's organizations were Kim Yong Nam, Choe Thae Bok, Yang Hyong Sop, Kim Kuk Thae, Kim Jung Rin, Kim Ki Nam, Jong Ha Chol, Choe Yong Rim and Kwak Pom Gi, senior officials of the Party and state, and Kim Yong Dae, chairman of the Central Committee of the Korean Social Democratic Party, Jang Il Son, minister of Land and Environment Preservation, Choe Jong Gon, minister of City Management, and officials concerned, working people, and school youth and children.
• Puts Spurs on Development of Agriculture
  High-Tech Is Key to Rapid Progress in Agriculture: Official This year the DPRK put priority to agriculture, saying that agriculture is the main front line of the country's socialist economic construction. "Seed revolution" and "double cropping" are the basic policy line in agriculture of the DPRK.
• Electricity Available in Kaesong Next Week
  By Park Song-wu Staff Reporter Electricity is expected to be supplied to South Korean companies operating at the inter-Korean industrial complex in Kaesong, North Korea, by next week, the Unification Ministry said Tuesday. ``The construction work for the supply of electricity will likely be completed by Saturday,'' a ministry spokesman told reporters. ``Finishing touches, such as safety checks, will require around two days. So I think electricity will be available by Monday at the earliest.'' So far 15 South Korean companies have been authorized to build factories in a pilot zone in the Kaesong Industrial Complex. But only one, a kitchenware maker, is currently producing goods using a generator.
• Young People Distinguish Themselves in Economic Construction
  Pyongyang, February 28 (KCNA) -- Young people of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea are standing in the van in the efforts for building a great prosperous socialist powerful nation as a vanguard and shock-brigade. They have built many monumental edifices in the Songun era. Last year they completed many projects, 33 of them named after "chongnyon" (youth). The economic situation of the nation is still difficult. But youngsters, with a firm resolution to create an affluent life for the future, have successfully carried out the reclamation of 1,300 ha of Kumsong Tideland, and the construction of the Sansong Reservoir in Rakwon County, a mush-room farm in Anbyon County, the Tokin Power Plant under the Songjin Steel Complex, minor power stations and modern stock and fish farms.
• NK Delays Talks on Phone Rates for Kaesong
  By Park Song-wu Staff Reporter North Korea recently asked to delay working- level talks for building a cross-border communication network in Kaesong, a border city in the North, until early next month, the Ministry of Unification said Thursday. The talks, originally scheduled for Feb. 22-23 in Kaesong where an inter-Korean industrial park is under construction, are slated for March 2-3, ministry officials said.
• NK Newspaper Runs Commercial Advertisements
  By Park Song-wu Staff Reporter A Pyongyang newspaper recently began to run commercial advertisements, a pro-North Korea newspaper in Japan reported last weekend. The unexpected development in the North is considered as an attempt to trigger change in its media sector, a North Korea expert in Seoul said Sunday. The Chosun Shinbo, published by the General Association of Korean Residents in Japan, or Chongnyon, reported on its Web site Saturday that the Pyongyang Shinmun, a four-page newspaper for the North's capital, has begun running commercial advertisements. ``Pyongyang Shinmun is gaining popularity thanks to its unique layout of pages that have advertisements on manufacturers, shops and commodities,'' the Chosun Shinbo reported. [Economic reform]

• Rule to Be Eased for Inter-Korean Projects
  By Seo Jee-yeon Staff Reporter The equity investment ceiling applied to South Korean family-controlled conglomerates, or chaebol, is likely to be eased to lead big businesses to invest in inter-Korean economic projects. The projection came as Rep. Kim Hyun-mi of the ruling Uri Party submitted a bill that allows chaebol to make an equity investment in other domestic firms involving inter-Korean economic projects without a ceiling to the National Assembly. Under the revised Monopoly Regulation and Fair Trade Act, which will take effect from April 1, chaebol with more than 6 trillion won in assets will be banned from investing more than 25 percent of their net assets in other domestic firms, including their affiliates. If the bill is passed, conglomerates, which are approved as partners for inter-Korean economic projects by the government, will be freed from the investment restriction, the Fair Trade Commission (FTC) said.
• KEPCO to Supply Electricity to Kaesong Complex in March
  By Seo Jee-yeon Staff Reporter Despite increasing tension over the North Korean nuclear issue, the Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO) will supply electricity to the Kaesong industrial complex in North Korea, located about 60 kilometers north of Seoul, in early March. ``We will supply electricity to the site early next month, considering the development of the construction of power supply facilities in the complex,'' an official of the KEPCO North-South power cooperation division said.
• S. Korea-Japan FTA Talks Deadlocked
  By Seo Jee-yeon Staff Reporter The South Korea-Japan free trade agreement (FTA) negotiations have come to a standstill due in part to a difference between the two countries in the opening of the agricultural market.
• Korea Finds New Headache in FTAs With US, Japan
  By Seo Jee-yeon Staff Reporter North Korean products are likely to emerge as a fresh obstacle for a South Korea-U.S. free trade agreement (FTA) as the Seoul government allegedly plans to include a ``Kaesong provision'' in future FTA negotiations. The Kaesong provision aims to permit preferential duties for products produced in the North Korean industrial complex in Kaesong, with the products being treated the same as those made in South Korea. The provision was introduced for the first time in FTA talks with Singapore, which were wrapped up last year. ``We haven't decided when we to propose the provision to the U.S., but in principle, we will bring up the provision in future FTA talks,'' an official of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MOFAT) said yesterday. The remark came before the first working-level talks between the two countries to explore the possibility of a Korea-U.S. FTA, which will be held in Seoul Feb.3-4. As the United States has imposed sanctions against North Korean products, inclusion of the provision may appear unlikely. [Sanctions] [Kaesong]
• Bush Willing to Visit Kaesong Industrial Park
  By Shim Jae-yun Staff Reporter President Roh Moo-hyun on Tuesday said U.S. President George W. Bush agreed to accompany him to the border city of Kaesong, North Korea, to look around the industrial park for South Korean companies. Roh said he made the proposal during their summit in Santiago, Chile, last November on the sidelines of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) session. ``I proposed to President Bush that he visit Kaesong during the APEC session in November this year and he accepted the request, saying `I will go there if you go,''' Roh said during a New Year meeting at Chong Wa Dae with ministerial and vice ministerial-level officials. Roh went on to say that he made similar proposals to all heads of state he met during the session.
• US Scholar Tells Limits of Kaesong Project
  By Park Song-wu Staff Reporter The long-term prospect of the Kaesong inter- Korean business project is not bright if North Korea sticks to its nuclear ambitions, said Marcus Noland, senior fellow of the U.S. think- tank Institute for International Economics. During an interview with the Radio Free Asia on Friday, Noland said the Kaesong Industrial Complex, located in Kaesong just above the demilitarized zone, will be limited in progress unless the North's nuclear problem is solved.
• NK Plans Trade Expo to Boost Economy
  By Park Song-wu, Reuben Staines Staff Reporters North Korea will host its biggest-ever international trade expo in May this year in a move signaling the communist country wants to nudge open the doors of its struggling economy, Beijing officials said Friday. A bulletin published by China's official Xinhua news agency quoted officials as saying Pyongyang hoped more than 300 companies from Europe and the United States will participate in the four- day trade fair, which is scheduled to begin in the North Korean capital on May 16. ``Pyongyang describes its policy as `economic adjustment,' but we think it is a sort of open- door policy,'' the bulletin quoted a Beijing official as saying. The news came a day after the South Korean government released a report estimating the North's economic growth for 2004 would exceed the 1.8 percent posted the previous year but warning it faced many challenges.
• Seoul to Continue S-N Projects
  By Park Song-wu Staff Reporter South Korea will continue pursuing inter-Korean cooperation programs despite Pyongyang's announcement that it has nuclear weapons and will boycott the six-party talks over its nuclear weapons programs, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Ban Ki-moon said in Washington, D.C. Saturday. He made clear Seoul's hope that Pyongyang's declaration last Thursday will not obstruct the joint industrial complex project in Kaesong, North Korea. [Friction]
• Kaesong Project Faces Setback
  By Park Song-wu Staff Reporter Pyongyang's remarks to bolster its nuclear arms arsenals and boycott the six-party nuclear talks are expected to affect an inter-Korean industrial complex project in Kaesong, North Korea, at least for a short-term period, experts in Seoul said Friday. But they predicted that the two Koreas' business cooperation programs, including the industrial park project, will restore its vitality in the near future because Pyongyang needs to boost its economy. Professor Lee Jang-hie of Hankuk University of Foreign Studies in Seoul said the United States, agitated by the North's remarks on Thursday, could decide to strengthen its regulations over the Kaesong industrial park program. ``The U.S. could pick up a card of imposing economic sanctions (on the Kaesong project) because the other (military) measure is considered dangerous at the moment,'' Lee told The Korea Times. [Friction] [Sanctions]
• Seoul to Continue S-N Projects
  By Park Song-wu Staff Reporter South Korea will continue pursuing inter-Korean cooperation programs despite Pyongyang's announcement that it has nuclear weapons and will boycott the six-party talks over its nuclear weapons programs, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Ban Ki-moon said in Washington, D.C. Saturday. He made clear Seoul's hope that Pyongyang's declaration last Thursday will not obstruct the joint industrial complex project in Kaesong, North Korea. ``The pilot program for the Kaesong project will go on unless the situation is deteriorated further,'' Ban told South Korean correspondents in Washington. ``We have a settled policy of seeking solutions to the nuclear issue and developing inter-Korean relations at the same time.'' [Friction]
• Ssangyong Motor has 1st loss in 3 years
  February 11, 2005 ? Ssangyong Motor Co., Korea's fourth-largest carmaker, posted its first quarterly loss in more than three years because of higher raw material costs and marketing expenses. Ssangyong last posted a loss in the third quarter of 2001. Its net loss in the fourth quarter was 33 billion won ($32 million), compared with a profit of 185.9 billion won a year earlier, according to Bloomberg calculations. Sales in the period shrank 2 percent to 862.6 billion won. For the entire year of 2004, Ssangyong's net income fell 98 percent to 11.4 billion won, the automaker reported in its regulatory filing yesterday.
• DPRK Determines to Mark 2005 as Victorious Year of Decisive Turn
  New Year Editorial Emphasizes Agriculture Is Key to Recover Economy Three newspapers of the DPRK issued a New Year joint editorial on January 1, which shows annual internal and external policy of the DPRK.
• Delegation of Russian Energy Company Visits DPRK
  A delegation of Russian energy company GAZPROM visited Pyongyang from January 20 to 21.
  Premier of the DPRK Cabinet Pak Pong Ju met with the delegation headed by Aleksei Miller, chairman of its management, at the Mansudae Assembly Hall on January 21 and had a friendly talk with members of the delegation. On hand were Jong Chol Yun, vice-minister of Oil Industry, and Kim Yong Jae, vice-minister of Foreign Trade, and other officials concerned and Andrei Karlov, Russian ambassador to the DPRK. The delegation of the GAZPROM Company of Russia flew back home on January 21 after winding up its 2-day visit to the DPRK.
• Korean People Determined To Accomplish Joint Editorial
  "Agriculture This Year to Go Well With Party's Determination"
  All farm of the DPRK are making preparations for farming. (Photo shows Chongsan Farm.) Korean people are now busy accomplishing the Joint Editorial, which stressed that the main front of the economic construction of Socialism this year is agriculture. People working in various economic areas of the DPRK including agriculture are filled with belief in their power and are determined to accomplish the Joint Editorial. The People's Korea introduces their plans and prospects for their work.
• 2 Koreas Forge Economic Ties to Ease Tensions on Their Own
  By NORIMITSU ONISHI Published: February 8, 2005 Seokyong Lee for The New York Times The kitchenware was made in a special economic zone inside North Korea, just north of the demilitarized zone that divides the peninsula, by a South Korean company employing North Korean workers. A maker of semiconductor parts also began operating there late in 2004, and 13 more South Korean companies are scheduled to follow this year. [Kaesong]
• NK Water to Hit S. Korean Market
  By Park Song-wu Staff Reporter North Korea's top-quality mineral water, reportedly favored by its leader Kim Jong-il, will hit the South Korean market in the middle of this month, its importer said Monday. The Shinmyung International Co., a trader based in Seoul, said that 15 tons of the bottled waters, the first shipment from the North's scenic Mt. Myohyang, arrived at Inchon Port last Friday and currently are undergoing customs clearance. It is the second time for the South to import mineral water from the North, following the first sale of water from Mt. Kumgang that, however, failed to gain popularity among South Koreans. ``We've already received many orders from major department stores around the country,'' Park Jong-eun, president of the company, told The Korea Times. ``They consider selling North Korean products as an opportunity for good publicity.'' [SK attitude NK]