by Ralph Hassig
6. Nodong Sinmun, March 29, 2001, 2, in Korean.
7. Kim Myong-chol, “The Central Tasks in This Year’s Socialist Economic Construction,” Minju Choson, February 22, 2001, 2, in Korean.
8. Song Kun-cho, “Modernizing Local Industry Plants with Up-to-Date Technology Is a Major Task Facing the Local Organs of Power,” Minju Choson, June 10, 2001, 2, in Korean.
9. Yi Tong-hyon, “JoongAng Ilbo Exclusive Summary of Kim Jong-il’s Instructions— Let Go of Free State Provisions That Need to Go,” JoongAng Ilbo, August 1, 2002, Internet version, in Korean. Also see “General Secretary Kim Orders Abolition of Principle of Equalization, Gratuitous Systems; Entire Picture of His Instructions Comes to Light,” Kyodo Clue II, June 27, 2004, Internet version, in Japanese; said to be based on North Korean internal documents.
10. “Glorify This Year That Greets the 90th Birthday of President Kim Il-sung As a Year of a New Surge in the Building of a Powerful Nation,” People’s Korea 1903 (January 12, 2002): 2, in English.
11. “On Correctly Understanding the State Measure That Has Readjusted Overall Prices and Living Expenses,” lecture material from the Korean People’s Army Publishing House, July 2002, in Korean. For a published version of the document’s highlights, see Kim Kwang-in, “Internal Document on the ‘1 July Measure’; Special Military Allowance Introduced,” obtained by Chosun Ilbo, October 15, 2002, Internet version, in Korean.
12. Kim Chi-yong, “In Order to Become a Prosperous Country: Expectations and Support for the New Economic Policies,” Choson Sinbo, July 26, 2002, Internet version, in Japanese.
13. Ryu Kyong-won, “Merchants Spreading Delusions about the Enemy Using South Korean Goods; What Does the 2007 Market Control Particularly Mean?” Rimjingang, March 17, 2008, 82–96, in Korean.
14. Cabinet document released by Japanese NGO’s Rescue the North Korean People (RENK) website, December 14, 2004, www.bekkoame.ne.jp/ro/renk, in Japanese.
15. Kim Chi-yong, “Interview with Choe Hong-kyu, Director of the State Planning Commission: Achievements by Improving Economic Management,” Choson Sinbo, April 1, 2003, in Korean.
16. “ ‘Fatherland’s Market’: Hearing from Chang Tu-kil, Vice Director of the Commercial Department in the Ministry of Commerce—Significance of New Market,” Choguk (Tokyo), October 19, 2004, in Korean.
17. Kim Chi-yong, “ ‘From the Scene of Reform’: Vitality of Improvement Measures That Are Being Verified,” Choson Sinbo, December 22, 2003, Internet version, in Korean.
18. “KCNA on Japan’s False Propaganda,” KCNA, September 8, 1999, in English.
19. Chu Song-ha and Sin Sok-ho, “The North Has Implemented a Nationwide Private Cultivation System,” Tong-a Ilbo, December 6, 2004, Internet version, in English.
20. Report of an interview with Sin Chang-song, vice president of the DPRK Central Bank, broadcast on Korean Central Television, March 30, 2003, in Korean.
21. Report of an interview with Chong Yong-chun of the DPRK finance ministry, Choson Sinbo, May 6, 2003, in Korean.
22. Korean Central Television, December 29, 2007, in Korean.
23. “Visit the Najin-Sonbong Economic and Trade Zone to Witness North Korea’s Market Opening,” Wen Wei Po, July 14, 2007, Internet version, in Chinese.
24. “Hyundai Asan Losses from N. Korea Tours Mounting,” Chosun Ilbo, May 19, 2008, Internet version, in English. For a brighter picture, see Jin Hyun-joo, “Hyundai Asan’s 2007 Profit to Pass 10 Billion Won,” Korea Herald, December 29, 2007, Internet version, in English.
25. “Sinuiju Designated As Hong Kong–Type Special Zone: First Market Economy Experience in DPRK,” People’s Korea 1920 (September 28, 2002): 3–4, in English.
26. “Sinuiju Designated As Hong Kong–Type Special Zone,” 4.
27. Mark O’Neill, “From a Great Height,” South China Morning Post, May 18, 2004, Internet version, in English.
28. Mark O’Neill, “Kim Eyes New Chief Executive,” South China Morning Post, September 10, 2004, Internet version, in English.
29. City of Fullerton website at www.ci.fullerton.ca.us/depts/mayor_n_city_council/ timeline… of_council_members_n_mayor.asp.
30. SBS Television, September 7, 2004, in Korean.
31. “Roh Calls for Increased Inter-Korean Economic Exchanges,” Yonhap, April 1, 2006, in English.
32. “Regulations on Advertisement in Kaesong Industrial Zone Adopted,” KCNA, March 5, 2004, in English.
33. Ju Tong-chan, chairman of the DPRK’s National Economic Cooperation Committee, quoted by JoongAng Ilbo, June 21, 2006, Internet version, in English.
34. Ser Myo-ja, “Group: Most Inter-Korean Businesses End Badly,” JoongAng Ilbo, October 21, 2005, Internet version, in English.
35. Lee Sun-young, “Doing Business in North Korea Still Difficult: Poll,” Korea Herald, January 29, 2008, Internet version, in English.
36. Jo Dong-ho, “Aid Is Not the Same As Investment,” JoongAng Ilbo, August 21, 2007, Internet version, in English.
37. Kim Yon-kwang, “Kim Chan-ku’s Testimony Looking Back on His 15 Years As President of Pyongyang Sunpyong Toy Factory: The Gangster Culture [ROK] President Roh Vows to Liquidate Is Found in North Korea,” Wolgan Chosun (July 1, 2004): 170–90, in Korean.
38. Testimony of William Bach to the U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Financial Management, the Budget, and International Security, Washington, D.C., May 20, 2003. Also see Phar Kim Beng, “Shady Business: N. Korea and Crime,” Asia Times Online, May 31, 2003, www.atimes.com/atimes/Korea/EE31Dg01.html.
39. “KCNA Dismisses U.S. False Propaganda against DPRK,” KCNA, March 13, 2006, in English.
40. One of the most authoritative treatments of communist economies is Janos Kornai, The Socialist System: The Political Economy of Communism (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1992).
41. Kornai, The Socialist System, 445.
42. Kornai, The Socialist System, 379.
43. For recent discussions, see Stephan Haggard and Marcus Noland, Famine in North Korea: Markets, Aid, and Reform (New York: Columbia University Press, 2007), and a collection of previously published articles by Nicholas Eberstadt titled The North Korean Economy: Between Crisis and Catastrophe (New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Publishers, 2007).
44. Nicholas Eberstadt, “Economic Implications of a ‘Bold Switchover’ in DPRK Security Policy,” Korean Journal of Defense Analysis 17, no. 1 (spring 2005): 53–84; see the list on 61–63. Reprinted in Eberstadt, The North Korean Economy, 245–73.
Chapter 4: The Economy of Everyday Life
1. Kim Chin-chun, vice minister of labor, “Organizing Social Labor in a Rational Manner Is Requirement for Managing Socialist Economy,” Minju Choson, December 4, 2001, 3, in Korean.
2. Yonhap News Agency, North Korea Handbook (Armonk, NY: M. E. Sharpe, 2003), 388, in English.
3. Yonhap, North Korea Handbook, 389.
4. Choe Il-ho, “Intensive Agitation for Economy Which Sets Hearts Afire—in the Work of the Sinuiju Shoe Factory’s Primary Party Committee,” Nodong Sinmun, October 6, 2003, 3, in Korean.
5. Sim Kwang-chol, battalion political instructor, “We Will Perform New, Heroic Feats in the Construction of the Sacred Land of the Sun with the Might of the Frontline-Style Propaganda and Agitation,” Nodong Sinmun, February 28, 2004, 3, in Korean.
6. Kim Young Jin, “Modern Version of Slavery at Samsu Power Plant Construction Site,” Daily NK website, May 18, 2005, in English.
7. KCBS, April 28, 2001, in Korean.
8. “Feats of Young Koreans,” KCNA, August 28, 2002, in English.
9. Kim Yong-song, “An Account of My Personal Experience As a Battalion Commander of a Building Workers Shock Regiment for the Construction of Kwangbok Boulevard, Pyongyang,” Wolgan Chosun (November 1994): 305–17, in Korean.
10. Hwang Chol-u, “Regularization and Standardization of Labor Life,” Minju Choson, November 27, 2004, 2, in Korean. Also see KCBS, July 18, 2006, in Korean.
11. Kim, “Organizing Social Labor.”
12. Chon Chong-ho, “A Guiding Policy That Should Be Maintained in Socialist Construction,” Minju Choson, June 13, 1997, 2, in Korean.
13. For example, “Let Us Plan Labor Administration Work to Meet the Needs of the Current Situation,” Minju Choson, July 25, 2006, 1, editorial, in Korean. Also see Chi Tae-hwa, “The Matter of Administering Labor Incentives in Socialist Society and Its Brilliant Resolution,” Kyongje Yongu, May 20, 2004, 21–23, in Korean.
14. Kim Chong-il, “Social Ownership Is the Socioeconomic Foundation of the Socialist Work System,” Kyongje Yongu, November 20, 2003, 13–15, in Korean.
15. Kim, “Organizing Social Labor.”
16. “Let Us Thoroughly Fulfill the Tasks Set Forth in the New Year’s Joint Editorial—an Enlarged Session of the Plenum of the Cabinet Held,” Minju Choson, January 15, 2000, 1, in Korean.
17. The edited transcripts from these tapes are found in “Kim Jong-il’s ‘Monologues’; Top Secret Instructions Given to Association Leaders,” Gendai, January 1, 2003, 122–34, in Japanese.
18. Yi Sung-chin and Yun Il-kon, “The Number of Day Laborers Hired by Private Parties Is Increasing in North Korea,” Daily NK website, December 11, 2007, in English.
19. Jae Jean Suh, North Korea’s Market Economy Society from Below, Korea Institute for National Unification, Studies Series 05-44, May 2005.
20. Lee Kwang Baek, “North Korean ‘Exported Workers,’ New Source of Kim’s Hard Currency,” Daily NK website, August 19, 2007, in English. Also see Barbara Demick, “N. Koreans Toil Abroad under Grim Conditions,” Los Angeles Times online, December 27, 2005.
21. Yang Moon-soo, “Are N. Korean Workers ‘Exploited’ in Kaesong Industrial Complex?” Korea Policy Review (June 2006): 30–33.
22. Mikolaj Chrzan and Marcin Kowalski, “North Korean Slaves Working for Gdansk Shipyard,” Gazeta Wyborcza, March 24, 2006, Internet version, in Polish.
23. “Did North Run Labor Racket in Europe?” Dong-A Ilbo, December 3, 2006, Internet version, in English.
24. “All Citizens in This Land Are Soldiers,” Nodong Sinmun via KCNA, April 25, 2003, in Korean.
25. “Love Gun-Barrel Families,” a KCBS report on a Nodong Sinmun article, January 29, 2004, in Korean.
26. “Educational Reference Material” from the KPA’s publishing house, dated 2003, obtained by Asahi Shimbun, November 1, 2003, 15, evening edition, in Japanese.
27. “Let Us Thoroughly Stamp Out the Current Problems of People Damaging Farm Produce and Violating Traffic Rules,” KPA Publishing House, August 2002. Referred to in an article titled “Information Shows Even Cannibalism Is Practiced in North Korea; a Document Shows How Bad North Korea’s Food Situation Is,” Yomiuri Weekly, December 21, 2003, 24–25, in Japanese.
28. Chu Song-ha, “Content of the Lecture Material of the North Korean Army’s General Political Department,” Dong-A Ilbo, June 3, 2004, Internet version, in Korean.
29. “Haesol Tamhwa Charyo” (Explanatory Statement Collection), issued in January 2002 and published in Japan’s Shukan Bunshun under the title “We Have Obtained Secret Documents of North Korea That Show Morale of Troops in the Korean People’s Army Is Plummeting; Soldiers Are Becoming Rowdy, Selling Military Supplies, Watching Porno Videos,” February 6, 2003, 33–35, in Japanese.
30. “Internal Documents of Kim Jong-il’s Army, the Korean People’s Army,” Bungei Shunju, November 1, 2002, 262–71, in Japanese.
31. Quoted in “North Korean Military Manpower,” chapter 7 of Pukhan Kunsa Cheje Pyongga-wa Chonmang [Evaluation and Prospects for North Korea’s Military System] (Seoul: Korean Institute for Defense Analyses, July 25, 2006), 157–87, in Korean.
32. Quotations from North Korean military study material from the Publishing House of the Korean People’s Army, titled “On Eliminating Illusions about the Enemy and Further Sharpening the Bayonets of Class,” obtained by Wolgan Chosun (March 1, 2002): 72–81, in Korean.
33. Pyon Sung-ho, “The Basic Direction of Resolving the Food Problem, the Dietary Problem, in Our Own Way,” Kyongje Yongu, November 15, 2004, 17–19, in Korean.
34. Yi Min-pok, “North Korean Agriculture Ruined by Political Logic,” Sindong-a, November 1, 2001, 202–9, in Korean.
35. Kang Chol-hwan, “The Fate of Cattle, Pigs, and Dogs in North Korea,” Chosun Ilbo, May 6, 2001, Internet version, in English.
36. “Let Us Raise Many Rabbits,” Nodong Sinmun, January 27, 1999, 1, in Korean.
37. Kye Song-nam, “Another Drive with the Force of a Gale: Remarks of a Vice Minister of Agriculture,” Nodong Sinmun, July 30, 1999, 3, in Korean.
38. “Let Us Raise Many Rabbits As a Mass Campaign,” Nodong Sinmun, September 2, 2006, 1, in Korean.
39. Craig Whitlock, “A Colossal Leap of Faith in Fight against Famine,” Washington Post, February 2, 2007, A10.
40. Kyodo World Service, April 7, 2007.
41. Whitlock, “A Colossal Leap of Faith.”
42. “Jinxing Company’s Otter Rabbit Exports to DPRK Fare Well,” U.S. government report of several Chinese-language articles published between December 2007 and February 2008.
43. “New Method of Breeding Terrapins Developed,” KCNA, February 28, 2007, in English.
44. Na Jeong-ju, “South Korea to Import North Korean Chicken,” Korea Times, March 15, 2005, Internet version, in English. Also see “Northern Chicken to Cross DMZ,” Chosun Ilbo, March 15, 2005, Internet version, in English.
45. “S. Korean Food Wastes More Than Total N. Korean Food,” Yonhap, March 4, 2002, in English. Also see “More to Be Done on Food Waste,” JoongAng Ilbo, January 8, 2005, Internet version, in English.
46. Cho Myong-yong, “Noble Benevolence for Coming Generations,” Nodong Sinmun, December 6, 2003, 2, in Korean.
47. “Nodong Sinmun on Top Priority to Things for People,” KCNA, March 7, 2005, in English.
48. Yi Ki-chun and Na Chong-yon, “A Study of North Korean Household Economy and Consumer Behaviors Following the 1 July Economic Management Improvement Measures” (paper presented at the Korean Society of Consumer Studies 2007 Spring Seminar, Seoul, May 12, 2007), in Korean.
49. “DPRK Cabinet Instruction No. 9: On Thoroughly Implementing the Policy Put Forth by the Great Leader Comrade Kim Jong-il to Effectively Make Use of Cultivated Land So That Organizations and Enterprises Will Resolve Food Shortages for Their Employees on Their Own,” dated January 31, 2004, in Korean. The document was made public by the Japanese human rights organization Rescue the North Korean People (RENK) on its website on October 23, 2004.
50. See, for example, Stephan Haggard and Marcus Noland, Famine in North Korea: Markets, Aid, and Reform (New York: Columbia University Press, 2007), 35.
51. Estimates of supply and demand are more complicated. See Haggard and Noland, Famine in North Korea, especially 41ff.
52. Stephan Haggard and Marcus Noland, Hunger and Human Rights: The Politics of Famine in North Korea (Washington, DC: U.S. Committee for Human Rights in North Korea, 2005), 18. See also chapter 3 in Suk Lee, The DPRK Famine of 1994–2000: Existence and Impact, Korea Institute for National Unification, Studies Series 05-06, 2006.
53. “Low Productivity Blamed Chiefly for North Korea’s Chronic Food Shortage,” Yonhap, November 21, 2003, in English.
54. “N. Korean Tractors Running at 60 Percent Capacity: International Food Agencies,” Yonhap, January 8, 2005, in English.
55. Cited in Nicholas D. Kristof, “Hunger and Other North Korean Hardships Are Said to Deepen Discontent,” New York Times, February 18, 1992, A6.
56. Nutrition Survey of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, a report by the EU, UNICEF, and WFP, November 1998. Available on the North Korea page of the WFP website. See also W. Courtland Robinson et al., “Mortality in North Korean Migrant Households: A Retrospective Study,” Lancet 354, no. 9175 (July 24, 1999): 291–95.
57. DPRK 2004 Nutrition Assessment, Report of Survey Results, February 2005. Available on the North Korea page of the WFP website.
59. Seung-Ryun Kim, “Behind the Scenes of Im Su-kyung’s 1989 Pyongyang Festival Visit,” Dong-A Ilbo, October 10, 2005, Internet version, in English.
60. Mark E. Manyin, “U.S. Assistance to North Korea: Fact Sheet,” CRS Report for Congress, updated October 11, 2006, 2.
61. Haggard and Noland, Hunger and Human Rights, 28. Also see the authors’ Famine in North Korea: Markets, Aid, and Reform.
62. Francois Hauter, “Malnutrition and Alcoholism Are Completing the Decline of This Country, Entirely Dedicated to the Cult of Kim Il-sung and His Heir, Kim Jong-il,” Le Figaro, April 3, 2002, Internet version, in French.
63. “N. K. No Longer Wants Emergency Aid, Claims to Have Enough Food,” Yonhap, September 18, 2005, in English.
64. Ser Myo-ja, “Aid Agencies Question North’s Food Capability,” JoongAng Ilbo, November 18, 2005, Internet version, in English.
65. “KCNA Ridicules U.S. ‘Advice’ over ‘Human Rights,’ ” KCNA, October 10, 2005, in English.
66. See the North Korea page of the WFP website.
67. For example, Pyon Sung-ho, “The Basic Direction of Resolving the Food Problem, the Dietary Problem, in Our Own Way,” Kyongje Yongu, November 15, 2004, 17–19, in Korean.
68. “Improvement of Economic Management System Called For,” KCNA, March 5, 2005, in English.
69. “Seoul, UN Worlds Apart in Monitoring N. Korea Food Aid,” Chosun Ilbo, September 10, 2005, Internet version, in English.
70. “Seoul, UN Worlds Apart in Monitoring N. Korea Food Aid.”
71. Haggard and Noland, Hunger and Human Rights, 16. Also see the authors’ Famine in North Korea: Markets, Aid, and Reform.
72. “Discussion” with chief functionaries of party and state economic organizations, titled “Effecting a New Transformation in Basic Construction,” August 11, 2004, from Kim Jong-il Songjip 15 (August 30, 2005): 453–69, in Korean.
