ID :
68562
Wed, 07/01/2009 - 12:18
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/68562
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Kaesong industrial park can be vehicle for opening up N. Korea: Chinese scholar
By Kim Eun-jung
SEOUL, June 30 (Yonhap) -- A joint industrial complex could serve as a viable vehicle to open up North Korea as South Korea and the international community try to change its aggressive behavior, a Chinese scholar suggested Tuesday.
"Why does North Korea behave in a way that is difficult to understand?" Qiao
Yuzhi, a professor at Peking University, said in a Seoul forum, referring to the
North's recent nuclear and missile tests.
"North Korea may be creating the external crisis to divert internal pressure for
reform and change," he said.
North Korea took a major step toward economic reform in 2002 with the so-called
"July 1st Measure," expanding street markets, raising wages and carrying out
deregulation to jump-start its frail economy. But runaway inflation and
international trade sanctions have crippled its market drive. Seoul analysts say
North Korea has retracted into its old ways in recent years, hardening government
control over markets.
North Korea's nominal gross national income slightly grew to US$21.31 billion in
2008, thanks mainly to a good harvest and international energy aid, but it was
still a mere 2.7 percent of South Korea's GNI, according to the Bank of Korea in
Seoul.
Qiao said economic exchanges can play an important role in opening up North
Korean society and cited the South Korean-developed industrial complex in the
North's border town of Kaesong as a towering example.
"In terms of stability of the regime, Kaesong Industrial complex had a very
negative effect on North Korea. Many North Koreans tried to bribe to get into the
job, because it is hard to find such a good job there," he said at the forum
hosted by the non-governmental Korea Institute for International Economic Policy.
More than 40,000 North Koreans are employed at the joint venture that hosts about
100 South Korean firms. Even though their wages -- $70-80 a month -- are directly
wired to the North Korean government, employment in Kaesong has reportedly caught
on among North Koreans due to unofficial perks, such as "Choco Pies," instant
noodles and daily necessities.
"This means Kaesong complex gives North Koreans constant opportunities to get new
information. In that sense, it plays a more critical role in driving Pyongyang to
reform and open the market," he said.
Qiao also cited the "over-aging" power structure in North Korea as a stumbling
block to reform. Of the 24 officials in the North's top hierarchy, only three,
including the leader himself, who is now 67, are under 70.
"After purging young and open-minded reformists who were involved in free trade
in the northern city of Rajin, the survivors have remained in mentality of 'no
reform, no mistake,'" he said.
North Korea established the Rajin-Sonbong free economic zone in 1991 on the
western side of the Tumen River to attract foreign investment, but the project is
now considered a failure.
SEOUL, June 30 (Yonhap) -- A joint industrial complex could serve as a viable vehicle to open up North Korea as South Korea and the international community try to change its aggressive behavior, a Chinese scholar suggested Tuesday.
"Why does North Korea behave in a way that is difficult to understand?" Qiao
Yuzhi, a professor at Peking University, said in a Seoul forum, referring to the
North's recent nuclear and missile tests.
"North Korea may be creating the external crisis to divert internal pressure for
reform and change," he said.
North Korea took a major step toward economic reform in 2002 with the so-called
"July 1st Measure," expanding street markets, raising wages and carrying out
deregulation to jump-start its frail economy. But runaway inflation and
international trade sanctions have crippled its market drive. Seoul analysts say
North Korea has retracted into its old ways in recent years, hardening government
control over markets.
North Korea's nominal gross national income slightly grew to US$21.31 billion in
2008, thanks mainly to a good harvest and international energy aid, but it was
still a mere 2.7 percent of South Korea's GNI, according to the Bank of Korea in
Seoul.
Qiao said economic exchanges can play an important role in opening up North
Korean society and cited the South Korean-developed industrial complex in the
North's border town of Kaesong as a towering example.
"In terms of stability of the regime, Kaesong Industrial complex had a very
negative effect on North Korea. Many North Koreans tried to bribe to get into the
job, because it is hard to find such a good job there," he said at the forum
hosted by the non-governmental Korea Institute for International Economic Policy.
More than 40,000 North Koreans are employed at the joint venture that hosts about
100 South Korean firms. Even though their wages -- $70-80 a month -- are directly
wired to the North Korean government, employment in Kaesong has reportedly caught
on among North Koreans due to unofficial perks, such as "Choco Pies," instant
noodles and daily necessities.
"This means Kaesong complex gives North Koreans constant opportunities to get new
information. In that sense, it plays a more critical role in driving Pyongyang to
reform and open the market," he said.
Qiao also cited the "over-aging" power structure in North Korea as a stumbling
block to reform. Of the 24 officials in the North's top hierarchy, only three,
including the leader himself, who is now 67, are under 70.
"After purging young and open-minded reformists who were involved in free trade
in the northern city of Rajin, the survivors have remained in mentality of 'no
reform, no mistake,'" he said.
North Korea established the Rajin-Sonbong free economic zone in 1991 on the
western side of the Tumen River to attract foreign investment, but the project is
now considered a failure.
