Hopes are moderate at the prospect of actually making a profit in the Kaesong Industrial Complex after years of investing in previously non-existent infrastructure. A survey by the Korea Federation of Small and Medium Business found:
…that among the 24 companies, just five companies recorded a profit for the first time in 3 years… Currently, […]
The USinKorea blog has a running series of posts on the Korean War with newspaper archives (readable screenshots) for the year 1950. It’s interesting to see what papers wrote about the war “on this date” 57 years ago.
From the Donga Ilbo: “August 24 marks the 15th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Korea and China. Koreans started to emigrate to China in 1992. They numbered 100,000 in 1997 and 200,000 in 2000, and from 2004 the number increased by 100,000 a year, reaching 700,000 this year.”
Don’t miss Andrei Lankov’s latest article in the Korea Times on the Pyoynang expat community of the 1970s and 1980s.
The Chosun Ilbo cautions South Korean President Roh on areas that should not be tinkered with, such as the Northern Limit Line (border) and the annual Ulchi Focus Lens (UFL) U.S.-ROK joint military exercise, and notes that it’s “pathetic” that the ROK commander-in-chief will be in the DPRK during the exercise. Two from the […]
In an article at the Asia Times, Riddles and enigmas from North Korea, Andrei Lankov speculates on how governments get intelligence from inside North Korea, and lists some of the other valuable sources of information from the country.
- #From Mainichi and via the Chosun Bimbo, "In his first reported appearance following news of his hospitalization, North Korean leader Kim Jong Il lost his temper while watching a college soccer match, denouncing several players' long hair as "disgusting," according to a source close to the North Korean government. The outburst was followed by a nationwide ban on long hair for men." We'll all be watching the next soccer match to see if it's so.
- #Outward Bound, an international non-profit outdoor education program, is offering fully funded (including transportation to/from sites) outdoor adventure excursions to all OEF/OIF veterans. It doesn't matter what your current military status is (active, inactive, discharged, retired) - you're eligible to attend as long as you deployed in support of OEF/OIF combat operations while in the military.
- #Via AFP: “South Korea has lifted an overseas travel ban on Hwang Jang-Yop, the highest-ranking North Korean defector ever to come here and a harsh critic of the Pyongyang regime. . . Hwang, former secretary of the ruling Workers' Party and an ex-tutor of Kim Jong-Il, defected during a trip to Beijing in 1997.” His travel restriction was due to 10 years of pro-North ROK leadership, now over.
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