Inter-Korean gap remains wide

By Kim Tong-hyung

The economic disparity between South and North Korea continues to be as lopsided as a Pyongyang election, official figures show.

South Korea’s gross national income (GNI) of $1.015 trillion measured at the end of 2010 was about 39 times larger than the $26 billion managed by the North, according to data from South Korea’s Statistics Korea. The average South Korean took home $20,759 for the year, while his North Korean counterpart earned only $1,074.

Although North Korea’s trade expanded more than 20 percent in 2010 to $6.1 billion thanks to growing business with China, this accounted for a microscopic fraction of the $891.6 billion worth of goods and services moved by the South.

North Korea’s economy contracted 0.5 percent in 2010 to manage a gross domestic product (GDP) of 30 trillion won (about $26.1 billion), compared with South Korea’s 1.173 trillion won.

South Korea’s population measured at around 49.41 million at the end of 2010, compared to the North’s 24.19 million. Inter-Korean trade rose 13.9 percent from a year earlier to $1.9 billion last year, according to government statistics.

The South’s statistics agency has been releasing annual economic estimates of North Korea since 1995. The Stalinist state doesn’t officially report economic statistics.

Since the mid-to-late 1970s, South Korea, which did better in embracing technology and phasing out the coal- and steel-centered economy of the post-war period, has been leading the North in nearly every category aside from coal production and longevity in dictatorships.

The future of the communist nation under the control of belligerent new despot Kim Jong-un, who was abruptly handed the helm after the death of his father Kim Jong-il last month, warrants careful monitoring.

Commerce with China accounted for 57 percent, or $3.5 billion, of the North’s foreign trade in 2010, up from 53 percent in the previous year, Statistics Korea said.

South Korean companies exported $466.4 billion worth of goods in 2010, when imports measured at $425.2 billion. North Korea’s exports and imports came in at $1.5 billion and $2.7 billion respectively.

South Korean firms manufactured 4.27 million cars in 2010, compared with 4,000 manufactured in the North.

South Korea produced 58.91 million tons of cement and 47.42 million tons of steel, compared to North Korea’s 1.28 million tons and 6.28 million tons respectively.

The total length of roads in the South stood at 105,565 kilometers, 4.1 times longer than 25,950 kilometers in the North. Electricity generated in South Korea was measured at 473.9 billion kilowatts, compared to 23.7 billion kilowatts in North Korea.

The North, however, outdid the South in coal production. It produced 25.5 million tons of coal in 2010, compared with 2.08 million tons in South Korea.