North Korea in transition
Vassily Usoltsev, first vice governor of Maritime Province in Russia, poses with Lee Se-ung, center, vice chairman of the National Unification Advisory Council, and Vladimir Kurilov, vice president of the Far Eastern Federal University, in a conference room at the school in Vladivostok, Nov. 3. / Courtesy of Seoul Cyber University
By Jhoo Dong-chan
VLADIVOSTOK, Russia ― North Korea is slowly showing signs of accepting a market economy, officials here said Wednesday.
The government-driven economy, often illustrated as rationing and deprived of commodities, is subtly changing its attitude toward capitalist taboos under the Kim Jong-un regime.
“I think North Korea has been slowly introducing a market economy since its leader Kim Jong-un came to power,” said Vasily Usoltsev, first vice-governor of Russia’s Primorsky Territory, during a meeting with the National Unification Advisory Council Vice Chairman Lee Se-ung, on the campus of the Far Eastern Federal University (FEFU) in Vladivostok, Russia, Nov. 3.
“Most Westerners and South Koreans are familiar with dismal images of the county’s famine and children suffering from malnutrition,” said the vice-governor. “But I recently visited Pyongyang and Rajin in North Korea several times, and the areas were well supplied with food and commodities. People there buy things at a big store just like we do.”
Such evidence is found in a series of establishments including Western-style department stores in Pyongyang, he said.
In 2013, North Korea’s state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) also showed Kim and his wife Ri Sol-ju visiting a luxury mall in Haedanghwa Health Complex. Sources said the mall sells Korean cosmetic products such as Laneige and western brands Chanel, Lancome and L’Oreal.
The reclusive state also sends a growing number of workers and students overseas.
“An increasing number of North Korean students are coming to our university,” said Vladimir Kurilov, vice president of FEFU, who also participated in the meeting.
He said over 1,000 North Korean students have studied at the school, presently numbering about 30. “Unlike South Korean students who mostly study humanities, many North Korean students here major in math, computer science or economics. I think they choose such majors to help their country’s scientific and economic development after graduation.”
South Korean students at first disapproved of North Korean students studying together in classrooms and staying in the same dorms, Kurilov added, but both sides have later built respect and friendship.
It seems that North Korea is also sending overseas not only elite students but also workers in an effort to earn foreign currency.
According to a report by the UN Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in North Korea, a total of 47,000 North Koreans were working in Russia as of 2014, more than double the 19,000 in China.
Some 30,000 North Koreans are currently working in the Primorsky Territory _ 20,000 in the forestry sector and 10,000 in construction _ according to South Korea’s Consul General Lee Ji-hoon posted in Vladivostok.
“The country makes an estimated 1.4 to 2.6 trillion won ($1.2 to $2.3 billion) every year through its workers overseas,” said Lee Young-jong, a North Korea expert.
“Such income could be an opportunity as well as a crisis to North Korea at the same time. The overseas workers’ income has been used for the country’s various construction projects such as building the Masikryong Ski Resort and remodeling Rungrado Stadium. However, the influx of foreign ideologies and cultures through their long-term overseas stays could destabilize the country’s ruling structure. The international community is also raising human rights issues over the overseas workers.”