Opinion - The Korea Times

Story of Ms. Park

By Andrei LankovToday, dear readers, I would like to introduce you to Ms. Park, a person whom I met recently and who appears to be a very typical North Korean refugee in the South.Park was born in the late 1940s, so she is a bit older than the average refugee, but in all other regards she is highly representative of refugee demographics.She is a woman, a high school graduate, who once did a low-level clerical job in North Korea. She has no illusions about the North Korean system, but she is also by no means a politically motivated dissenter.From the very beginning of her life, Park faced a serious problem; her family had a number of close relations in China. In Kim Il-sung’s North Korea this fact alone closed many avenues of social advancement to her.North Korean authorities have always been very suspicious of people with overseas connections ― remarkably, no exceptions were made for the supposedly fraternal communist countries.Had Park had exceptional academic gifts, she might have succeeded in getting accepted to a university or college. However, her marks while good were not

Mar 23, 2014By Andrei Lankov

Andrei Lankov

The young man in charge

By Andrei Lankov Over the last two years or so, one of the major topics that Pyongyangologists have loved to speculate about is the extent to which Kim Jong-un is in charge in North Korea.Indeed, there were some reasons to doubt whether the young leader of North Korea was capable and willing to control the much older, more experienced and highly Machiavellian bureaucracy that he inherited from his father.At the time of Kim Jong-un’s ascension to power, there was a nearly universal belief (shared by among others yours truly) that Kim would be guided, controlled and where necessary restricted by veteran bureaucrats.However, things have turned out quite unexpectedly: while the controlling and mighty magnates of the Kim Jong-il era remained for the first few months of Kim Jong-un’s rule, they were very soon subdued by the young leader (who has thus far proven himself to be tough, ruthless and highly manipulative despite his age and background). The old guard disappeared with remarkable speed.In December 2011, four top military and three top civilian dignitaries followed

Mar 9, 2014By Andrei Lankov

Andrei Lankov

Ration us this day our daily rice

By Andrei Lankov It seems to be common knowledge that North Korea is a country of comprehensive rationing. All food and many consumer goods are not supposed to be freely sold, but rather distributed by the state, even though since the 1990s this system has largely collapsed.For many, the rationing system is synonymous with the Public Distribution System (PDS). In real life, North Korea has three parallel distribution systems that target the civilian population, as well as a separate system that takes care of the needs of the military (not to mention the special allotments of the elite).The most important of all these systems is the aforementioned PDS which deals with grain only and is a nationwide institution. Grain rationing was first introduced in 1946, and from 1957 the PDS essentially became what it (theoretically) remains to this day.Under the PDS, every citizen of North Korea is eligible for a grain ration (the size of which depends on the type of work that the recipient does). For instance, infants are issued 100 grams of grain per day, while workers doing heavy physical

Feb 23, 2014By Andrei Lankov

Andrei Lankov

Purge of the Jang family

By Andrei LankovSome time ago, the Yonhap News Agency, citing numerous sources inside North Korea, reported that the immediate relatives of the recently executed Jang Song-thaek have also been put to death.If these reports are to be believed, this sorry fate fell upon his sister and her husband ― the latter being the former North Korean ambassador to Cuba. Jang’s nephew, until recently North Korea’s ambassador to Malaysia, as well as the nephew’s children, were also reported to have been executed.Other relatives of Jang were also reported to have been removed from their Pyongyang homes and sent to prison camps. Yonhap also stated that some of these relatives did not go quietly and were reportedly shot to death in front of their neighbors.Such reports, like pretty much all reports from North Korea, should be taken with a grain of salt. Nonetheless, unlike the notoriously stupid reports about Jang Song-thaek being literally thrown to the dogs, these reports look quite reasonable and fit within established patterns. Treating the relatives of political criminals in such

Feb 9, 2014By Andrei Lankov

Andrei Lankov

Gesture of peace or provocation?

By Andrei LankovOn Jan. 16, the National Defense Commission (NDC) ― the supreme executive of the North Korean state ― addressed the South Korean government with an important initiative. It suggested that both Koreas should undertake decisive actions to improve relations.First, it was proposed that after coming lunar New Year (Jan. 30) both sides should cease hostile propaganda and also refrain from military activities directed at the other.There is little doubt what the latter is supposed to mean. In February, South Korea and the United States are scheduled to hold joint military exercises Key Resolve and Foal Eagle. In other words, the North has suggested that the South should cancel these military exercises at the last minute.What for? The North suggested that the implementation of such peace-building measures will solve virtually all other problems in North-South relations, including the long delayed meeting of divided families.This attractive proposal has one serious shortcoming: it is completely unacceptable to the South, and the proposal’s authors are perfectly aware of t

Jan 26, 2014By Andrei Lankov

Andrei Lankov

Education in N. Korea

By Andrei Lankov When it comes to education, North Korea is clearly lagging well behind its southern rival and other developed countries, but it is doing exceptionally well for a country whose income is roughly equivalent to that of Mozambique or Ghana. The college admission rate in North Korea is a respectable 15 percent. In other words, North Korea is a remarkably well-educated country considering its extremely low income level.How does the university admissions system work in North Korea? Currently, the North Korean college entrance exams consist of two consecutive phases. First, applicants sit exams in their native town or village, successful applicants go to a college of their choice to sit the next set of exams.Local exams are conducted every year and most participants are recent graduates of high schools. There are six subjects examined – the revolutionary history of Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il, Korean language, foreign languages, mathematics, chemistry, and physics. Preliminary exams (as they are officially known) take two days – not the one day their South K

Jul 28, 2013By Andrei Lankov

Andrei Lankov

Kim Jong-il's private life

By Andrei LankovRecently, the South Korean media, citing unnamed sources in the North Korean bureaucracy, reported that Kim Ok (the former wife of the now deceased dictator Kim Jong-il) has been removed from all her official positions. The same fate is also said to have befallen her father Kim Hyo who was the deputy head of the Korean Worker’s Party’s finance department.The reports cite unnamed sources and we cannot therefore verify such information. Nonetheless, taking into account what is known about Kim Jong-il’s personal life, reports of Kim Ok’s fall seem all too plausible.The late Generalissimo Kim Jong-il had a rather unorthodox family life. In his youth, he had a reputation for being a playboy, but it is widely believed that in his mid-20s, the future North Korean leader married a woman who was chosen for him by his father. This marriage however, if it ever existed, did not last for long.In the late 1960s, Kim Jong-il fell in love with a beautiful actress Seong Hye-rim who could be described as North Korea’s Marylyn Monroe. At the time she was ma

Jul 14, 2013By Andrei Lankov

Andrei Lankov

Koreas and China

By Andrei LankovOver the last 15 years or so, China has been the major variable when it comes to analyzing and understanding the North Korean question. Indeed, China has all but monopolized North Korea’s foreign trade ― making up some 85 percent of total. In recent years, it has remained almost the sole provider of aid to North Korea as well.Therefore, for many years China has been seen as the problem in Washington, Seoul and other major Western capitals. It was widely believed that Chinese direct and indirect aid has helped North Korea to stay afloat.However, in recent months one has seen a sudden change of mood among Western decision-makers and analysts. Instead of whining about China’s obstructionism, the same people have begun to express their hopes that China can and probably will play a major role in solving the North Korean problem – i.e. pushing North Korea towards denuclearization.At first glance, such expectations do not appear to be without foundation. Over the last year, China’s approach to North Korea has changed significantly indeed.In the last f

Jun 30, 2013By Andrei Lankov

Andrei Lankov

Nouveau riche in Pyongyang

By Andrei LankovFor readers of Western media, the usual image of North Korea is that of a starving Stalinist state, a place where the people, clad in rags, march through colourless streets completely devoid of traffic.Visitors to Pyongyang, though, are aware this is not the case. People the North Korea capital are relatively well dressed, and posh restaurants have begun springing up all over town in recent years, and traffic clearly exists.One should not be surprised by these sights. The last 15 to 20 years have been a time of slow-motion disintegration of North Korea’s National Stalinism. Once a near perfect specimen of Stalinist-Leninist state socialism, North Korea nowadays is a country of booming black markets and an increasingly blurring line between state and private economies ― essentially, a country of grassroots capitalism.With capitalism, grassroots or not, you would expect also to have income inequality, and of course, the emergence of rich people. This is indeed that case in North Korea.The new rich have various different groups. They consist of successful black mar

Jun 16, 2013By Andrei Lankov

Andrei Lankov

Bosses and bourgeoisie

By Andrei Lankov North Korea has got its bourgeoisie ― and in North Korean terms it is relatively large in number and powerful. The North Korean rich class was born amid the devastation of the 1990s, when dead bodies could be seen alongside countryside roads and when the grand edifice of control collapsed almost overnight.North Korea’s new rich started by bartering household items for food, smuggling Goryeo-era antiques and counterfeit Chinese cigarettes, and stealing and reselling items from their workplace.Those criminal days are all but gone now. While entrepreneurial activity remains illegal in the North, it is tolerated ― not least because entrepreneurs are able to bribe officials to turn a blind eye.The North Korean new rich have a relatively good life: they live in spacious air-conditioned houses, ride motorbikes and increasingly drive cars, and dine in expensive restaurants. Nonetheless, they remain second-rate citizens and according to the letter of the law, pretty much every single member of the entrepreneurial class should face a firing squad.This makes many sus

Jun 2, 2013By Andrei Lankov

Andrei Lankov

Read more

Story of Ms. Park

The young man in charge

Ration us this day our daily rice

Purge of the Jang family

Gesture of peace or provocation?

Education in N. Korea

Kim Jong-il's private life

Koreas and China

Nouveau riche in Pyongyang

Bosses and bourgeoisie

Top 5 stories