korean unification studies

Thanks to Junotane for the following and future updates on unification issues:

A group of twelve lawmakers from the ruling and opposition parties have introduced a bill into the National Assembly to allow for the establishment of a ‘unification tax’. [Read more →]

I recently had a conversation with a fellow that had worked for the WFP in North Korea. She made an interesting point. Apparently, in North Korea there is a trend in the use of ‘organic’ agriculture in smaller, individual plots – and this was supported by state propaganda! As of yet I haven’t seen any North Korean products appear in America’s better known organic guides!

Now the use of ‘organic’ forming techniques is nothing new. Farmers around the world have for years sought to influence and even control nature to improve agricultural output. However, North Korea long relied upon the strength of its industry (and its socialist block partners’ largesses) to make agriculture more productive. With the collapse of industry and the end of socialist bloc friendship prices, there was an inevitable crash in agricultural productivity and the resultant food shortages.

A return to ‘organic’ style agricultural practices, such as encouraging one type of insect to control another type, or the use of extracts from one type of plant to control the growth of another or the spread of insects would be expected if there was a shortage of agricultural inputs. But this turn to organic methods has also been trumpeted in state propaganda!

This article entitled “Bio-Organics Fertlizers Developed” dates back to 2006:

Pyongyang, December 18 (KCNA) — Varieties of bio-fertilizers useful for protecting ecological environment and for increasing grain production have been recently developed in the DPRK. Among them is a eurytropic multi-element compound fertilizer made with the help of technologies of lignite (or peat) treatment, rural organic substance treatment and surface chemistry.

[Read more →]

There have been several border skirmishes recently that have gone largely unnoticed by the international media.

The first was “likely an accident” along the border, when a North Korean guard post fired at a South Korean guard post. The South Korean side fired back two rounds.

More recently, South Korean patrol vessels have on two occasions sought to deter North Korean vessels from intruding beyond the Northern Limit Line (NLL). The areas around the NLL are rich fishing grounds and it is crab fishing season.

It may be that on both sides tension is high. In the North tension is high due to succession and in the South tension is high due to the hosting of the G20. During periods of tension, accidents do happen.

However, there is also the more remote possibility that the North is testing the waters for a more attention grabbing incident during the South’s hosting of the G20 Leaders Summit. Certain analysts have stated this is unlikely due to China’s presence at the G20 Leaders Summit. Accordingly, an incident immediately prior to the Summit seems to fit these views.

Will there be an attention grabbing incident between North and South around the G20?

There is a new resource on Korean affairs that seems to have promise and I have been helping them out on unification issues recently. They mostly focus on a South Korean commercial/government perspective, but were open to social aspects as well. Check them out… http://www.junotane.com

They have also got me agreeing to help answer questions on Korean affairs when they are presented on their info-exchange community forum. It certainly seems like a useful resource, but I hope they are not relying on me alone!

Think of this scenario. North Korea collapses. The Korean tax payer is loaded with a new Value Added Tax (VAT) and a hefty income tax to pay for unification. Japan, the United States, China all come to the party and contribute significant amounts to help stabilise and reform the north. But only then do people realise… [Read more →]

Or as good as… Not because of the diabetes, poor heart, weak circulation and bad habits… but because JIMMY CARTER is coming!!! [Read more →]

The ROK Defense Ministry has stated in a report to the National Assembly that North Korea has deployed a large number of troops and arms near Pyongyang. According to the Chosun Ilbo:

South Korea’s defense ministry said in a report to Parliament Tuesday that the large numbers of soldiers, armored vehicles and artillery have been stationed near the Stalinist state’s capital since mid-July. The report said the deployment appears to be related to a meeting of key communist party delegates next month and the party’s 65th anniversary on Oct 10.

The article goes on to note that a large number of analysts have speculated that an announcement regarding the successor to Kim Jong-Il will be made during one (or both) of these key events.

[Read more →]

There is a perennial question in Korean unification studies – should humanitarian and food aid be provided to North Korea? Grand National Party (GNP) spokesman Ahn Hyoung-hwan stated that government leaders are reviewing whether to provide food aid after a meeting on Sunday with the party’s chairman. This question will always be here… here are some of the answers that are also always here:

For some, it is “YES – BECAUSE FOOD AID SAVES LIVES”. Humanitarian aid and food aid are saving lives. It is directed as best as can be, to those in the most need. It helps children, mothers, and the elderly, who are, but for a thin veneer of political and historical difference, much the same as anyone south of the border.

Regardless of the type of government in the North, we are talking about human lives. Imagine the death of one individual, one family member, because of hunger and it is too much. While we live in the riches of the south with our broadband, designer clothes and flash cars, they are watching their family members suffer and die of hunger.

[Read more →]