North Korean leader Kim Jong-il has visited China, only nine months after his latest trip to the North’s closest ally last August. Starting May 20, Kim has been on a rigorous schedule to travel to the Chinese border town of Tumen, Changchun, Yangzhou, Nanjing and Beijing on his special train. Diplomatic experts say the main purpose of Kim’s China visit is to address economic issues, such as his country’s food shortages and economic cooperation between North Korea and China. Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao remarked on May 22 that China invited Kim to provide him with an opportunity to better understand China’s economic growth and to use it in North Korea’s own development. Here’s Cho Bong-hyeon from the Industrial Bank of Korea Economic Research Institute to explain.

Kim Jong-il has visited China eight times so far, and seven times as North Korea’s top leader. The latest trip is the third in just over a year, reflecting the urgency his country faces now. Economic difficulties within North Korea, among other problems, are considered the most serious. Pyongyang has repeatedly declared 2012 as the year of opening a strong and prosperous nation, but there are only months left before the target year. Without a solution to its economic difficulties at this point in time, the ambitious goal will come to nothing. Currently, North Korea suffers from severe food shortages. The impoverished nation has constantly faced the same problem, but the situation seems to be getting even worse of late. It is estimated that North Korea has fallen nearly 1.3 million tons short of food. Ahead of the target year 2012, North Korea is in desperate need of resolving the economic problems and easing the public discontent for a smooth power transition to heir-apparent Kim Jong-un.

The situation in North Korea has deteriorated further since May 24 last year when the South Korean government announced a set of punitive measures on North Korea, including a ban on inter-Korean trade, as part of the response to the sinking of the Cheonan warship. Following the measures, compared to 2009, North Korea lost 250 million dollars of income that it could have earned from the trade of agricultural and fisheries products and 60 million dollars of commission fees that it would have collected from processing-on-commission trade. Also, the North has been under sanctions imposed by the international community, which calls for North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons development. Amid the mounting pressure from outside, North Korea has sought to find a breakthrough in China. Trade volume between the two countries jumped 32 percent last year from a year earlier, with North Korea’s dependence on trade with China posting a record high. The purpose of Kim Jong-il’s recent China visit is also seen in his itinerary.

Kim’s itinerary includes the regions in China’s three northeastern provinces that cover the cities of Changchun, Jilin and Tumen, referred to as “Chang-Ji-Tu,” where a massive joint development project is underway. Kim visited there first in an apparent bid to stress the importance of investment cooperation between the two countries. In Changchun, Kim toured the First Automobile Works Group, one of the top two automakers in China, which planned to invest in North Korea’s Rason region. It appears that Kim wanted to encourage Chinese businesses planning to invest in North Korea. In Yangzhou, the North Korean leader inspected industrial facilities, including a solar energy company, and visited a local shopping center, apparently with domestic light industries in mind. During his China trip, Kim showed his aides industrial cities that have continued developing. Given the characteristics of the Chinese cities he visited, we can understand Kim’s desire to resolve the economic difficulties of his nation.

Following Kim’s China visit, the two countries are expected to spur bilateral economic cooperation. In particular, development is expected to gain traction in Hwanggeumpyeong Island in the Amnok River, or the Yalu River in Chinese, the northwestern region near the border with China, and the Rason special district in the northeast corner of North Korea. These areas are known as the two major venues of economic cooperation between North Korea and China. Economic cooperation between the two countries has now entered a new phase.

North Korea-China economic cooperation hasn’t been achieved overnight. The two countries have engaged in intensive discussions and signed contracts since the second half of last year. They are now in the implementation stage, and North Korean leader Kim Jong-il visited China at this time to check out the joint projects one last time. After Kim returns home, China is expected to carry out the projects that it had planned to invest in. Major projects to build infrastructure include the development of Rajin Port and Sonbong Port, the renovation of a railway connecting China and North Korea and the repair and expansion of roads. The two countries seem to be considering setting up industrial complexes exclusively for Chinese companies in the Rason special district and the Hwanggeumpyeong area.

Some predict that the accelerating economic cooperation between North Korea and China may lead to North Korean reform and openness. According to Mr. Cho, however, reform and openness is only a temporary expedient for North Korea to maintain its regime. There is a fundamental difference between North Korea and China in how to perceive reform and openness. For that reason, Cho says North Korea is unlikely to seek dramatic reform measures.

China adhered to socialism politically but pursued bold reform and openness economically. For example, China attracted massive foreign capital without restraints and built relevant legal and institutional systems for foreign investors. But I doubt if North Korea will follow the Chinese version of reform and openness. I don’t think it will be easy for the North to do so. When China pushed for reform measures, the nation had a stable political basis. That is, China was able to achieve economic success without political disruptions. North Korea, on the other hand, might find itself in political turmoil in the process of realizing a third-generation power transfer. A drastic change in economic areas at this time could affect regime maintenance. So, North Korea will carry out reform and openness gradually even if it is determined to do so, not following the path of China. The North may take lessons from China’s reforms, but it will modify them in a North Korea-style drive for reform and openness.

Following the North Korean leader’s China visit, the eyes of the world are again on North Korea’s choice and China’s role. We’ll have to watch how North Korea will pursue its own reform and openness ahead of the year it claims will usher in a strong and prosperous nation.


[Interview] Omnibus Film Brings to Light N. Korean Teenage Defectors
Jun-young, a middle school student, gets two of his teeth broken while romping around in the aisle at his school. In fact, he was accidentally hit by Young-ok, a girl student who’s right next to his class, when she happened to be swinging around a baseball bat for fun. After the accident, the two actually strike up a friendship. But their friendship doesn’t last long, as it turns out Young-ok is a defector student from North Korea. Jun-young began to avoid her, since he hated being made fun of by his classmates.... This is the plot of the film “Two Teeth,” directed by Kang Yi-kwan. It is one of five chapters of the fifth edition of the omnibus-style feature film entitled “If You Were Me,” funded by the National Human Rights Commission of Korea. This episode portrays the difficulties teenage North Korean defectors face in the course of adapting to South Korean society and friendship between North and South Korean youngsters. Here’s Kim Ye-won, an official from Indiestory, an independent film distribution company, to tell us more about the human rights film.

As a human rights project, the “If You Were Me” series is designed to help ordinary citizens understand the human rights issue, which is a rather heavy subject, in a more interesting and easier way. “Two Teeth,” one of the five segments of “If Your Were Me 5,” depicts a friendship between Jun-young, a troublemaking middle school boy and Young-ok, a girl from North Korea. The boy has two of his teeth broken by accident, and the film follows what their families experience after the accident and how the boy and girl change because of people around them.

Interestingly, North Korean defectors performed the roles of some characters in the film, instead of professional actors and actresses. One such North Korean performer is Seo Ok-byeol, who played the lead character. She added realism to the movie with her natural North Korean accent and convincingly portrayed the character of Young-ok, who at first appears weak but is strong in spirit. In fact, she was cast in the role purely by chance during a talent show at “Hangyeore School,” an alternative school for teenage defectors that she attends. Here again is Ms. Kim.

It is said that director Kang Yi-kwan met a number of North Korean teenagers because he didn’t want to cast well-known movie stars. After talking with some 100 North Korean students, the director reflected their stories in his movie. Although he met so many students, he couldn’t find ones who would be suitable for his movie. One day, he happened to watch a girl performing a galanty show at a school. The girl looked so enthusiastic about her role, even though her face didn’t appear. Impressed, the director wanted to see her. After meeting her, he discovered she was interested in acting. The girl was Ok-byeol. That was how she was cast in the director’s movie.

Ok-byeol was hesitant to appear in the film at first, but she eventually decided to play the part because it was a film about North Korean defectors. She often found it difficult to act, as she had no experience in acting before. But she recalled South Korean dramas that she had been watching since she was in North Korea. Also, director Kang instructed her in acting skills from time to time. As time went by, she was accustomed to filming. The movie is finally complete, but she says she is embarrassed to see her own acting in the movie.

I think my acting is just awkward. One of the scenes shows that I give 500-thousand won to Jun-young, shouting “Shame on you!” That was the most disappointing scene for me, because I failed to fully express my feelings. I think I still lack in acting ability. In another scene, I was supposed to cry. The director told me to remember the saddest moment in my life, but it didn’t work. Unfortunately, I failed to shed tears in the scene. I still feel disappointed about that. But I think I worked really hard. I was able to empathize with the heroine, thinking that she is leading the same life as mine.

In the movie, Young-ok is teased by her classmates just because she came from North Korea. Young-ok’s younger brother yells at his mother, saying “Who asked you to bring us here? You know my relatives and friends are all in North Korea.” These scenes show exactly what happens in the real lives of Ok-byeol’s friends. She says many North Korean teenagers transfer to an alternative school because their South Korean counterparts in general schools often give them a cold look.

After the sinking of the South Korean warship Cheonan last year, many North Korean students who had attended general schools transferred to my school. It was the North Korean government that made the provocation, not the defectors, right? I saw many postings on the Internet blaming North Korean newcomers. I hope Internet users will not post such groundless, malicious comments. And I also hope South Koreans will not have any prejudice against people from North Korea because of such incidents.

This high school girl is dreaming of studying nursing in college to help her sick mother and engage in voluntary service. Here’s hoping that Ok-byeol will realize the hopes she wanted to express in the film very soon.