Female Participation in North Korea's Business Sector

In our workshops in North Korea, we have interacted with a number of highly-educated female managers in state-owned enterprises as well as businesswomen who run their own enterprises. Many of them are both highly capable and excited about growing the businesses they own. They have come a long way, and some even have the opportunity to take their businesses overseas. Haedanghwa, a North Korean restaurant and food business in Beijing, has a female General Manager by the name of Han Myong Hui. The restaurant aims to “provide pollution -free raw materials and seasoning from Korea and ensure unchangeable taste based on the strict hygienic quality management system” which is not too bad a value proposition given the perpetual smog sitting over Beijing. During my first trip to North Korea I met a female university student who talked about how she wanted to go into business and show that females can be good business leaders. In fact, this the initial impetus for setting up Choson Exchange. Females play an important part in North Korea’s business sector, which we attribute to their greater labor mobility compared to male colleagues who have to stay in government-assigned positions. Unsurprisingly, service sectors tend to have a higher representation of female managers compared to industrial sectors.

However, at many levels they are still under-represented. We previously surveyed a North Korean who is familiar with North Korea’s business sector, and found that as we go up the organizational hierarchy, female participation rates fall to 10-15% at the General Manager and more senior levels, compared to 65% at the entry level (we believe they are over-represented here because of stagnant career progression).

Our initial hypothesis was that access to business training and international opportunities could go a long way towards leveling the playing field for female managers in North Korea. We found that at the University of National Economy, a key focal point for business training, only 20% of enrollees are female. Furthermore, only 5% of international business opportunities are given to females. Depending on our ability to fund-raise for such a program, we hope to be able to more actively target this segment in order to bridge the capacity gap.

A program that will ensure a more level playing field should focus on providing networking opportunities, business and leadership skills training, and opportunities for international business exposure.

A Week of JVIC

Early last week, the Rason City Administration announced that their inaugural Rason International Trade Exhibition of 2011 was going to have a second incarnation this summer. The invitation has been helpfully uploaded on NKeconwatch. As with the video presentations last year, materials for the trade fair seem to be primarily in English, with Chinese as a distant second. This is indicative of a long term goal to have this trade fair (and Rason more generally) develop as something greater than just a two nation affair. Interestingly, The Rason Exhibition Corporation, founded specifically to organize the trade fair, only has advertised offices in two foreign countries: China and in Singapore. Meanwhile, Kim Yong Nam was on a trip to Indonesia, via Singapore. Kim had with him Ri Kwang Gun, chairman of the Joint Venture and Investment Commission and An Jong Su, minister of Light Industry. The Singapore portion was brief, but the Indonesia portion was largely focused on economic issues.

From the Jakarta Post, largely quoting Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa:

“There was indeed sharpened focus on economy and trade during the meeting. Not only about investment itself, but there was also interest [on the part of] North Korea that Indonesia could share how to regulate or manage foreign investment in the country. We noted that North Korea’s attention was quite high on the topics related to economic development and investment,” Marty announced at the State Palace after the meeting.

“Talks on this issue were also raised during the meetings of North Korea’s ministerial-level officials with the Indonesian government before President Kim’s visit today,” the minister added.

There were, however, no concrete business agreements made.

Minister Marty described the discussions on investment as at the "exploration level". North Korea is no doubt keen to reestablish what was once a close relationship with Indonesia in the hope of striking large investment deals down the road. Indonesia, by the way, is sometimes lauded as an example of a "Reformist Autocracy" that has managed to avoid a resource curse.

Friday saw the Rodong Sinmun carry a story called "DPRK Official Outlines Investment Environment". Kim Il Sun, who is a section head of the JVIC gave a speech at the Koryo Hotel. Among other things, he said that to "keep apace with the developing world economy which is characterized by cooperation and exchange, the DPRK government has been paying due attention to the expansion of external economic cooperation based on the constant development of the foundations of the self-reliant socialist economy and making active efforts to create favorable environment for investment."

JVIC is the main organ though which FDI is regulated and managed. It is also involved in overseeing the Rason SEZ.

Kim also touted underground resources, saying "rich natural resources serve as a strong foundation that guarantees the development of the self-reliant economy."

We will be most interested to see if the Rason trade fair expands, if Indonesia and the DPRK strike and large deals in the coming months and if expanded trade and self-reliance are compatible. One thing is clear: JVIC seems increasingly in the news, taking a more visible role for both North Koreans and foreigners.

Kim Jong Un Speech 2.0

This week news of Kim Jong Un's second major speech was disseminated in North Korea and required not one, two, but three pictures to commemorate it. The speech was on land management, with that term being used to cover topics as diverse as forestry, agriculture, road construction, urban renewal and mining. There were a number of interesting things about this speech, but a couple in particular stood out as relevant to Choson Exchange.

In the English summary, this stands out:

"The Ministry of Land and Environmental Conservation and relevant institutions should conduct brisk joint study, academic exchange and information exchange with scientific research institutions of other countries and take part in international meetings and symposiums to introduce advanced science and technology, he added."

We've had conversations with our North Korean partners about conducting training sessions on land reform and taxation issues. It doesn't seem  unreasonable to hope that the interest we've perceived on this issue will be redoubled after what seems like an endorsement from the very top.

In the full Korean text posted on Rodong Sinmun, Kim Jong Un also takes some time to specifically address the issue of underground resources. As Geoffrey and I have argued over at The Diplomat, North Korea's vast, untapped resources could create a more marketized and internationalized economy, but serve to maintain existing social and political structures. (Though this is by no means certain.)

Kim begins addressing this crucial sector by saying "We must positively protect and conserve the country's underground resources". He is concerned that "right now, to earn a handful of pennies, the country's precious underground resources are being developed and exported abroad to the point of depletion, instead of taking a long-term view but looking just in front of their faces with a shortsighted perspective that doesn't show patriotism."

As such, the authorities will "strictly set up a system to stop the development of underground resources to depletion or the random or chaotic development of said resources."

This appears, when combined with his public chastisement of officials at an on-the-spot inspection this week, to be something of a warning shot.  Local officials who run things for personal gain will have to start worrying that pressure from the center may be coming to bear. Our workshop leaders have often emphasized rule-of-law issues as related to investment environment and it would be a welcome development to see more consistency across the investment sectors the DPRK wants to focus on.

There is, of course, much to be done. And while this is just a single speech, it is interesting to note that some of our points of focus are on Kim Jong Un's mind, at least.

Kim Yong Nam to Singapore and Indonesia

It was reported this week by KCNA that Kim Yong Nam, the President of the Supreme People's Assembly, is to visit Singapore and Indonesia "soon". Kim Yong Nam has been head of the SPA since 1998, tasked with handling diplomatic relations for the DPRK. But he was also recently elevated to the Presidium of the Politburo of the Workers' Party of Korea Central Committee, which probably gives him greater participation in economic decision-making as well. (Not to suggest he was an outsider before - but he is now more central than ever.)

He also visited Singapore in 1985, when he was foreign minister and again in 2007 and 2009.

Singapore is a top-ten trading partner for the DPRK - ranking varying according to whose guesswork you follow. In fact, a few months after Kim's last trip, a trade deal was signed between the two countries.

Singapore seems like the secondary concern on this trip, however, at least according to KCNA. In the short announcement on Monday, the news agency gave a paragraph on Kim going to Indonesia then a seperate paragraph, reading: "He will also visit Singapore."

Indonesia has had a "long-standing collaboration" with the DPRK, going back to the era of the non-aligned movement, whose members sought a degree of independence from the Cold War superpower rivalry. Sukarno and Kim Il Sung were not insignificant figures in that movement and had friendly personal relations: recall that it was Sukarno who gave Kim Il Sung the gift of a particular orchid he took a shine to during a state visit.

Trade between Indonesia and North Korea has dwindled since their non-aligned days and this trip is likely an attempt to reinvigorate economic ties. Indonesia's experience with restructuring its economy and managing its natural resources after the Asian Financial Crisis will likely also be of interest to Kim. One deal already struck is a media swap. Indonesia and North Korea will exchange television shows, photos, news and also plan to swap journalists at some point.

Kim received a delegation from Laos last week, while Korean People's Army's top brass we're preparing to visit Vientiane. They may have even flown down together. The two countries don't have much to offer each other in terms of investment, but both are very concerned with avoiding being overwhelmed by China's rise.

Perhaps, then, we're seeing a DPRK pivot towards Southeast Asia. ASEAN, after all, subscribes to a doctrine of non-interference in domestic political systems, which suits North Korea as it seeks to diversify its sources for foreign direct investment. Southeast Asia is the logical place to look, since South Korea is fraught with difficulties and Japan has taken itself out of the game.

Or, perhaps at the end of the day, he just wanted to fly Singapore Air instead of Garuda so has to change at Changi airport.

Choson Exchange Director Joins MIT as Research Affiliate

Choson Exchange’s Managing Director Geoffrey See will be joining MIT’s Center for International Studies as a Research Affiliate. In this capacity, he will focus on development issues in North Korea and will be combining knowledge generation with Choson Exchange’s active projects in North Korea. Choson Exchange previously introduced MIT’s OpenCourseWare in North Korea and look to continue bringing innovative approaches to education to North Korea. MIT’s Center for International Studies is a leading academic center for research on security-related issues, and Researcher Jim Walsh at the Center is a leading expert in the field, an active participant in Track II dialogues with North Korea, and is building a highly innovative and exciting team of scholars focusing on North Korea.

Geoffrey believes that “North Korea is a field where innovative ideas and research combined with on-the-ground involvement in the country can be a potent and effective mix. Being involved with MIT will allow Choson Exchange to fulfill our mission of innovating in North Korea by tapping the wealth of economic policy, entrepreneurship and pedagogical expertise at MIT, as well as allowing us to more strongly understand the links between economic development and security issues in North Korea.”

Resource Driven Equilibrium

Over at the Diplomat, Geoffrey and Andray argue that a resource curse in North Korea is something we should be keeping an eye on. Some Excerpts: The idea of the “resource curse,” long debated by development theorists, is helpful in understanding how the DPRK might marketize and yet remain stable. Rather than spur change, a what we might call “resource-driven equilibrium” might develop in North Korea.

Resources can put tremendous strains on the economy’s manufactured goods, by driving up the exchange rate and making exports more expensive. Furthermore, human resources are drawn away from export-oriented industries, further eroding the competitiveness of the manufacturing sector. There are also political consequences associated with a resource boom. When there’s a lack of manufacturing to begin with, a country’s elites are incentivized to fight for control over the resource base, rather than producing wealth by other means.

Both the economic and political pressures brought by control of a valuable resource can be mitigated in a variety of ways, including good governance through strong institutions.

If managing resources and overcoming the so-called curse is a matter of concerted, institutional commitment and the corresponding development of effective economic institutions, North Korea will struggle to avoid the trap, both in economic and political terms.Marketization without good governance could result in a stagnant and isolated economy, much like Burma over the last decade.

North Korea’s system has shown resilience to the encroachment of unofficial sources of news and information that have been growing since the mid-1990s. A more marketized economy with greater engagement with the outside world may allow more outside information in, yet paradoxically serve to bolster, rather than erode, this resilience.

Full article here.

A Question of Leadership

In March, Choson Exchange sent a delegation of financial and legal professionals to Pyongyang to conduct a series of workshops on the finance concepts of Asset Liability Management and Risk Management.  The workshops took place over the course of two days, and generated good discussions about the approach to banking and finance both inside and outside the DPRK.  The anonymous feedback from the attendees generally included comments to the effect of, “this was good, but we need more”. The other major purpose for the trip was to interview candidates for certain academic opportunities abroad.  Prior to arriving in Pyongyang, we had created a shortlist of about 7 young North Korean professionals from a pool of 30 resumes.  On arriving in Pyongyang, however, an official informed me that some of the unsuccessful candidates were quite disappointed about not making the shortlist.  They very much wanted a chance to meet me in person and to be heard.

It is important to be faithful to a process, but there are very few opportunities for North Koreans to study abroad.  I agreed to meet more people, and 7 interviews quickly became 15.  This made the schedule a bit tighter, but was overall quite positive.  I met many bright and eager young people over the course of the interviews.  For those who are not successful this time, they showed themselves to be good candidates for future opportunities.

This raises the question – on what basis are candidates selected?  As a general consideration, we are looking for high achievers: intelligent and accomplished people.  We also want to ensure, as best we can, that the candidates will be able to adapt to and function in a foreign environment.  This often involves an assessment of language ability and interpersonal skills.  Most importantly, we are looking for leaders: candidates that have the capacity to lead change and to spread the knowledge that they have gained to others.

Almost every modern business interview features questions about leadership experience and ability.  The interviewer often starts with a general question about leadership experience, and then hones in on more specific aspects of leadership.

This was the approach that I took with the first few interviews.  The responses, though, were not what I was expecting:

Q: Can you please tell me a bit about some of your leadership experiences?

(uncomfortable shuffle)

A: Ah…I’m sorry, but I don’t have any.

The first time this happened, it took me back a bit.  I admired the candidate’s honesty and sincerity, but thought that he was being a bit too humble.  “But we all have leadership experiences”, I replied.   I then identified several points on the candidate’s resume that clearly involved leadership experience on his part.

I quickly began to appreciate that there is a different cultural perspective on the concept of leadership.  In many cultures, leadership is commonly viewed as a skill set more than a formal role.  It embodies the confidence and ability to lead others, regardless of having authority to do so.  From an early age, we learn that developing and being able to employ such leadership skills is a very positive attribute.

In the DPRK, the concept of leadership appears to be more associated with formal position and authority.  To describe oneself as a leader without such title is presumptuous, perhaps even mildly insubordinate.  It is not to say that young North Korean professionals do not have leadership skills.  They do – but they are reluctant to describe them as such.

In the end, every candidate was able to talk about experiences that demonstrated leadership skills.  Whatever the label, we were talking about the same thing.

This was likely one of the first formal interviews for some of the candidates, and likely the first English interview for almost all of the candidates.  Despite my attempts to make everybody feel comfortable, it must have been a somewhat nerve-racking experience.  At the same time, it was an experience that many of them had the courage to push for.  I left with no doubt about the desire of the candidates to learn things that are new, foreign and challenging to them.

I would invariably ask each candidate why he or she was interested in the opportunity.  “Because”, one candidate told me, “there is so much more that I need to learn beyond what we are currently doing.  This is the way for me to learn it”.

Kim's Pyongyang

Calvin Chua, a London-based architect and member of Choson Exchange, recently wrote this compelling article on Pyongyang architecture for Fivefootway, a magazine focusing on design in Asian cities. Some excerpts:

Architecture and urban planning have always been used as tools to translate abstract political and economic ideas into physical forms. Across political systems, leaders often mark their political legacy through large-scale infrastructural projects and architectural icons. While some of these projects are no more than self-glorifying, many have a long lasting impact on the way residents live and interact and how the city grows and redevelops.

....

...Kim Jong-il, penned a treatise outlining an extensive architecture theory — “Juche Architecture” — based on the country’s primary ideology of self-reliance. In “On Architecture”, he spoke at length about the significance and role of architecture, the design principles and the architect’s qualification. More importantly, he called for the harmony of national virtues and modernity in the design. Ironically, at the time when the rest of the world was caught up with exploring forms in the early ‘90s, the young Kim declared that “the real beauty of architecture lies not in its external form but in its content.”

There are also some great shots of the city as well.

Kim's Speech

On April 15^th, 1912 the future path of both James Cameron’s career and the modern history of Korean peninsula began . For it was that day that man’s hubris was checked in the North Atlantic and “the lodestar of the Korean revolution” was born. (By the way, have you ever noticed that certain English words – lodestar among them – seem to have been given life only by KCNA? Have you ever seen the word ‘flunkyism’ in a publication not related to Korea?) 100 years later, Kim Il Sung’s grandson provided a spectacle that no North Korean had seen since the early 90’s. He gave a public speech. South Korean media outlets fell all over themselves as they rolled out audio analysts and psychologists to discuss the similarities between Kim Jong Un and Kim Il Sung. The link was also explicitly made on North Korean TV, with a newscaster marveling at how Kim Jong Un had the look of his grandfather.

If the style was his grandfathers, the content was his dad’s. “First, second, third…in a hundred ways we must go out and strengthen the people’s army,” he said, while at the same time emphasizing that prior accomplishments meant that North Korea was safe from its enemies. "Superiority in military technology is no longer monopolized by imperialists, and the era of enemies using atomic bombs to threaten and blackmail us is forever over," Kim said.

He threw out military terms a total of 56 times in his speech, and economic ones only 9 times, according to a count done by KBS, a South Korean broadcaster.

This weekend, despite starting badly for the North Korean authorities with the failure of the satellite launch, was always going to emphasize the military. The military parade that preceded Kim’s speech appeared to unveil a new missile.

North Korea’s experiments in economic reform are far from fully articulated. The ambivalence towards change is still there and in these early days of Kim Jong Un, it is unsurprising that they’re emphasizing the sure bet over the unsure one.

The telling thing is that this is very much part of Kim Jong Un’s process of finding the balance between his father and grandfather, before he can establish something of his own path. The content of his words in last couple months have seemed increasingly like Kim Jong Il, while his gregarious and relaxed manner have seemed every more like his grandfather.

Nonetheless, reminding people of the Kim Il Sung era won’t suffice for long. He will at some point have to start demonstrating the fruits of economic growth, including the material comforts that his grandfather oversaw for much of his tenure.  Citizens of North Korea, for now, will go back to their daily lives, with a clearer impression of Kim Jong Un: One that he is very much the inheritor of his paternal lineage.

Kim Il Sung’s Juche states that “man is the master of all things”. For now, the world – and most of all, North Koreans – are watching to see if a single man can successfully master the tricky political economy of the DPRK.

Katharina Zellweger joins Choson Exchange Board of Advisors

Choson Exchange is proud to announce that Katharina Zellweger will be joining Choson Exchange’s Board of Advisors. Katharina is a highly experienced and respected development worker with extensive on-the-ground experience in the DPRK, particularly in capacity building in our focus areas of business, economics and law. As we grow Choson Exchange’s impact, we are glad to have the opportunity to benefit from her advice on designing programs, participant selection, program evaluation and growth strategy. Coming from Switzerland and having lived in Hong Kong and the DPRK, we believe there is a strong fit between her international background and the strong international experience of Choson Exchange’s team. Her bio is attached below. Bio

Katharina Zellweger has been the Pantech Fellow in Korean Studies at the Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center at Stanford University since 2011. She is a senior aid manager with over 30 years of field experience in Hong Kong, China and North Korea.

Zellweger lived and worked in Pyongyang for five years (2006-2011) as the North Korea country director for the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC). She focused on sustainable agricultural production to address food security issues, income generation to improve people’s livelihoods, and capacity development to contribute to individual and institutional learning.

Before joining SDC, Zellweger worked for almost 30 years for the Catholic agency Caritas in Hong Kong where she developed pioneering Caritas involvement in China and in North Korea. Zellweger received the Bishop Tji Hak-soon Justice and Peace Award from a South Korean foundation established to promote social justice, and the Dame of St. Gregory the Great from the Vatican for her work in North Korea.

Zellweger has a Master’s in International Administration, School for International Training in Brattleboro, Vermont.

Update 25 Feb 2015: Ms Zellweger decided to set up an organization providing humanitarian and education programs in North Korea, and as such, has informed us that she will resign from the Board of Advisors.