high-speed rail from China to North Korea-Russia border soon to be tested and debugged

China's Changjitu project continues to knit together the Northeast, providing a figurative quantum leap in the region's infrastructure. Tumen, a town that only got traffic lights 7 or 8 years ago, will have a high-speed rail station in a few months.

From: http://finance.chinanews.com/cj/2015/04-14/7205686.shtml

Date: 4.14

Yanji at Night.

The Jilin-Tumen-Hunchun passenger rail line connecting Jilin and Hunchun will be tested and debugged in July. Hopefully this line will be opened on October. The rail line is 360 km long, with a speed of 250km/h. It comes past Jilin, Jiaohe, Dunhua, Antu, Longjin, Yanji, Tumen and Hunchun. This rail line will strengthen the transport connections between the Tumen River area and center of Jilin. Also, it will lead to further development of cross-border tourism in Yanbian and Tumen River area. Therefore it carries significant meaning in intensifying regional connections in Northeast Asia.

Translation by Wang Xingyu

North Koreans learn entrepreneurship in Singapore

“Yes, but what is innovation?”

“What percentage of newly planted trees survive in Singapore?”

“Why can’t I log in to this website?”

When you have 12 North Koreans spending two weeks on a Choson Exchange study trip on tech entrepreneurship to Singapore, the questions range wildly. In early March, we organised such a two-week programme.

The goal was to introduce to these budding entrepreneurs, scientists and policymakers the roles of a host of actors in the startup ecosystem. Given their familiarity with a heavy governmental role, we tackled the role of policy early. Volunteer workshop leaders emphasised the need for government bodies to incentivise a tech-business ecosystem, and in funding R&D and commercialisation in instances of market dislocation.

Augmented Reality App Demo

One of the workshop leaders actually drew up a couple of potential action plans for the DPRK to consider: a dedicated government-sponsored plot to host high-tech startups similar to Singapore’s own Block 71, and overseas internships or study exchanges for North Korean university students in countries such as Sweden or China. These were pretty well received on the whole and the feasibility of these plans was debated for the better portion of an hour before the group turned its attention to the more philosophical topic of what exactly the term “innovation” defines.

If anything, though, a more pressing issue was less policy-related and more about the general approach towards commercialising products. A few members of our team noted that the participants tended towards creating a product and then trying to sell it  – one gentleman was considering the development of an online marketplace for cosmetics seemingly without really consulting many women about their preferences. As one of our workshop leaders put it, “making something for the users without even talking to the users” is not a problem unique to North Korea, but one they need to consider given the historical lack of market focus among people used to state planning.

When one of our volunteers introduced the Lean Canvas model for building startups, initial hesitation gave way to a full embrace of its philosophy of “lean”. It provided a useful template, helping mapping out key steps from identifying a problem and targetting customers to establishing unfair advantage and communication channels. More than one workshop leader pointed out that the group’s ideas often made the common mistake of jumping straight to the solution without identifying the problem and market.

Just a couple of days after first seeing it, they were referring to the template while practicing idea pitching in front of an investment manager. The concept kept resurfacing and seemed to increasingly structure their ideas as the study trip went on.

If one looks at the bigger picture, North Korea has a long way to go in comprehending investor confidence, pricing and competition. They also desperately need better communication links with the outside world. But while the policies they operate under are still largely out of their hands, these twelve have a new-found understanding of business planning that will be easy for them to explain to colleagues and friends back home.

Whether they pinned down the meaning of “innovation” is another matter.

This article initially appeared on the tech website e27

Chosun Ilbo and the Vagaries of Korean journalism

As an organization working primarily in the DPRK but also committed to helping the rest of the world understand North Korea better, we try to engage media, academics and the public as much as we're able. Sometimes this can be problematic, especially when a South Korean newspaper copies much of an interview given in German and embeds language that suggests we are a threat to North Korea. Slapping the headline "The German helping North Korea with work more dangerous than missile launches" on it was just the beginning. 

Below, we respond to some of the points Nils, our Program Coordinator and interviewee for the German magazine "Stern", found frustrating in the Chosun Ilbo article.

With a flashy headline and photos used without permission, the South Korean website Chosun Ilbo claims that Nils Weisensee is “teaching capitalism to North Koreans”. This claim is false. Just like any other volunteer at Choson Exchange, Weisensee teaches business skills and management principles which can be applied in a variety of economic contexts, including the unique environment in the DPRK. As Weisensee explained in the Stern Magazine article that Chosun Ilbo based its coverage on, business people in the DPRK want to understand how enterprises in other countries operate, how to find out what customers want, how to motivate employees. “Teaching capitalism” is not on the syllabus.

Chosun Ilbo also wrote that car advertisements, smartphone shops and restaurants in Pyongyang “all indicate a drift toward capitalism”. However, neither Weisensee nor Stern author Janis Vougioukas made this claim. Weisensee told Stern that he believes we are seeing an interest in experimentation within the economic system of the DPRK. This is frankly editorializing by Chosun Ilbo - also, those car advertisements and restaurants have been around for years and years.

Finally, Chosun Ilbo wrote that Weisensee runs two coffee shops in Shanghai. This is incorrect — there is only one coffee shop. The news website also wrote that “Weisensee has taught some 800 young North Koreans how to open their own start-ups and about capitalism”. Again, this is false. Choson Exchange volunteers all together have taught business and related topics to 800 North Koreans over the past few years — Weisensee was involved in just a few of these.

To cap things off, Choson Ilbo misspelled the name of our organization: It’s Choson Exchange, not Chosun Exchange. If they took the time to visit websites to take photos without permission, surely they could check the spelling while there...

Unjong is for Kiddies!

Adults, doing adult things.

Unjong is one of the DPRK's SEZs that we argued is most likely to succeed and its easy to see why. They have a comprehensive masterplan, they're close to key political and trading hubs and have an institutional home with a strong mandate. They face plenty of impediments, too, but...all that is stuff for the adults to worry about. What's it like for the kids of scientists?

After a visit in late March, we're pretty sure that there is nowhere better to grow up, if you happen to be a child growing up in the DPRK. Educational and recreational facilities have been heavily invested in by the authorities, so no doubt the kids love being there. By contrast, we heard half-jokingly that Pyongyang-based male scientists face some resistance from their wives about moving out to the 'burbs. But again, that's adult stuff. 

                                                                                                                Photo by Chua Guan Cheong

The kids, however, get brand new basketball courts, rollerblade rinks and very unusually for the DPRK, artificial turf football fields. However, they also get this swing-game device - ubiquitous in North Korea - which to this observer looks terrifyingly dangerous, kids whip around, having to dodge spinning metal and other participants being flipped over a central axis. There is no way this could exist in playgrounds where we are from.

The terrifying swing game thing.                                                            Photo by Chua Guan Cheong

Also, note this angled climbing ladder, which kids can climb and hang from fully five meters off the ground.

How brave are these kids                                                                      Photo by Chua Guan Cheong

Finally, note the size of this swing, which is LITERALLY as high as a mountain*.

Are all DPRK kids adrenaline junkies!?                                                   Photo by Chua Guan Cheong

We may come from helmet-and-elbow-pad cultures - these kids do not. Even the most fortunate youths in North Korea grow up tough. 

*LITERALLY.

New Coffeeshop in Pyongyang

Hello readers of the future! Note the date this was published!

After many months of ebola-related non-travel to the DPRK, a Choson Exchange team got a chance to visit and conduct a workshop last week.

We were pleased to note that a major coffee chain has entered the market. We were able to have cappuccinos, slappuccinos and Irish coffees (whiskey self-supplied).

Cosmopolitanism in a cup.

Locals, from a tea culture, are still adjusting to a beverage that initially tastes like traditional medicine prescribed by a cruel doctor. Soon, though, with a variety of syrups, whipped creams, sugars and accompanying cakes to help bridge the way, we're confident that they can become properly addicted like the rest of us. After all, a sign of a successful economy is thousands of people commuting, unable to start their day without paper cups in hand. Careful, though, the beverage you're about to enjoy is extremely hot! 

My mother says I'm too young and too cute for caffeine.

Pictures in this blogpost may not all be from the DPRK.

Chinese News: Reopening of Cross-Border Routes

Below is a summary of a few articles in Chinese media following the official reopening of DPRK borders. Jilin province clearly has a big stake in border conditions, reflected in these stories. The prizes referenced are, apparently, real. The optimism about reviving tourism seems to be, also. 

Yanbian has been the most important point of access to visit North Korea for people from China, or even the world. After years of development, the forms of tourism now include self-driving, cycling, walking and railway, etc. On March 16, 2015, the self-driving route ofChina-North Korea border was awarded as “the Specially Recommended Cross-border Route” by theChina Self-Driving Conference.

(from http://auto.gmw.cn/newspaper/2015-03/17/content_105192747.htm#commentAnchor)

Yanji, Jilin Province at night.

Though in October 2014, North Korea announced that foreign tourists were banned from entering North Korea because of Ebola, recently staff from Bureau of Tourism in Jilin told a journalist from China News Service that Jilin will actively cooperate with related departments in North Korea and try to recover the tourism in full scale. Also according to the chief of the International Communication Section of the Bureau of Tourism, Tian Yunpeng, Jilin will enlarge the exploration of new projects of border trips, including more self-driving roads and sightseeing on waterways. Specifically, Jilin province will accelerate the opening up of the second China-North Korea self-driving road, from Changbai Port to Hyesan. The second cycling route, from Hunchun Shatuozi Port to North Korea will also be opened. Also the sightseeing on Tumen River will soon be under operation. Hopefully by the time the summer tourism high season comes, these new routes can be opened. (from http://www.hi.chinanews.com/hnnew/2015-03-03/4_45494.html)

Ebola Effect Lingers on Flight Availability to Pyongyang

Metrics. We get asked about metrics all the time. What metrics can you use when guessing about DPRK Econ stuff? Is traffic really down in Dandong? Have oil imports from China really decreased? How much has the mining sector grown?

Well here's two things we can see: the first Air China flights to Pyongyang in 2015 won't be until April 13th; also, Air Koryo is operating at basically 3/5ths of what they were in 2014.

This was one thing you could really point to in 2013/2014. In 2013, Air Koryo added two flights a week to Beijing, keeping them throughout 2014. This had been great for us, offering greater flexibility for our workshop leaders and letting us take full advantage of our volunteers' schedules. More importantly, it was a sign that more people were going in and out of China, mostly to do business.

Air Koryo expects to re-add the flights in April and we'll see if passenger numbers bounce back right away after the quiet winter. Meanwhile, return tickets this March are 12 RMB cheaper than last March.

It will be too late for Masikryong's to "bounce back" and show off its first full season as an international tourist resort, though we hear domestic business has been brisk.

No chance for the staff to practice their language skills this season.

#thedress tears DPRK study trip apart

look at this dress

OK, maybe not quite, but like everywhere else the world, the dress sparked lively debate, with four of our North Korean students seeing blue and black. Eight saw white and gold. (Which is what it is, obviously.)

This started a spirited conversation that ranged across the nature of light, screen quality, objectivity and perspectivism and - inevitably - whether the humidity in Singapore was causing some people to lose their minds. (It was.) We offered to get group tattoos of it, but so far no takers. 

Still, it was a nice break from the rigours of learning about start-ups, growth models, funding cycles and government entrepreneurship policy, though there was plenty of energy left for intense discussions on the difference between a start-up and consulting model for business during the next workshop session. 

It also perhaps helped illustrate just how much of our (sad?) social lives now take place online. 

discussions continued all over the city

Ebola. We're still talking about this?

Indeed, we are, four months on.

The news on Monday that the Pyongyang Marathon was cancelled came as a shock to some of us. It is certainly terrible for the tourism industry: that event was to anchor their biggest week of the year, since there is no Arirang performance in 2015.

However, maybe its not as bad as it seems? As Koryo Tours put it: "It is still unclear when the borders will be reopened, but we were also advised not to cancel our March tours, and to expect an update on the border situation at the end of February. If you are booked on any of our tours in March or April then please do not hesitate to get in touch."

We've heard similar advice about our late March and April programmes. The Pyongyang rumour mill (and its extensions in Beijing, Dandong, Yanji and elsewhere) clearly thinks that quarantine will be lifted or adapted in the coming weeks. The questions are:

Send us news, Pyongyang! (but not by post)

-Are the rumours true?

-If so, when exactly is the change coming?

The answers remain: "we don't know".

For CE this uncertainty has been damaging, though not on the scale it has been for the tour companies. We lost significant funding from a donor who needed to sponsor a project before the end of the fiscal year in March. Given that we have been unable to guarantee that March in-country programmes will go ahead, the funder had no choice by to reallocate the money.

We hope to execute the programme regardless and we are extremely grateful to have a team of workshop leaders who have a very flexible attitude towards this "stand-by for news" position we find ourselves in.

Fortunately, we have - despite the Ebola measures - been able to organise a study trip to Singapore. We'll see if participants in entrepreneurship training will also be participants in quarantine.

February Chinese Sources on Tourism and SEZs

One news story and one press release from China caught our attention this month. The first is a news story that reads very much like a press release and the second is essentially...a press release.

The first discusses Jilin province's plans to jointly develop more tourism across the border, in North Korea. This is exactly what Pyongyang wants and fits nicely with the tourism-focused SEZs along the border with China. Small investments in tourism infrastructure will allow for otherwise isolated regions to earn RMB and become more self-sufficient - or at least dependent on something new. Interestingly, discussions about self-drive tourism have continued between North Korea and the Northeast Provinces, with the experiments in Rason seemingly judged successful. Aquatic tourism presumably means cruises, fishing and rafting. Scuba seems unlikely. 

The second is a statement by China's Ministry of Commerce and reads as if its intended audience is in Pyongyang. It describes, essentially, how good things will be for North Korean workers in the Tumen Special Economic Zone. These are good sentiments and suggest Beijing's support for local plans to import labour from across the river. There will be remittances and some skills transfers, but it won't lead to the infrastructural and factory/mining refurbishment investments that Pyongyang is looking for. Ultimately, increasing numbers of workers sent across the border will have an inverse effect on the likelihood of a small or medium sized Chinese business setting up shop on the Korean side. Still, sending both laborers and businesspeople abroad in greater numbers (see the middle east, Mongolia and Russia for the former, mostly China for the latter) is something with which Pyongyang is increasingly comfortable - if their not getting the cross border investments they want, they may decide that this will do for now.

The articles are summarized below.

The view of Namyang, DPRK, from Tumen. Tumen got traffic lights just "6 or 7 years ago'. It will be linked to high-speed rail soon.

Jilin is accelerating development of border tourism by opening a new way to North Korea

Link: http://www.cet.com.cn/xwpd/shxw/1461423.shtml

From: China Economic News

Date: 02/03/2015

According to China News Service from Changchun, Jilin, which borders North Korea, the province is currently accelerating the development of cross-border tourism. According to information from the local tourism administration, Jilin is improving the diversity of tourism products, by emphasizing aquatic tourism on the Tumen River and a second self-driving route.

The aquatic tourism on the Tumen River will come out by the end of the year. From Fangchuan, the intersection of North Korea, Russia and China, to Yangguanping, the first stage will include sightseeing on the river. Tourism products related to ice for winter travellers will later be developed.

The second self-driving route will pass through Chanban port for departure, arrive in Samjiyeon in North Korea, and then to the eastern slope of Mount Changbai (also called Mount Baekdu).

 ________________________________________________________________________________

Tumen SEZ is actively perfecting its facilities and policies, in order to stimulate the fast growing of North Korean industrial zone. 

Link: http://www.mofcom.gov.cn/article/difang/jilin/201502/20150200892649.shtml

From: Ministry of Commerce of the People’s Republic of China

Date: 02/09/2015

In recent years, Tumen SEZ insists on the principle of government-leading, and promotes the healthy and fast development of China-North Korea Tumen Industrial Zone through four initiatives.  

First is strengthening the construction of supporting facilities. A 21,000 m² comprehensive building that provides living place for 3,000 people has been built. A 9,000 m² dorm building is going to be built to satisfy the needs of North Korean workers.

Second is perfecting the management system. A management system that includes 15 points on North Korean workers lives, such as management, employment, health and security, will be regulated through rules and policies like “Proposals of Managing North Korean Workers”. 

Third is highlighting humanistic management. The habits, festivals and customs of workers will be fully respected by adding holidays for both traditional and local North Korean festivals.

Fourth is strictly examining enterprises. The SEZ will insist that corporations with harsh environment, unprofessional skills of management and unfamiliarity with Korean culture will not be provided with opportunities to invest. Up to now, corporations have provided North Korean technicians and workers daily necessities, food and clothes for changing seasons. 

Translations and Summary by Wang Xingyu