People’s Security Delegation Visits China

A delegation of the Ministry of People’s Security [MPS] visited China from 26 April to 1 May (Tuesday).  The delegation was led by Major General Ri Song Chol (Ri So’ng-ch’o'l), MPS councilor and director of the MPS Foreign Affairs Bureau.  The primary reason for Ri’s visit was not clear and may have been arranged when Korean Workers’ Party [KWP] International Secretary Kim Yong Il visited Beijing late last month for a DPRK-PRC strategic dialogue.

On 27 April (Friday), Maj. Gen. Ri met with Chinese Vice Minister of Public Security Meng Hongwei.  The two were last reported to have met in June 2011.  According to Renmin Gongan Bao, Meng told Ri, “Since February 2011 when State Councilor and Minister of Public Security Meng Jianzhu visited the DPRK, China and the DPRK have further developed their cooperation in law enforcement and security thanks to the concerted efforts of both sides. It is hoped that the two sides would further implement the consensus on cooperation reached between the responsible officials of the law-enforcement departments of the two countries, continue strengthening high-level exchanges and work cooperation, and lead the friendly cooperation between the two sides to a pragmatic, mutual-beneficial, and win-win development.”  Ri was described as “totally” agreeing with Meng’s remarks.

Ri’s visit to Beijing occurred on the same day two members of the Border Security Command were repatriated back to the DPRK, after escaping to China.  Daily NK reported that after an alleged bureaucratic migration, two BSC service members shot and killed several members of their unit near Hyesan, Yanggang Province.  The two guards escaped into China and were apprehended on 27 April.

Dutch Stamp Collector Detained in DPRK Gives Interview

Store front of Willem van der Bijl's stamp and coin shop on Zandelstraat in Utrecht (Photo: RTV Utrecht)

A Dutch citizen held by DPRK authorities during the summer of 2011 has given a media interview about his detention.  Willem van der Bijl, a Utrecht shop owner and stamp collector, was detained and interrogated by the north’s Ministry of State Security for nearly two weeks from 29 July to 12 August.  Van der Bijl told NRC Handelsblad that he was arrested on espionage charges and kept in a 2 m by 3 m (6 ft by 9 ft) cell, surrounded by four armed guards.  He was interrogated three times a day, at 90 minute intervals, by two DPRK officials.  When not being interrogated, Van der Bijl spent 15 hours per day sitting in the chair in his cell.  Radio Netherlands Worldwide has a gist of the interview in its daily review of the Dutch press:

Philatelist Willem van der Bijl spent two weeks in a North Korean cell. The authorities mistrusted his Korean contacts and his collection of souvenirs. Not to mention the surreptitious snaps of an old village on his laptop: “You are trying to convince your leaders that our country is poor!” he was told.

Mr Van der Bijl’s account of his ordeal confirms quite a few suspicions about life under the Communist dictatorship. “I was in a cell, two by three metres with only a bed and a hard chair. I had to sit on the chair for 15 hours a day. I was surrounded by four soldiers 24 hours a day. I’m a positive fellow but it’s no wonder I began to lose my mind.” Thankfully he did not suffer any physical violence and after copying out a nine-page confession, he was eventually released.

So what was he doing in North Korea in the first place? “I love the people there,” he says. “They are sweet and naive … I’m an inquisitive soul, always have been. And it’s a fascinating place.” He admits he’s addicted and itching to go back. But he sighs “my friends and family won’t let me.”

Van der Bijl traveled to the DPRK 24 times, since 1998.  He was presumed missing on or about 30 July 2011, when he was not his return flight to Holland.  His colleagues and neighbors presumed that he had been detained.  While he was under arrest, DPRK media published a short essay about elections to local power organs which was supposedly written by Van der Bijl and carried an image of him wearing a party lapel pin.

KJI-Medvedev to Meet Wednesday?

According to ROK and Russian media reports, Kim Jong Il is expected to visit Skovorodino en route to his meeting with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev in Ulan Ude. The red line indicates his rail route. (Photo: Google image)

Russian and ROK media said that Kim Jong Il and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev will meet on Wednesday (24 August) in Ulan Ude.  The DPRK-Russian leadership meeting was originally believed to take place on Tuesday (23 August), but may have been delayed by a day.  On his way to Ulan Ude KJI will reportedly visit Skovorodino.  Yonhap reports:

On Monday, the third day of his Russian trip, an armored train believed to carry Kim was heading to the eastern Siberian city of Ulan-Ude, where the two leaders are expected to meet. On Sunday, Kim paid a visit to the Bureiskaya hydroelectric plant in the Amur region.

Ulan-Ude, near Lake Baikal, is about 3,000 kilometers away from Bureiskaya.

“On his way to Ulan-Ude, Kim is likely to stop off at the city of Skovorodino,” the intelligence official said on the condition of anonymity. “If so, the North Korea-Russia summit, originally scheduled for Aug. 23, will be delayed by one day.”

Skovorodino is the starting point for an oil pipeline between eastern Siberia and China. Russia and China completed a 1,000-km oil pipeline linking Skovorodino to Daqing in the northeastern Chinese province of Heilongjiang last year.

In Seoul, a senior government official also said, “There is a possibility that Kim will arrive in Ulan-Ude on Aug. 23 and hold the summit on Aug. 24 after spending a night.”

Newspapers in Russia carried similar reports, citing their diplomatic sources.

The Izvestiya newspaper reported the Kim-Medvedev talks would be held on Wednesday and the venue for the summit would be a state guesthouse in Ulan-Ude, not a military compound.

Tight security measures were in force ahead of his arrival at the city’s railway station and near the state guesthouse, the Russian daily reported.

For years, Russia has proposed building a pipeline through the divided Korean Peninsula to sell Siberian natural gas to South Korea, one of the world’s largest buyers of natural gas.

If realized, the project could help ease tensions on the peninsula and bring much-needed hard currency to North Korea. North Korea can expect to earn more than US$500 million a year in handling charges over the gas pipeline, according to South Korean analysts.

South Korean Foreign Minister Kim Sung-hwan said this month that North Korea reacted “positively” to the natural-gas pipeline construction project. The North’s reaction was conveyed by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov to Kim during their bilateral talks on Aug. 8.

Moscow has also floated the idea of connecting its Trans-Siberian Railway with South Korea via North Korea, a proposal that would provide cheaper shipping routes for South Korean companies selling goods to Europe.

Kim Jong Il's arrives on 21 August at an Amur Oblast railway station in Russia's Far East (Photo: Port Amur/Amur information agency)

DPRK media reported KJI’s visit to Amur and his tour of the Bureiskaya (Bureya) power plant on Sunday and Monday (22 August).  In its report KCNA referred to his “next destination,” but not did disclose where or what that was.

After being briefed on the history of the plant, he acquainted himself in detail with the construction and electricity production, going round the generating room and other places.

Commanding a bird’s-eye view of the giant plant from the observation deck, he said it is a great structure to go down in the history of Russia.

Highly praising the brave and talented Russian people for having built the modern large-scale hydro-electric plant by harnessing nature for dozens of years, he expressed expectation that the workers of the plant would keep the electricity production going at a high rate and contribute to the economic development in the Far East Region and its people’s wellbeing.

He wrote in the visitor’s book: “Inexhaustible is the strength of the Russian people who occupied Bureya nature. Kim Jong Il. August 21, 2011.”

The director of the plant presented him with a gift which was prepared with sincerity carrying boundless respect and reverence of all its employees for him.

The governor of the region gave a luncheon in honor of Kim Jong Il on a visit to the region.

Warmly welcoming Kim Jong Il visiting the Far East Region for the strengthening and development of the Russia-DPRK friendship on behalf of the Regional Government and people, the governor expre ssed the pleasure to receive in their region the leader in good health and full of energy.

The luncheon proceeded in an amicable atmosphere overflowing with friendship. An art performance prepared by the artistes of the region was given in welcome of him.

He was presented with a gift by the governor on behalf of the officials and people of the region in token of his historic visit to the region.

He left for his next destination amid the warm send-off by senior officials of the region.

Meanwhile, back on the peninsula, the DPRK announced that it will continue with the disposal of assets at Ku’mgang resort.  KBS World reports:

North Korea says that it will dispose under its law all assets of South Korean companies at the North’s Mount Geumgang resort.

North Korea revealed its stance in a statement issued by a spokesman from the resort’s guidance bureau on Monday. According to the North’s official Korea Central News Agency, the statement said the North will take legal steps to dispose all South Korean property, including real estate, equipment and vehicles, at Mount Geumgang. It added that the South Korean government has completely abandoned the protection of assets of South Korean companies in the resort.

The news agency also reported that North Korea has banned South Korean companies from taking any goods and assets out of the Mount Geumgang resort from midnight on Sunday, and further demanded that South Korean personnel leave Mount Geumgang within 72 hours.

Previously, North Korea demanded South Korean firms on July 29th to make a decision on the disposal of their assets at the mountain resort within three weeks in accordance with its special law on the Geumgang tourist district.

An official notice reading "Freeze" in Korean is stuck to a South Korean-owned building at the Mount Kumgang resort, one of several assets that North Korea froze last year. (Yonhap file photo)

Busy Days in Internal Security

Kim Jong Il on a May 2009 inspection tour of a general officers' school of the Ministry of State Scurity

These are interesting times for the country’s internal security apparatus.  Enforcement initiatives and tightening of social and population controls finds the Military Security Command riding shotgun, while the Ministry of State Security and Ministry of People’s Security sit in the backseat.  The Minister of People’s Security was replaced earlier this year with a military planning specialist and KJI loyalist, although it is not clear if Chu Sang-song (Ju Sang Song) was on the take (i.e. bribes) or lacked vigilance in dealing with unruly university students.

At State Security, there are rumors that vice minister and chief of the 2nd Bureau, Ryu Kyo’ng was dismissed and executed early this year.  In September 2010 Ryu was promoted to Colonel General (Sangjang) and elected an alternate (candidate) member of the Party Central Committee.   Folded into Ryu’s dismissal was the removal of dozens of other MSS personnel.  During January and February of this year, several sources claimed that MSS Senior Vice Minister, U To’ng-ch’uk, giddily presided over a purge in the ministry. Chosun Ilbo reports:

The source in North Korea said Ryu Kyong was summoned by Kim Jong-il in early January and on his way to Kim’s residence, was arrested by members of the General Guard Bureau. He was interrogated and secretly executed.

A South Korean government official backed the story. “Ryu has disappeared from public view since early this year. It seems he was either purged or sent to the provinces. We’re trying to find out if he was executed,” he said. The North Korean source said Ryu was suspected of being a double agent.

A North Korean defector said Ryu held real power in the spy agency and had been on a roll. Last September when Kim Jong-il’s third son and heir Jong-un was promoted to four-star general, Ryu was also promoted from lieutenant general to colonel general. He reportedly wielded more power than Gen. U Dong-chuk, his ostensible superior, because of Kim Jong-il’s confidence in him.

But he is believed to have been eliminated by the Kims and the leader’s brother-in-law Jang Song-taek, seen as the grey eminence in the North, because he was getting too powerful.

The source in North Korea said, “I heard that Kim Jong-un was at one time very keen on his work in the security department but didn’t have much to do because almost everything was taken care of by Ryu Kyong and his cadres.”

Jang, who is in charge of the security department and the Ministry of Public Security, reportedly had an uneasy relationship with Ryu. About 100 security department officials, including counterespionage bureau chief Kim Yong-sik, who were regarded as Ryu’s cadres, were also kicked out, the source added.

According to another CI report, Ryu managed the March 2009 capture of US-based Current TV journalists, Euna Lee and Laura Ling, at the DPRK-PRC border.  When former US President Bill Clinton visited the country in August 2009 to secure Ling and Lee’s release, DPRK media reported that U To’ng-ch’uk attended the dinner party hosted by Kim Cho’ng-il.

He then used his overseas operatives to bribe an ethnic Korean guide in China to lead the two women into the hands of their abductors. The guide took Ling and Lee to a point on the banks of the Duman (or Tumen) River, where they were dragged across the border into North Korea.

The abduction, which occurred just after U.S. President Barack Obama took office, prompted the White House to dispatch former U.S. President Bill Clinton to Pyongyang in August of that year. It also served as a propaganda coup for Pyongyang, which boasted that a former U.S. leader had to “bow before General Kim Jong-il and beg for forgiveness.” By successfully carrying out the mission, Ryu was subsequently hailed as a national hero.

Teams of overseas operatives, many of which had been in place for years, were mobilized in September of 2002 following the visit to North Korea by former Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi. Many had been tasked with missions aimed at creating favorable diplomatic conditions for the summit. Boosted by the success of the summit, the State Security Department expanded the missions of its overseas operatives until they had created a vast intelligence network in China.

South Korean intelligence officials are now trying to ascertain why Ryu, one of Kim Jong-il’s closest and most trusted aides, ended up being purged, especially in light of his achievements in prompting former and incumbent U.S. and Japanese leaders to visit North Korea.

Due to the nature of Ryu Kyo’ng’s work, Asahi Shimbun wonders if Ryu was a “Mr. X” who arranged a meeting between KJI and former Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi in September 2002:

Some South Korean government officials said the senior North Korean official was probably Ryu Kyong, deputy director of the State Security Department.

Ryu was reportedly promoted to colonel general last September, but South Korean government officials have lost track of his status since early this year.

South Korea hopes it will be able to better forecast changes in Pyongyang’s policy toward Tokyo and Washington by gathering information on Ryu, who was responsible for relations with the two countries.

Mr. X closely coordinated with Hitoshi Tanaka, then director-general of the Foreign Ministry’s Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau, from autumn 2001 to organize the summit between then Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and North Korean leader Kim Jong Il in Pyongyang in September 2002.

He identified himself as Kim Chol and a member of North Korea’s National Defense Commission.

The Foreign Ministry could not find such a person in its list of North Korean officials but concluded that Mr. X was directly connected to Kim Jong Il.

Then again Ryu may have found trouble with what Daily NK reports to be a generational change within the internal security apparatus:

One such source from North Pyongan Province explained on Sunday, “NSA and PSM cadres are being rapidly changed for younger men, who are now playing a pivotal role. There are now two or three men in their late 20s and early 30s in the case of an NSA office, and among the ten men in a PSM office, five or six are in their 30s.”

“The change to younger agents began last year, making men in their mid-40s who should be at peak capacity start looking over their shoulder,” the source added.

A source from Yangkang Province concurred, adding, “Just now in the local NSA, prosecutors’ office and PSM, early- to mid-30s people have been stationed in almost all posts. These early- and mid-30s people are even taking places as high as vice director of the city or county NSA.”

The NSA and PSM represent the domestic force behind the Kim dictatorship, the tools of both policing and intelligence functions. As such, experts assert that if people loyal to the Kim Jong Il system are being replaced, that is another telling sign that North Korea is edging towards a system led by successor Kim Jong Eun.

During the last few weeks a variety of editorials and statements in KCNA and other DPRK media have applied the term hooligan to the current ROK leadership.  However, if this Yonhap excerpt is accurate, some in the DPRK’s security community seem to suspect the hooligans may be closer to home.  Via Korea Herald:

North Korea has recently created a special police task force and bought large amounts of anti-riot gear from China in an apparent attempt to cope with any possible riots in the North, a source said Tuesday.

The communist North purchased tear gas, helmets and shields through Chinese merchants in China’s northeastern city of Shenyang in recent months, the source said.

The North has also considered buying flak jackets, protective clothing and other equipment that could be used against rioters, the source said.

There have been accounts of crowd-based rumbles in the country before, including soccer-type riots, tolerated by local authorities to relieve internal pressure.  If Daily NK‘s sources are correct, internal security officials may not be handing out beatdowns quite yet:

To a man, those The Daily NK talked to about the report, including individuals with experience working for special military units, the National Security Agency and People’s Safety Agency, expressed doubts about the report that North Korea had purchased the equipment to prepare for potential public disorder.

One defector who once worked for a special unit under the People’s Safety Ministry told the Daily NK, “The idea that North Korea bought equipment like tear gas for breaking up demonstrations from China is nonsense. It is premature to suggest that there are riots in North Korea, and even if a riot were to break out, the state would simply break it up with live ammunition.”

“It is also illogical to say that a state could buy those items from individual traders,” the defector continued. “It’s military equipment; how could a private individual even get hold of it?”

Another defector, a former NSA agent who arrived in the South just this year, agreed, saying, “The People’s Safety Ministry, the equivalent of South Korea’s police, is known as the ‘internal military’,” and adding, “If a riot breaks out, obviously the guards would just shoot and kill the participants indiscriminately; they would not have the patience to warn them with tear gas.”

A former member of North Korea’s Special Forces asserted that the Chosun People’s Army operates one Special Forces unit of 1200 guards containing a battalion of 350 trained to suppress public disturbances. In effect, this means that North Korea will insert the military into any protests or riots directly.

The defector explained, “This unit solely trains for problems within the country. If a demonstration breaks out, NSA agents would also be mobilized, but first and foremost, soldiers would be armed to break up the crowd.”

Ceremony Held to Open Hwanggumphyong

Stage banners for a ceremony held on 8 June 2011 to open Hwangkimp'yo'ng Island at the DPRK-PRC border (Photo: Yonhap)

On Wednesday [8 June] a ceremony was held on Hwangkimp’yo’ng Island near the Sino-DPRK border.  PRC Minister of Commerce Chen Deming and, from the DPRK,  Jang Song Taek (Chang So’ng-t’aek) attended the event, which had been anticipated by local PRC media back in early May.  Yonhap reports:

On Wednesday, some 1,000 people from North Korea and China, including Kim’s brother-in-law, Jang Song-thaek, and Chinese Commerce Minister Chen Deming, attended the ceremony on Hwanggumphyong Island in the Yalu River that separates the two countries.

Several dozen giant advertising balloons were floating in the air as a military brass band played festive songs, and hundreds of doves were released at the ceremony.

The messages on the balloons read “North Korea-China friendship and joint development” in a symbolic gesture for their commitment to the project.

The two sides also reportedly signed a deal on the joint development project, including lease terms on Hwanggumphyong. No details were immediately available.

The massive ceremony came two days after Pyongyang said it will turn the Hwanggumphyong and Wihwa islands into the economic zone to boost friendly ties with China and expand and develop external economic relations.

The North’s parliament said Monday that the development of the zone will start from the Hwanggumphyong district.

SPA Decree Opens Wihwa and Hwanggumphyong Islands near DPRK-PRC Border

The Supreme People’s Assembly’s [SPA] Presidium adopted a decision to designate Wihwa and Hwangkimp’yo’ng Islands, and several other parcels in North P’yo’ngan Province near the DPRK-Sino border.  The DPRK announced it will begin development at Hwangkimp’yo’ng.  KCNA reports:

The DPRK decided to set up the Hwanggumphyong and Wihwa Islands Economic Zone in order to boost the DPRK-China friendship and expand and develop the external economic relations.

A decree of the Presidium of the Supreme People’s Assembly was promulgated on June 6 in this regard.

According to it, Hwanggumphyong-ri, Sindo County, Sangdan-ri, Hadan-ri and Taji-ri, Sinuiju City and Soho-ri, Uiju County of North Phyongan Province shall belong to the zone.

The sovereignty of the DPRK shall be exercised in the zone.

The development of the zone shall start from the Hwanggumphyong district.

Christine Kim reports in JoongAng Ilbo on the increasing cooperation between the DPRK and PRC, to the detriment of ROK entrepreneurs and ventures:

Yesterday, workers were seen getting ready for a ground-breaking ceremony at Hwanggumpyong, a joint industrial complex run by North Korea and China on an island in the Yalu River.

North Korea’s official news agency said the complex would further deepen economic ties between the two countries. The exact reverse is happening to South Korean businesspeople.

“South Korean firms and investors have pretty much let their businesses at the China-North Korea border go since last May,” said Choi, the owner of a restaurant in Dandong. Choi, 54, has been running his restaurant for a decade and, to him, the good times are over.

“When business was active between South and North Korea, there were about 1,000 South Korean businessmen working in Dandong, all doing work related to North Korea,” said Choi. “But now most of them have left.”

“Most of the manufacturing jobs done inside North Korea have been taken by Chinese investors and the South Koreans left here in Dandong are mostly contractors for Chinese firms,” Choi said.

After the attack on the warship Cheonan in March 2010, business ties between South and North Korea have run dry due to sanctions ordered by Seoul the following May.

“I invested millions of dollars into developing the underground natural resources in North Korea before last May,” said Park, 56, who was working from Hunchun in northeast China. “Now that the South Korean government has banned all North Korean goods from entering the South, I’m about to lose all my money.”

Chinese investors – including ethnic Koreans living in China – are grabbing the business opportunities forfeited by the Southerners.

“I run short of stock even if I charge 10 renminbi [$1.54] for an abalone I used to sell at 5 renminbi,” said Han, 70, an ethnic Korean in China who sells abalones caught in North Korea. The trade was formerly done by South Koreans.

“Doing business with Chinese customers is much better because I can earn more and in cash, too,” he said.

Meanwhile, Dong-a Ilbo reports on a new program allowing PRC nationals to drive into the Naso’n zone in the country’s northeast:

Chinese nationals can start traveling Thursday to Rason, a free trade zone in North Korea`s northeastern region, with their own cars for three days.

This is in line with the development plan linking the Chinese cities of Changchun, Jilin and Tumen that the Chinese government is promoting, China’s Xinhua News Agency said Friday.

For starters, the service launched by CYTS Tours will begin with fewer than 30 cars. Travel costs will be 1,450 yuan (224 U.S. dollars) per person, including lodging and eating. Whether anyone has applied remains unknown, however.

People who will start from Changchun Thursday will drive 500 kilometers to Hunchun in Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture and then enter North Korea through the maritime customs at Quanhe. After crossing the Tumen River, they will go through immigration procedures at the customs office in the North Korean village of Wonjeong-ri and then go to Rason through a Hunchun-Rason road under construction.

The travelers will tour the port of Rajin and then tour Rajin Bay by boat. They will watch a children’s show and visit Sea Village and Wang Hai Guo, where the late founder of North Korea Kim Il Sung visited.

A source at CYTS Tours said, “The product was designed as a part of the (Chinese) government’s travel development plan for Changchun, Jilin and Tumen.”

Minister of People’s Security Meets PRC Ambassador

PRC Ambassador to the DPRK Liu Hongcai (L) stands with Minister of People's Security Ri Myo'ng-su (Ri Myong Su) at Mansudae Assembly Hall, Pyongyang, on 10 May 2011 (Photo: PRC Embassy in DPRK)

Minister of People’s Security Ri Myo’ng-su (Ri Myong Su) met with PRC Ambassador Liu Hongcai on 10 May at Mansudae Assembly Hall in Pyongyang.  Ambassador Liu was reported by his embassy as making a congratulatory visit to Ri, after his April appointment as Minister.  Liu and Ri discussed cordial DPRK-PRC relations as well as cooperation and exchange between the countries’ domestic security agencies.

Ri’s predecessor, Chu Sang-song (Ju Sang Song) met with his Chinese counterpart, PRC Minister of Public Security, Meng Jianzhu on 13 February 2011.

PRC Ambassador Liu Hongcai meets with Minister of People's Security, Ri Myo'ng-su at Mansudae Assembly Hall on 10 May (Photo: PRC Embassy in DPRK)

Ri (4th R) and officials of the DPRK Ministry of People's Security stands for a commemorative photo with PRC Ambassador to the DPRK Liu Hongcai (5th R) and embassy staff (Photo: PRC Embassy in DPRK)

Jong Un Trial Balloon to Beijing (Or a stalking horse to Jilin?)

Kim Cho'ng-u'n (Kim Jong Un)

2010 was the year Pyongyang watchers  waited for Kim Cho’ng-il to travel to China.  KCI managed to live up to the hype, as news photographers staked out his private train.  When the media veil under which he traveled blew off in May 2010, he  strolled around service entrances and hotel lobbies.  His second trip to northeastern Chinese provinces during August 2010 had the surprise element of other trips and was more of a controlled affair, despite the parking lot handshake photo and rumors of Kim Cho’ng-u’n reciting poetry.

A member of the personal security escort in the Guard Command, preparing for Kim Cho'ng-il's departure October 2010 (Photo: KCNA)

Members of the Guard Commands and vehicles from Kim Chong-il's motorcade are highted in this image from KCI's November 2010 visit to the Huichon Power Station in Chagang Province

2011 has become the year to inflate the trial balloon of Kim Cho’ng-u’n visiting China.  Several anticipated dates of his departure and arrival have come and gone.  However, JoongAng Ilbo reports on the possibility that a delegation of the Guard Command recently visited the PRC:

The activity comes amid rumors that North Korea‟s heir apparent Kim Jong-un would visit China sometime this month.

“I heard that 20 or so North Korean secret agents arrived in Beijing,” a source said, adding they traveled in vehicles with black tinted windows that were escorted by Chinese security.

“They appear to have come on a special mission, nothing to do with regular exchanges between the parties and the governments [between North Korea and China],” the source said.

The source said the special agents were presumed to belong to the North‟s equivalent of the U.S. Secret Service and to be in charge of security for high-profile figures in the North.

Customarily, such advance trips by security have been followed within a week by a visit from a top-ranking official.

Air Koryo, the North Korea‟s official airline, shuttles between Pyongyang and Beijing on Tuesdays and Thursdays. The source said the North Korean agents could have come to Beijing on a specially arranged flight, or via other means.

“There is possibility that they will stay in Beijing for three or four days before moving to three provinces in Northeast China, including Dandong, on the border with North Korea,” the source said.

If the preparations are for a visit by Kim Jong-un, it would be his first solo trip to the North‟s staunchest ally, an event that would be compared to the China visit made by his father in 1983. Kim Jong-il, then the heir apparent to North Korean founder Kim Il Sung, traveled to China for the first time without his father that year.

Such a solo trip to China is used to bolster the legitimacy of an heir apparent, even more important now than in the 1980s with China‟s increasing global influence and the untested loyalty of North Korea‟s masses to Kim Jong-un.

Kim Jong-un is believed to have turned 28 or 29 in January.

The source did not exclude the possibility that the trip could be for a different high-ranking official.

But another North Korean source in Beijing said that if the agents were indeed members of the North‟s Secret Service equivalent, they would be preparing for a trip by either Kim Jong-un or Kim Jong-il.

A third source in Beijing said if Kim Jong-il or Kim Jong-un were coming, members of North Korea‟s top secretary service, in charge of personal services for Kim Jong-il, would be on the advance team. It wasn‟t clear whether they were or not.

DPRK media reported on a meeting between the next PRC leader, Xi Jinping, and DPRK Ambassador to the PRC Chi Chae-yong [Ji Jae Ryong], which was interpreted as another preparatory function in advance of Kim Cho’ng-u’n visiting the PRC.  KCNA reported on the meeting:

He noted that leader Kim Jong Il visited China twice last year to meet with President Hu Jintao and reach an agreement of views on the bilateral relations and major issues of common concern. This year the leader received Meng Jianzhu, state councilor of China, on a visit to the DPRK and enjoyed together with officials of the Chinese embassy in Pyongyang a concert given by the Unhasu Orchestra on the 15th of January under the lunar calendar, he added.

It is the fixed strategic policy of the Chinese party and government to steadily develop the China-DPRK relations of neighborly friendship and cooperation, Xi said.

He hoped that the bilateral relations would further develop by maintaining exchange of high-level visits, deepening understanding of each other’s strategic view and strengthening economic cooperation.

Members of the P'ibada Opera Troupe (L and R) in the PRC in May 2010

One of the events (perhaps unrelated) interpreted as an indication that KCI would visit the PRC in May 2010 was the public departure of the P’ibada Opera Troupe for a performance run of A Dream of Red Mansions.  The P’ibada troupe’s arrival ended up preceding KCI’s and he was expected during his trip to Beijing to attend a performance.  On 2 May 2011 the Pyongyang Art Troupe departed the country (via Pyongyang Railway Station) for a three-month concert tour organized by a PRC promoter.  The Pyongyang Art Troupe is composite cultural organization of dancers, singers and musicians drawn from three of the countries elite performance groups.  The troupe will travel throughout PRC and perform at several music and art festivals; given the troupe’s performance schedule, one might put Cho’ng-u’n's visit during the May through July tour.

A view near the city centre of Najin, part of Naso'n in northeast DPRK (Photo: Google image)

The presence of security officials and performing groups may portend a visit from one of the Kims, or the security officials could be planning for a significant DPRK-PRC event in the Naso’n area.  Hankyoreh reports about an event scheduled in that area in late May:

A number of sources, including officials with the Jilin Province government in China, reported that a groundbreaking ceremony is to be held on May 30 for a highway linking the North Korea cities of Wonjong and Naso’n, bordering directly on Quanhe in Hunchun, Jilin Province. A number of leaders from both countries are scheduled to attend the ceremony, which is to take place in Naso’n (Rajin-Sonbong), North Korea.

A Chinese official working on preparations for the project said in a recent interview with the Hankyoreh that the event would be “an occasion for declaring North Korea-China economic cooperation and North Korean openness to the world.” The official added that dozens of officials from the Chinese central government would be attending, including a number of leaders.

The construction effort is a signal announcing the opening of Naso’n and large-scale economic cooperation between North Korea and China. In addition to the groundbreaking ceremony for the highway, which is to be a major channel tying North Korea and China together economically, efforts to develop China’s Rajin Harbor and transport large amounts of coal through it are beginning in earnest.

The Naso’n development effort is taking place according to China’s “blueprints” in everything from the planning to investment and management. Local sources said that China and North Korea have already formed a special joint steering committee for the district, and that it has been decided that the chairman will be from China.

The Naso’n urban development plan jointly drafted by China and North Korea includes the development of international freight brokerage, export processing, and financial regions. According to a North Korean video, models for the plan include Dalian and Tianjin, which Kim Jong Il inspected in 2010 during a visit to China.

An official with the Yanji city government said, “North Korea is also aware that keeping its doors closed will only lead to death, but it is concerned that the regime will be destabilized if it opens up all at once, so it plans to first open up Rajin and develop it as a ‘test region.’”

“They are adopting the Chinese model, learning from China about legislation, taxes, and benefits to lure businesses,” the official added.

The effort is being pursued promptly, in contrast with previous North Korea-China economic efforts, which tended to amount to little more than words.

The reason for this is that the central governments in Beijing and Pyonyang are directly taking care of economic cooperation through the medium of Naso’n's development.

News (or rumor) of a large DPRK-PRC event centered around Naso’n comes as RFA reports of increasing mineral exports to China:

According to Radio Free Asia (RFA), the communist state’s exports of mineral resources reached US$860 million last year, compared with some $50 million in 2002.

Citing data compiled by the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency, the RFA said exports of such minerals as coal and iron ore accounted for 63 percent of its total exports to its strongest ally China.

In the first quarter of the year, the North earned around $154 million by exporting coal to the neighboring country, compared with $9.68 million seen a year earlier.

North Korea’s mineral reserves are believed to be among the largest in the world, worth some 7,000 trillion won, based on 2008 prices, according to an earlier report by the Unification Ministry.

Ports, processing factories and new roads do not seem to be the only economic activity occurring in Naso’n.  The DPRK has indicted two Japanese citizens on charges of narcotics trafficking and counterfeiting. On or around 14 March 2011, the DPRK arrested three Japanese men after they entered the DPRK through a road into Naso’n. According to Kyodo, they were taken to Pyongyang. Masaki Furuya, who is in his 70s and the oldest of the three men, was expelled from the country to the PRC prior to his return to Japan. According to KCNA:

Masaki Furuya, former representative managing director of JP Dairin Co. Ltd., Hidehiko Abe, representative managing director of Realise Co. Ltd, of Japan, and Takumi Hirooka, managing director of Sugita Industrial Co. Ltd, of Japan, were put in custody by a relevant body on charges of drug trafficking and counterfeit after entering Naso’n City of the DPRK on March 14.

They admitted their crimes and their gravity.

Masaki Furuya had already been expelled from the DPRK and the two Japanese are called to legal accounts.

What they did is a very grave violation of the law of the DPRK and international law and they will, therefore, face proper legal actions.

It is not clear what the men were doing near Naso’n, but one would expect the country’s authorities to ensure Office #39′s monopoly over the kinds of activities of which the DPRK has accused Mr. Abe and Mr. Hirooka.  With the succession candidacy of Kim Cho’ng-u’n underscored by his management role in the Ministry of State Security, the regime intensified surveillance and enforcement on DPRK citizens for a number of border-related infractions.  ROK-based defector media have claimed that Cho’ng-u’n has played an instrumental role in the crackdown on migrants, traders and their families, including the designation of isolated control zones in Yaggang Province where families are being sent.  One may wish to contrast Cho’ng-u’n reputation in treating migrant families with that of Kim Cho’ng-nam; in the 1990s the security services exercised leniency with these families, credited to Cho’ng-nam.

Yonhap reported:

“I understand Kim Jong-un is involved in security affairs in the method of directly receiving reports and handing down instructions though he does not have any formal titles of related offices,” a source told Yonhap News Agency. “He is especially showing a lot of attention to the issue of defectors.”
Kim is also thought to be behind Pyongyang’s persistent demand for the return of four North Korean residents who sought asylum in South Korea after their fishing boat drifted across the tense western sea border into the South in February.

The four were part of a larger group of 31 North Koreans. Seoul sent 27 of them back to their homeland in March, but the other four remained after they expressed their desire to defect. The North has since called for their repatriation, a demand that Seoul has spurned.

Kim allegedly instructed related government offices to bring the four people home by all means in order to prevent similar recurrences.

The heir-apparent’s strong commitment to resolving the incident pushed the North’s public security agencies to produce a tangible result in dealing with the matter, according to the sources.

Some speculate that the intensified crackdown is driven as part of Pyongyang’s efforts to strengthen Kim’s role in its power hierarchy.

According to reports in ROK-based defector media outlet Daily NK, Cho'sun-ri, Yanggang Province, is one area designated for DPRK families expelled to the countryside due to unauthorized communication with or migration to ROK. (Photo: Google image)

Isolated settlements near Cho'sun-ri, Yanggang Province (Photo: Google image)

Settlements in Yanggang Province which may be designated for DPRK citizens and families banished to the countryside. One can note the nearest community (left in the image) is approximately 1 mile (1.6 km) west and across a river (Photo: Google image)

Kang Sok Ju’s New Posts

Kang Sok Ju has been appointed DPRK Vice Premier and and holding the title 1st Vice President of the DPRK Supreme (Central) Court.  KCNA reported Kang’s appointment as Vice Premier on 23 September.  On 25 September Kang was identified in the latter position when he was reported by KCNA as attending a meeting with China’s Vice Minister of Justice in Pyongyang.

Kang’s  appointment as Vice Premier was part of a DPRK foreign ministry personnel migration.  For a number of years, Kang served as the DPRK’s Senior Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs.  He was replaced by his primary deputy, Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Kim Kye Gwan.  Kim was replaced as Vice Minister by MOFA Councilor, Ri Yong Ho.  All of these personalities were central players in the DPRK’s interactions with the US and the Six Party Talks.

Kang Sok Ju is Kim Jong Il’s cousin, as well as one of his primary foreign affairs advisers.  Kang worked for a number of years under Kim Yong Nam, current SPA Presidium President, and former Minister of Foreign Affairs and Party International Secretary.