10 March 2010
Have you voted for LiNK today?
Not for the first time, China has announced that it has leased part of the North Korean port at Rajin, a move that would give China’s rust belt access to the Pacific. I’m just not going to find the time to write about this in detail, but you can read more about this here. Given recent reports that North Korea had canceled the last lease, you have to wonder how much this really means.
Two North Korean loggers have sought asylum at the South Korean consulate in Vladivostok. Kushibo has more here.
North Korea inaugurates a new military unit to handle a newly developed medium-range missile:
The North’s People’s Army recently launched a division supervising operational deployment of missiles with a range of more than 1,860 miles (3,000 kilometers) that it had developed in recent years, Yonhap news agency reported citing an unidentified South Korean government source.
The missiles could pose a threat to U.S. forces in Japan, Guam and other Pacific areas that are to be redeployed in time of emergency on the Korean peninsula, Yonhap said. [AP]
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On corruption and higher education in North Korea.
Don Kirk writes about Kim Jong Ryul, Kim Il Sung’s personal shopper.
North Korea’s new scam: re-exporting cigarettes. But is this illegal?
Cigarettes are sold by the “master case,” which contains 10,000. The price here, of $420/master case, is about twice what is normal, suggesting some payoff or coverup to increase the income to DPRK under the guise of ordinary trade. it is “illegal” to change these cigarettes, but only in countries (which do not include China or DPRK) which respect copyright and trademark conventions.
Rajin is a big deal. If the Chinese shipping lines (and perhaps the Russian ones too) can export containers from there to Vancouver, they stand to save 20% on fuel costs, in an industry where fuel costs are the single biggest daily expense. Of course, it may never happen, but if it does, it is a major game changer.
I suspect the “grey tobacco industry” goes on a lot, but it’s good to see BAT being caught out.
Joshua wrote:
What? No hat tip? 😉
Kushibo, coincidence isn’t necessarily causation.
“Coincidence”? That was two days ago… on your blog!
I’m just kidding, though. My main purpose in pointing out my earlier point is to get someone to ask the questions I posed there and here.
Specifically: Will BAT stop selling to the North Korean market because of this? Why is an American company (in name only?) selling stuff to the DPRK in the first place?
Kushibo, it’s Limey as well. Also, cf. Armand Hammer.
derwoolley, You’ve helped me figure this out by adding the key piece about pricing. Actually, the exchange of black market cigarettes instead of cash turns out to be a well established way to launder proceeds of illicit activity. The overvaluation is a dead giveaway. Good comment.
Alec, Reference your very interesting posting on your blog — I actually debated former Ambassador Donald Gregg on the BAT plant in North Korea for a BBc pilot. I don’t believe the program was actually broadcast. There’s a post on it somewhere in my archives.
Whoops. Wrong place. Feel free to remove this.
Oops. That comment was in the wrong place. Safari on my MacBook Pro has been all buggy since yesterday.
Joshua, I’ve searched the archives (using “Donald Gregg”) but found nothing obvious. What timescale are we talking about? Also:
[*] Donald Gregg sounds like a garage mechanic in northern Scotland (Donnie to his friends);
[*] How long have you had this webpage if it uses a .us domain-name?;
[*] D’you have more on Robert Park? The last I’ve seen is a suggestion of his release in early February;
[*] If you follow link-backs on my blog, you’ll see someone who’s been ranted at by de Benos.