Pyongyang propaganda

As I looked at some pictures of Pyongyang the other day, I came across one of an apartment complex with large Hangul lettering across the top. I asked my roommate, Mark, who was born and raised in South Korea, to translate it for me.

"It reads 'We will follow our father [Kim Il Sung] for 1000 years,'" he said.

That photo has since been taken down, but I went on a Flickr search for other bits of North Korean propaganda. I found a very similar apartment complex with the photographer's own translation: "Devotedly defending the Great Leader."

Most of the other photos I found were in Korean only, so I again conscripted Mark to help me translate them. He says the translations aren't perfect, but the general message should be pretty clear.

By following the laws of our party, we move forward together towards the new victory!

Live or die, we stand for the red flag! (or more literally: "Live. Die. Red.")

Socialism in our way. Always victorious, never failing.

With the unified power of our nation, let us destroy the US's nuclear war provocation scheme!

February 16th celebration. For the greatest glory! (Feb. 16th is Kim Jong Il's birthday and, along with his father's birthday, one of the most celebrated holidays in the DPRK.)

The 2007 Economic Freedom Index

Every year, the Wall Street Journal and the Heritage Foundation, a D.C. think tank, compile what's known as the Economic Freedom Index. The Index, according to the Heritage Foundation's website, ranks 161 countries based on "10 freedoms–-from property rights to entrepreneurship."

As you may have guessed, the DPRK did not rank terribly high on this year's list.

Hong Kong, the country deemed "most free" this year, scored 89.3 out of a potential 100 points. To give a few more examples: the US came in at 82.0, Japan at 73.6, France at 66.1, and Venezuela at 47.7. Cuba, the nation ranked second "least free" scored a 29.7.

North Korea was ranked "most oppressed" or "least free." It scored a 3.0. That's right: a 3.0 out of 100, almost 27 points behind the next runner up. It's a score so low it makes the cigarette-based economies of state penitentiaries seem laissez-faire.

The US softens its tone

According to VOA News, D.C. officials have adopted a less harsh way of dealing with the North Korean nuclear weapons development issue. The negotiators are said to be focusing less on uranium enrichment and more on weapons-grade plutonium procurement.

One of the reasons cited for this change in attitude is the perceived failure of US Intelligence in Iraq; inspectors and negotiators must be more cautious these days before flinging around buzzwords like "weapons of mass destruction" and calling for immediate action.

The North Koreans are still scheduled to begin shutting down all nuclear operations in mid-April.

Are we rewarding nuclear misbehavior?

Cartoons like this one have been popping up a lot recently, and they all seem to express the same concern: are the US, China, South Korea, Japan and Russia dealing with the North Korean nuclear issue appropriately? Or are we simply encouraging further threats of weapons development by placating the DPRK with oil shipments?

Elaborate children's parade

Is North Korea facing widespread starvation? Maybe so. But they sure know how to celebrate their country's diamond anniversary with style.

Heavy metal in the DPRK

The controversy over Pluto's planethood may have died down, but that doesn't mean the old god of the underworld has stopped making headlines.

Another of Pluto's namesakes, Plutonium, has garnered a good deal of international attention since the Feb. 12 proposal to shutdown the Yongbyon nuclear reactor.

--article in progress--

Putting North Korea's economy in perspective

It seems our friends at the Central Intelligence Agency have just updated their World Factbook Website, so I'll take this auspicious opportunity to make some brief observations about the North Korean economy.

Let's start by defining GDP per capita, a decent indicator of national well-being. GDP per capita measures the value of all final goods and services produced within a given country in a year, divided by that country's population*. In layman's terms, it sort of measures how much money the average person makes in a year.

The CIA estimates North Korea's GDP per capita is a shabby $1800, which places it in the bottom fifth of all ranked countries. That's on par such conflict-plagued sub-Saharan nations as Sudan and Mozambique. South Korea, by contrast, has a GDP per capita around $24,200, making it more than 13 times richer than its boreal brother.

And that North/South income gap will only widen in the near future. Whereas South Korea's economy (as measured by GDP) is growing at the brisk pace of 5.1% per year, the DPRK is experiencing a stagnant 1% annual growth rate.

Other economic and humanitarian indicators are more difficult to find with regards to the hermetic nation of North Korea, but I'll keep presenting the information as I find it.

Until then, 안녕히 주무십시요 (good night).


*Technically speaking, the data I'm drawing from uses GDP per capita (PPP), which takes local prices into consideration as well. This measure is probably better than the alternative--nominal GDP per capita--for examining living standards.