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2017.06.28
| Won | Pyongyang | Sinuiju | Hyesan |
|---|---|---|---|
| Exchange Rate | 8,070 | 8,050 | 8,095 |
| Rice Price | 5,800 | 6,000 | 5,900 |
Among the most interesting questions to emerge from the November 21st announcement of a list of new economic development zones established around North Korea is why the list does not include any locations in South Hwanghae Province.
The list was released by decree of the Standing Committee of the Supreme People’s Assembly, and thereafter published by Chosun Central News Agency (KCNA).
Thanks to its favorable climate and a topography that ably assists irrigation, South Hwanghae Province is among the most productive agricultural regions of North Korea. It is also home to extensive marine resources, accessed via ports at Haeju and Monggeumpo. Haeju is also known regionally for its precious stones, including jade, for which there is considerable Chinese demand.
Against this backdrop of a rich natural asset base, Gangryeong County, which lies southwest of the provincial center, Haeju, has already been divided into five different development plans, one each dedicated to tourism, science and technology, port facilities, finance, and agricultural and fisheries resource exploitation.
In the late 1990s, prior to the confirmation of Kaesong as the site of what is now the Kaesong Industrial Complex (KIC), Hyundai Asan reviewed Gangryeong County as a possible site for the inter-Korean manufacturing zone. Although the area lost out at that time, Kim Jong Il and former South Korean President Roh Moo Hyun agreed during their October 2007 summit that the location would be next in line for development if plans for the Kaesong Industrial Complex were completed.
Commenting on the absence of South Hwanghae Province locations from the SPA list, a senior defector told Daily NK earlier today, “There’s Chosun People’s Army 4th Division Command HQ in the Okgye district of Haeju; aside from this, other areas of the province are also quite heavily militarized. That’s why it was this area that spawned the Yeonpyeong Island shelling and the sinking of the Cheonan. From a military perspective it is not a comfortable location for the construction of a development zone.”
Ongjin County and Haeju are also home to much of North Korea’s West Sea naval resources.
However, Ahn Byung Min of The Korea Transport Institute said he sees things a different way. “The areas announced today are not the sum total of all possible development areas,” he pointed out. “Rather, they have been chosen as those that North Korea deems easiest to develop.”
“The development plan for Gangryeong County in South Hwanghae Province is of a different nature to those fourteen development areas,” Ahn went on. “The scale of Gangryeong County is between ten and twenty times greater than for these development areas.”
“In scale terms, Gangryeong County lies somewhere between Rasun and Hwanggeumpyeong-Wihwa Island, which North Korea and China have agreed to develop jointly, and the group of development areas they've announced this time,” he concluded.
The list was released by decree of the Standing Committee of the Supreme People’s Assembly, and thereafter published by Chosun Central News Agency (KCNA).
Thanks to its favorable climate and a topography that ably assists irrigation, South Hwanghae Province is among the most productive agricultural regions of North Korea. It is also home to extensive marine resources, accessed via ports at Haeju and Monggeumpo. Haeju is also known regionally for its precious stones, including jade, for which there is considerable Chinese demand.
Against this backdrop of a rich natural asset base, Gangryeong County, which lies southwest of the provincial center, Haeju, has already been divided into five different development plans, one each dedicated to tourism, science and technology, port facilities, finance, and agricultural and fisheries resource exploitation.
In the late 1990s, prior to the confirmation of Kaesong as the site of what is now the Kaesong Industrial Complex (KIC), Hyundai Asan reviewed Gangryeong County as a possible site for the inter-Korean manufacturing zone. Although the area lost out at that time, Kim Jong Il and former South Korean President Roh Moo Hyun agreed during their October 2007 summit that the location would be next in line for development if plans for the Kaesong Industrial Complex were completed.
Commenting on the absence of South Hwanghae Province locations from the SPA list, a senior defector told Daily NK earlier today, “There’s Chosun People’s Army 4th Division Command HQ in the Okgye district of Haeju; aside from this, other areas of the province are also quite heavily militarized. That’s why it was this area that spawned the Yeonpyeong Island shelling and the sinking of the Cheonan. From a military perspective it is not a comfortable location for the construction of a development zone.”
Ongjin County and Haeju are also home to much of North Korea’s West Sea naval resources.
However, Ahn Byung Min of The Korea Transport Institute said he sees things a different way. “The areas announced today are not the sum total of all possible development areas,” he pointed out. “Rather, they have been chosen as those that North Korea deems easiest to develop.”
“The development plan for Gangryeong County in South Hwanghae Province is of a different nature to those fourteen development areas,” Ahn went on. “The scale of Gangryeong County is between ten and twenty times greater than for these development areas.”
“In scale terms, Gangryeong County lies somewhere between Rasun and Hwanggeumpyeong-Wihwa Island, which North Korea and China have agreed to develop jointly, and the group of development areas they've announced this time,” he concluded.
