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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 |
In last month’s biggest news, a documentary propagandizing Kim Jong Eun’s mother Koh Young Hee, initially meant for the eyes of top Party cadres only, was leaked and ended up in the hands of North Korean residents, thereafter circulating and even making its way across the border into China and into the international arena.
The leak of the documentary from somewhere near the top of the Party appears to imply the existence of disloyalty within the highest ranks of the elite, something which will be particularly troubling for Kim Jong Eun, who now faces the issue of how to deal with the security breach.
In particular, Kim has been increasing border security and emphasizing strict punishments for both defection and illegal exchanges of information since he came to power. The fact that this did not stop the documentary, a particularly sensitive item, from leaking out will be of particular concern.
If Kim cannot track down those responsible for it, or at least move to place the responsibility upon someone, doubts will be raised about his leadership. Therefore, heads will have to roll.
One potential scapegoat is the man who controls North Korea’s border guards, Minister of Public Safety Kim Won Hong. Shortly after this year’s “Day of the Sun” (April 15th) celebrations, Kim Jong Eun issued special instructions transferring responsibility for tightening up the border from the Ministry of the People’s Armed Forces to Kim’s ministry.
Elsewhere, it is presumed that the studio in charge of creating the film, ‘Chosun Workers’ Party Central Committee Film and Literature Productions’, operates under the auspices of the Propaganda and Agitation Department, and as such the possibility of punishment for the departmental head, Kim Ki Nam, cannot be ruled out.
The film’s contents may be a secondary cause for punishment as well, at least if feedback from defectors is to be taken as any indication of its likely reception inside North Korea. For example, one defector who watched the movie commented, “This film is going to make people in North Korea wonder when the General (Kim Jong Il) got married, where was her hometown and who was her family."
The leak of the documentary from somewhere near the top of the Party appears to imply the existence of disloyalty within the highest ranks of the elite, something which will be particularly troubling for Kim Jong Eun, who now faces the issue of how to deal with the security breach.
In particular, Kim has been increasing border security and emphasizing strict punishments for both defection and illegal exchanges of information since he came to power. The fact that this did not stop the documentary, a particularly sensitive item, from leaking out will be of particular concern.
If Kim cannot track down those responsible for it, or at least move to place the responsibility upon someone, doubts will be raised about his leadership. Therefore, heads will have to roll.
One potential scapegoat is the man who controls North Korea’s border guards, Minister of Public Safety Kim Won Hong. Shortly after this year’s “Day of the Sun” (April 15th) celebrations, Kim Jong Eun issued special instructions transferring responsibility for tightening up the border from the Ministry of the People’s Armed Forces to Kim’s ministry.
Elsewhere, it is presumed that the studio in charge of creating the film, ‘Chosun Workers’ Party Central Committee Film and Literature Productions’, operates under the auspices of the Propaganda and Agitation Department, and as such the possibility of punishment for the departmental head, Kim Ki Nam, cannot be ruled out.
The film’s contents may be a secondary cause for punishment as well, at least if feedback from defectors is to be taken as any indication of its likely reception inside North Korea. For example, one defector who watched the movie commented, “This film is going to make people in North Korea wonder when the General (Kim Jong Il) got married, where was her hometown and who was her family."
