A Country Study: North Korea

North Korea Foreword Acknowledgements Preface Country Profile Country Geography Society Economy Transportation and Telecommunications Government and Politics National Security Introduction Chapter 1 - Historical Setting (Bruce G. Cumings) Historical Setting The Origins of the Korean Nation The Period of the Three Kingdoms Korea under Silla Unification by Kory The Chosn Dynasty: Florescence Dynastic Decline Korea in the 19th Century World Order The Legacy of Japanese Colonialism The Rise of Korean Nationalism and Communism The National Division and the Origins of the DPRK The Korean War The Post-War Economy and Patterns of Industrialization Corporatism and the Chuch'e Idea International Relations Chapter 2 - The Society and its Environment (Donald M. Seekins) The Physical Environment Topography and Drainage Climate Environmental Protection Population Size and Growth Rate Population Structure and Projections Settlement Patterns and Urbanization Koreans Living Overseas Social Structure and Values Confucian and Neo-Confucian Values Chosn Dynasty Social Structure The Traditional Family and Kinship The Colonial Transformation of Korean Society Tradition and Modernity in North Korea Chuch'e and Contemporary Social Values Classes and Social Strata Urban Life Village Life Family Life The Role of Women The Role of Religion Ethnicity, Culture, and Language in Contemporary Society Contemporary Cultural Expression Literature, Music and Film Architecture and City Planning The Korean Language Education Educational Themes and Methods Primary and Secondary Education Social Education Higher Education Adult Education Public Health Chapter 3 - The Economy (Joseph S. Chung) Economic Setting Korea under the Japanese Occupation Developmental Strategy Economic Development and Structural Change Record of Economic Performance Postwar Economic Planning Budget and Finance Organization and Management of the Economy Planning The Ch'ongsan-ni Method The Taean Work System Mass Production Campaigns Industry Development in Major Sectors Mining and Metal Processing Manufacturing Services and Marketing Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries Resource Development Production and Distribution of Crops and Livestock Organization and Management Forestry Fisheries Infrastructure Transportation and Communications Railroads Maritime Transportation Civil Aviation Roads Telecommunications Energy and Power Foreign Economic Relations Economic Assistance Foreign Trade Foreign Investment and Joint Ventures Inter-Korean Economic Cooperation Economic Outlook Chapter 4 - Government and Politics (Pan Suk Kim) Relationship Between the Government and the Party The Korean Workers' Party Constitutional Framework Organization of the Government The Supreme People's Assembly The Executive Branch The President and Vice Presidents The Central People's Committee The State Administration Council The Judiciary Local Government Political Ideology: The Role of Chuch'e Party Leadership and Elite Recruitment Party Members Party Cadres The Ruling Elite Leadership Succession Mass Organizations The Media Foreign Policy Inter-Korean Affairs China and the Soviet Union Japan The United States Prospects Chapter 5 - National Security (Guy R. Arrigoni) Military Heritage The Armed Forces National Command Authority Formulation of National Security Policy The Army Organization and Disposition Weapons and Equipment Special Operations Forces Military Capability, Readiness, Training, and Recent Trends The Navy Organization and Disposition Weapons and Equipment Military Capability and Coastal Defense The Air Force Organization and Disposition Weapons and Equipment Trends, Training, Readiness, and Military Capability Air Defense Civil Aviation Officer Corps: Recruitment and Education Military Conscription and Terms of Service Reserves and Paramilitary Forces Role in National Life Relations Between the Military and the Korean Workers' Party Military Doctrine and Strategy The Evolution of North Korean Military Thought Emergence of the New Doctrine Operational Practice in the 1980s and 1990s Employment in Offensive Scenario Defense Industry and Infrastructure Military Industry Special Weapons Chemical Weapons Missile Developments The Nuclear Option Foreign Military Relations Relations with China and the Soviet Union Relations with the Third World Incidents and Infiltrations: Targeting South Korea Geopolitical Changes: New World Order and North Korean Security Internal Security Social Control The Public Security Apparatus The Judicial System Historical Influences The Judiciary Punishment and the Penal System Prospects Appendix. Tables Bibliography

[edit] INDUSTRY

Women workers at the Taean Heavy Machinery Complex. Courtesy Tracy Woodward

Construction workers on Tongil Street, P'yongyang. Courtesy Tracy Woodward

Figure 6. Pdf of Selected Industrial and Mining Activity, 1992

Source: Based on information from Korea (L nderkarte.) Gotha, Germany, 1990; Australia, Ministry of Defense, Joint Intelligence Organisation, North and South Korea Economic Activities, Canberra, 1975; and K.P. Wang et al., Mineral Industries o the Far East and South Asia, Washington, 1988, 70-72.

North Korea's self-reliant development strategy assigned top priority to developing heavy industry, with parallel development in agriculture and light industry. This policy was achieved mainly by giving heavy industry preferential allocation of state investment funds. More than 50 percent of state investment went to the industrial sector during the 1954-76 period (47.6 percent, 51.3 percent, 57.0 percent, and 49.0 percent, respectively, during the Three-Year Plan, Five-Year Plan, First Seven-Year Plan, and Six-Year Plan). As a result, gross industrial output grew rapidly.

As was the case with the growth in national output, the pace of growth has slowed markedly since the 1960s. The rate declined from 41.7 percent and 36.6 percent a year during the Three-Year Plan and Five-Year Plan, respectively, to 12.8 percent, 16.3 percent, and 12.2 percent, respectively, during the First SevenYear Plan, Six-Year Plan, and Second Seven-Year Plan. As a result of faster growth in industry, that sector's share in total national output increased from 16.8 percent in 1946 to 57.3 percent in 1970. Since the 1970s, industry's share in national output has remained relatively stable. From all indications, the pace of industrialization during the Third Seven-Year Plan up to 1991 is far below the planned rate of 9.6 percent. In 1990 it was estimated that the industrial sector's share of national output was 56 percent.

Industry's share of the combined total of gross agricultural and industrial output climbed from 28 percent in 1946 to well over 90 percent in 1980 (see Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries , this ch.). Heavy industry received more than 80 percent of the total state investment in industry between 1954 and 1976 (81.1 percent, 82.6 percent, 80 percent, and 83 percent, respectively, during the Three-Year Plan, Five-Year Plan, First Seven-Year Plan, and Six-Year Plan), and was overwhelmingly favored over light industry.

North Korea claims to have fulfilled the Second Seven-Year Plan (1978-84) target of raising the industrial output in 1984 to 120 percent of the 1977 target, equivalent to an average annual growth rate of 12.2 percent. Judging from the production of major commodities that form the greater part of industrial output, however, it is unlikely that this happened. For example, the increase during the 1978-84 plan period for electric power, coal, steel, metal-cutting machines, tractors, passenger cars, chemical fertilizers, chemical fibers, cement, and textiles, respectively, was 78 percent, 50 percent, 85 percent, 67 percent, 50 percent, 20 percent, 56 percent, 80 percent, 78 percent, and 45 percent.

Data as of June 1993