Comments on: Seoul refuses to let Norks open bank account in Gaeseong… http://www.rjkoehler.com/2006/09/19/seoul-refuses-to-let-norks-open-bank-account-in-gaeseong/ Korea... in Blog Format Fri, 4 Jul 2008 21:44:42 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.5.1 By: OneFreeKorea » Kim Jong Il Unplugged, Part 10: The First Shoe Drops http://www.rjkoehler.com/2006/09/19/seoul-refuses-to-let-norks-open-bank-account-in-gaeseong/#comment-51028 OneFreeKorea » Kim Jong Il Unplugged, Part 10: The First Shoe Drops Sat, 07 Oct 2006 15:40:30 +0000 http://www.rjkoehler.com/2006/09/19/seoul-refuses-to-let-norks-open-bank-account-in-gaeseong/#comment-51028 [...] The other shoe that hasn’t dropped is the announcement of U.S. sanctions. The State Department isn’t saying what those will be, but it did break the silence of its deliberations to thank Japan and Australia, and to urge other nations to join in. South Korea isn’t likely to be one of those nations if it can help it, but it’s not willing to let its banks replace Banco Delta as the money laundering venue of choice, either. Stay tuned. [...] [...] The other shoe that hasn’t dropped is the announcement of U.S. sanctions. The State Department isn’t saying what those will be, but it did break the silence of its deliberations to thank Japan and Australia, and to urge other nations to join in. South Korea isn’t likely to be one of those nations if it can help it, but it’s not willing to let its banks replace Banco Delta as the money laundering venue of choice, either. Stay tuned. [...]

]]> By: Are You NKay? | :: Quick Hits :: September :: 2006 North Korean Human Rights blogged by a member of Liberty in North Korea http://www.rjkoehler.com/2006/09/19/seoul-refuses-to-let-norks-open-bank-account-in-gaeseong/#comment-49745 Are You NKay? | :: Quick Hits :: September :: 2006 North Korean Human Rights blogged by a member of Liberty in North Korea Wed, 20 Sep 2006 03:11:54 +0000 http://www.rjkoehler.com/2006/09/19/seoul-refuses-to-let-norks-open-bank-account-in-gaeseong/#comment-49745 [...] The Marmot: Kaesong Bank rejects North Korean account. What were they storing? Kaesong worker’s wages. [...] [...] The Marmot: Kaesong Bank rejects North Korean account. What were they storing? Kaesong worker’s wages. [...]

]]> By: Hatch SZ http://www.rjkoehler.com/2006/09/19/seoul-refuses-to-let-norks-open-bank-account-in-gaeseong/#comment-49744 Hatch SZ Wed, 20 Sep 2006 02:47:45 +0000 http://www.rjkoehler.com/2006/09/19/seoul-refuses-to-let-norks-open-bank-account-in-gaeseong/#comment-49744 <blockquote>I believe Koreans invented the water clock, TV, the printing press, pizza, and I believe everything on Arirang TV.NOT!!! </blockquote> Of course not. China invented all those things. Anyhow, bet there are quite a few business owners reading the report and thinking "$57 a month? OOh, gotta set myself in business up there."

I believe Koreans invented the water clock, TV, the printing press, pizza, and I believe everything on Arirang TV.NOT!!!

Of course not. China invented all those things.

Anyhow, bet there are quite a few business owners reading the report and thinking “$57 a month? OOh, gotta set myself in business up there.”

]]> By: SomeguyinKorea http://www.rjkoehler.com/2006/09/19/seoul-refuses-to-let-norks-open-bank-account-in-gaeseong/#comment-49742 SomeguyinKorea Wed, 20 Sep 2006 02:23:13 +0000 http://www.rjkoehler.com/2006/09/19/seoul-refuses-to-let-norks-open-bank-account-in-gaeseong/#comment-49742 How many of you want to bet that if the Norks are permitted to open an account, the next North Korean spy who washes ashore will have a Woori Bank ATM card for that account? How many of you want to bet that if the Norks are permitted to open an account, the next North Korean spy who washes ashore will have a Woori Bank ATM card for that account?

]]> By: The Korea Liberator » Kim Jong Il Unplugged, Part 10: The First Shoe Drops http://www.rjkoehler.com/2006/09/19/seoul-refuses-to-let-norks-open-bank-account-in-gaeseong/#comment-49722 The Korea Liberator » Kim Jong Il Unplugged, Part 10: The First Shoe Drops Tue, 19 Sep 2006 20:33:47 +0000 http://www.rjkoehler.com/2006/09/19/seoul-refuses-to-let-norks-open-bank-account-in-gaeseong/#comment-49722 [...] The other shoe that hasn’t dropped is the announcement of U.S. sanctions. The State Department isn’t saying what those will be, but it did break the silence of its deliberations to thank Japan and Australia, and to urge other nations to join in. South Korea isn’t likely to be one of those nations if it can help it, but it’s not willing to let its banks replace Banco Delta as the money laundering venue of choice, either. Stay tuned. [...] [...] The other shoe that hasn’t dropped is the announcement of U.S. sanctions. The State Department isn’t saying what those will be, but it did break the silence of its deliberations to thank Japan and Australia, and to urge other nations to join in. South Korea isn’t likely to be one of those nations if it can help it, but it’s not willing to let its banks replace Banco Delta as the money laundering venue of choice, either. Stay tuned. [...]

]]> By: yeolchae http://www.rjkoehler.com/2006/09/19/seoul-refuses-to-let-norks-open-bank-account-in-gaeseong/#comment-49688 yeolchae Tue, 19 Sep 2006 14:57:10 +0000 http://www.rjkoehler.com/2006/09/19/seoul-refuses-to-let-norks-open-bank-account-in-gaeseong/#comment-49688 The International Community should threaten to impose sanctions on South Korea until they establish that the money is not being siphoned into arms purchases. That might wake a few people up. The International Community should threaten to impose sanctions on South Korea until they establish that the money is not being siphoned into arms purchases.

That might wake a few people up.

]]> By: austin http://www.rjkoehler.com/2006/09/19/seoul-refuses-to-let-norks-open-bank-account-in-gaeseong/#comment-49684 austin Tue, 19 Sep 2006 14:03:24 +0000 http://www.rjkoehler.com/2006/09/19/seoul-refuses-to-let-norks-open-bank-account-in-gaeseong/#comment-49684 I was having a discussion with some Korean friends about the Kaesong project. One of them looked me in the eye and said, "It's our way of helping our poor Korean brothers". The others agreed!! These were 'educated' higher middle class conservative Koreans. Did I say it's nothing but chaebol exploitation, slavery, supporting an evil regime. Nah, gotta bite your lip in Korea. "You want the truth! You can't handle the truth" I don't mind if people lie, or are ignorant. What I hate is Koreans think whitey is so stupid to believe all the sugar coated crap. I believe Koreans invented the water clock, TV, the printing press, pizza, and I believe everything on Arirang TV.NOT!!! I was having a discussion with some Korean friends about the Kaesong project. One of them looked me in the eye and said, “It’s our way of helping our poor Korean brothers”. The others agreed!! These were ‘educated’ higher middle class conservative Koreans.
Did I say it’s nothing but chaebol exploitation, slavery, supporting an evil regime. Nah, gotta bite your lip in Korea. “You want the truth! You can’t handle the truth”
I don’t mind if people lie, or are ignorant. What I hate is Koreans think whitey is so stupid to believe all the sugar coated crap. I believe Koreans invented the water clock, TV, the printing press, pizza, and I believe everything on Arirang TV.NOT!!!

]]> By: Mark http://www.rjkoehler.com/2006/09/19/seoul-refuses-to-let-norks-open-bank-account-in-gaeseong/#comment-49676 Mark Tue, 19 Sep 2006 12:33:29 +0000 http://www.rjkoehler.com/2006/09/19/seoul-refuses-to-let-norks-open-bank-account-in-gaeseong/#comment-49676 <blockquote>*Does anyone find it interesting that the South Korean official news agency is using the Nork spelling of Gaeseong?</blockquote> Why yes, it's because all of the Coreans carry the same Newspeak dictionary nowadays, published by Minifiction. Stay tuned for the "US has never been our ally, but always our enemy!" rhetoric in years to come as the true scheme of Corea begins to play out.

*Does anyone find it interesting that the South Korean official news agency is using the Nork spelling of Gaeseong?

Why yes, it’s because all of the Coreans carry the same Newspeak dictionary nowadays, published by Minifiction. Stay tuned for the “US has never been our ally, but always our enemy!” rhetoric in years to come as the true scheme of Corea begins to play out.

]]> By: joshua http://www.rjkoehler.com/2006/09/19/seoul-refuses-to-let-norks-open-bank-account-in-gaeseong/#comment-49674 joshua Tue, 19 Sep 2006 11:31:06 +0000 http://www.rjkoehler.com/2006/09/19/seoul-refuses-to-let-norks-open-bank-account-in-gaeseong/#comment-49674 Very interesting post. I don't know if you caught the report -- by Bradley K. Martin, no less -- linking Nigel Cowie to the NKWP's infamous Bureau 39. One of the minority investors in the Daedong Credit Bank he recently sold was a sanctioned North Korean Bank that's reportedly under Bureau 39's direct control. On the exchange rates -- that's the real gem of information. It's oddly coincidental that this very issue (the inflated official exchange rate) had only occurred to me on Sunday, causing me to update <a href="http://www.korealiberator.org/2006/02/28/koreas-arbeit-macht-frei-bubble/" rel="nofollow">a post</a> I'd done on the subect months ago. Presumably, the workers are paid in North Korean won, and also, presumably, the UniFiction Ministry's figures are based on conversion to NK currency at the official rate, which makes the wages sound much higher than they really are. At the official exchange rate, 10,000 North Korean won equals over W4 million, or $4500, and if you convert $63 (a recent estimate that probably reflects a strong SK won) into SK won, then into NK won at the official rate, you get about 139 won per month. Yet the latest from the Daily NK is that it costs 1,200 NK won to buy a kilo of rice. Now, this can't be the whole story either, because (1) you can't live on that, period; (2) there are probably wide regional disparities in food prices due to the poor quality of NK's infrastructure (I'd expect prices to be lower around Kaesong than in the Northeast, but for the recent floods); (3) some businesses in NK still use the old Public Distribution System and pay their workers in food, while some barely pay them at all; and (4) we already know that the NK government doesn't pay the workers the full wage. The bottom line is that there are more questions we need to ask about pay and working conditions before we would know whether Kaesong is compliant with UNSCR 1695, the ILO Convention, or the Tariff Act of 1930's prohibition against landing goods made with forced labor in U.S. ports. Very interesting post. I don’t know if you caught the report — by Bradley K. Martin, no less — linking Nigel Cowie to the NKWP’s infamous Bureau 39. One of the minority investors in the Daedong Credit Bank he recently sold was a sanctioned North Korean Bank that’s reportedly under Bureau 39’s direct control.

On the exchange rates — that’s the real gem of information. It’s oddly coincidental that this very issue (the inflated official exchange rate) had only occurred to me on Sunday, causing me to update a post I’d done on the subect months ago. Presumably, the workers are paid in North Korean won, and also, presumably, the UniFiction Ministry’s figures are based on conversion to NK currency at the official rate, which makes the wages sound much higher than they really are.

At the official exchange rate, 10,000 North Korean won equals over W4 million, or $4500, and if you convert $63 (a recent estimate that probably reflects a strong SK won) into SK won, then into NK won at the official rate, you get about 139 won per month. Yet the latest from the Daily NK is that it costs 1,200 NK won to buy a kilo of rice. Now, this can’t be the whole story either, because (1) you can’t live on that, period; (2) there are probably wide regional disparities in food prices due to the poor quality of NK’s infrastructure (I’d expect prices to be lower around Kaesong than in the Northeast, but for the recent floods); (3) some businesses in NK still use the old Public Distribution System and pay their workers in food, while some barely pay them at all; and (4) we already know that the NK government doesn’t pay the workers the full wage.

The bottom line is that there are more questions we need to ask about pay and working conditions before we would know whether Kaesong is compliant with UNSCR 1695, the ILO Convention, or the Tariff Act of 1930’s prohibition against landing goods made with forced labor in U.S. ports.

]]> By: Dirtydingus http://www.rjkoehler.com/2006/09/19/seoul-refuses-to-let-norks-open-bank-account-in-gaeseong/#comment-49668 Dirtydingus Tue, 19 Sep 2006 10:10:25 +0000 http://www.rjkoehler.com/2006/09/19/seoul-refuses-to-let-norks-open-bank-account-in-gaeseong/#comment-49668 How come you post this mere seconds after <a href="http://www.di2.nu/200609/19.htm" rel="nofollow">I finish my round up of recent Korean events</a>? Fascinating stuff! How come you post this mere seconds after I finish my round up of recent Korean events? Fascinating stuff!

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