Chinese Capitalism

Strategy for the Successful Development of the North Korean Minerals Sector

By | March 01, 2012

The DPRK is quite literally sitting on a goldmine, and is endowed with considerable mineral resources. The successful exploitation of this mineral wealth has not yet been realized, but a number of international firms–including Chinese and South Korean–are actively courting the North Korean government. Alan Ferrie, an international economics analyst based in Puget Sound, Washington, […]

North Korean Elites: Implications for Commercial Activities with China

By | February 16, 2012

At an early point in his sprawling 2100+ page memoir With the Century, Kim Il Sung initiates a line of discussion of which we are sure to see more in the coming years: praise for patriotic Korean capitalist-nationalist-revolutionaries.  Recollecting his youth in Pyongyang (“a city of shacks, made of cardboard boxes and four-by-fours”), Kim turns […]

Evaluation of the Development Plan for Hwanggumpyong Island and Wihwa Island

By | February 15, 2012

It would now be hard to find a single serious analyst who believes that Chinese aid is not central to keeping the DPRK afloat. But despite the huge influx of Chinese capital into North Korea, many Chinese investors continue to harbor serious doubts about the reliability of investments in North Korea. In this essay, Alan […]

“War Criminal” 365 Days a Year: On the Purported Cell Phone Ban in the DPRK

By | February 13, 2012

David Matthew, Analyst and Technology Editor for SinoNK.com, is pursuing a Master’s degree in Public Policy at Edinburgh University in the UK with a focus on security, trade, and technology in the Asia-Pacific. His essay at The Diplomat’s “ASEAN Beat”, taking on the subject of recent US-Singapore alignments, was also published today.  — Editor-in-Chief  ‘War Criminal’ 365 […]

Anchorwomen, Tanks, and Other Symbols

By | January 25, 2012

– Martyn Williams has a tremendous illustrated run-down of the unprecedented Korean Central TV-China Central TV collaboration during the Spring Festival; Xinhua reporter Zhang Li — who was the first Chinese reporter in Pyongyang on television about 15 minutes after the announcement of Kim’s death — strikes again in conversation with her distinguished North Korean […]