Visiting, Working or Investing in North Korea - Getting Into North Korea Ahead Of The Wave

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Visiting, Working or Investing in North Korea - Getting Into North Korea Ahead Of The Wave

September 2002 - North Korea opens doors to investors: Sinuiju, a city on the country's border with China, was declared a "special economic zone", where experiments with capitalism and foreign investments might be conducted. A government-sanctioned visit this summer by Hong Kong-based investors suggests that Pyongyang could be eager to woo foreign capital. What the visitors saw during their trip revealed both the challenges and opportunities that await investors in North Korea, which has almost become a metaphor for isolation in the past few decades. This could be the opening investors are looking for.

North Korea's hardline socialist regime has appointed a Chinese-born entrepreneur to oversee a radical experiment with free-market economics. Local news agencies reported on Monday that Yang Bin, a 39-year old tycoon listed last year by Forbes magazine as China's second-richest man, is to run the newly-created 'special administrative region' of Sinuiju, next to the border with China. The North Korean government aims to turn Sinuiju into a capitalist enclave in a country which has until now been cut off from the mainstream global economy. "It will be a totally capitalist region," Mr Yang told US cable TV channel CNN. "It will have its own legislative, judicial and executive powers without any interference from central government."

A Chinese businessman has been chosen to become the chief executive of Sinuiju, a special administrative region created along North Korea's border with China. The businessman, Yang Binn, says he will run the area along capitalist lines, creating a free-wheeling capitalist enclave similar to Hong Kong. He plans to move more than 500,000 people from the 132 square kilometre area along North Korea's border with China. There will be a new legal system, possibly based on European law. There will be elections to a legislature and administrators and judges hired from foreign countries, including the West. Window to the world For the hardline socialist state of North Korea, the scope of these changes is unparalleled. Mr Yang, a Chinese business tycoon, has been hand-picked by North Korea's leader, Kim Jong-Il. Mr Yang said Mr Kim had created the project as a window for the rest of the world to see that North Korea is experimenting with change.

Reports from North Korea suggest the authorities have begun moves to end the rationing of rice and sell it on the free market. The reports, quoting diplomatic sources, say workers are being given pay increases in compensation for price rises. Correspondents say the reported changes - if confirmed - would mark a major step towards the introduction of a market economy in North Korea, one of the world's last Communist states. North Korea has relied on rationing to feed its people for decades and has had a centrally planned economy.But workers' wages will now be raised in line with their job performance, according to South Korea's Yonhap news agency. An unidentified North Korean official in Beijing told Yonhap: "The abolition of the rice rationing system and graded salaries will go into effect this month." 'Market forces spreading' The source said the developments showed "clear indications that some aspects of the market economy are gradually spreading into North Korea's planned economy". But another diplomatic source, who spoke to Reuters news agency, said the new system actually went into operation in June, prompting a sharp increase in wages and prices. "The rationing system will be replaced with a new economic system in which all transactions and economic activities are settled with the won," he said. The new system would apply to all North Korean workers including labourers, farmers and bureaucrats, the source said. Food supplies have been badly affected in recent years by a series of natural disasters and the weakness of the North Korean economy. After severe famine hit the country in the mid-90s in which several hundred thousand people are said to have died, North Korea has become heavily reliant on international food aid. But a BBC correspondent in Seoul, Kevin Kim, says that recently the North's leader, Kim Jong-il, called for a new way of thinking, suggesting he was more open-minded about adopting capitalist systems in his country.The country - now with a population of 22 million people - has been Communist since 1948 when the state was founded under Kim Il-sung.

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General Resources for North Korea

Around the World in 80 Clicks: North Korea - Travel Stories & Photographs - Around the World in 80 Clicks: North Korea - Travel Stories & Photographs -
Asia Times: PYONGYANG WATCH Investing in North Korea: As easy as ABB? - Investing in North Korea - We live in hope - not yet certainty - that historians will look back on the year 2000 as a turning-point for North Korea, and the peninsula more generally. If that turns out to be so, then among the historic dates - up there with June 13, when Kim met Kim - should be December 1? Why? Because that day saw the the first unambiguous sign that North Korea really does plan to rejoin the planet and become a normal modern country. For the first time, a major global corporation is taking the plunge and going in.
David and Bill's daily travel diary, North Korea 1994 -David and Bill's daily travel diary, North Korea 1994 - A lengthy travelogue about two Australians' visit to the DPRK and China.
Digital Camera Goes To Pyongyang - Digital Camera Goes To Pyongyang - Photo essay of the highlights of the North Korean capital.
Embassy Listings For North Korea - Embassy Listings For North
Korea -
Google Directory - Regional > Asia > North Korea > Travel and Tourism - Google North Korea > Travel and Tourism - Google, the absolutely best search engine on the internet. A wide range of links to travel and tourism to North Korea.
Happy Birthday, North Korea -Happy Birthday, North Korea - A 1998 visit to the DPRK, on the occasion of its 50th anniversary, by Simon Bone.
Historical Architecture of Asia - Historical Architecture of Asia - Thousands of online photos of historical architecture in China, Japan, North & South Korea, Cambodia, & Thailand.
Inside the People's Paradise - Inside the People's Paradise - Ron Gluckman penetrates the Hermit Kingdom and reports on life in North Korea.
Journey to a far away place -Journey to a far away place - New Zealander Tim Beal writes about his experience of North Korea's famine.
Koryo Tours -Koryo Tours - Beijing-based, British run firm offering individual and group tours to North Korea.
Lonely Planet - Destination North Korea - Lonely Planet - Destination North Korea -
Maps of North Korea - Maps of North Korea Including City Maps -
North Korea - Fielding's DangerFinder - North Korea - Fielding's DangerFinder -
North Korea Online Travel Guide - North Korea Online Travel Guide - Online guidebook for North-Korea.
North Korea Travel Information - North Korea Travel Information - North Korea travel information for travelers wanting to know everything about traveling to/in North Korea
North Korea: World's Most Mysterious Land - North Korea: World's Most Mysterious Land -
Please Bow to the Great Leader - Please Bow to the Great Leader - A March 1995 travelogue to North Korea with many pictures.
The Pyongyang Metro - The Pyongyang Metro - Information about the subway system in the North Korean capital. Includes maps, news, photographs, and pictures of former Berlin U-Bahn trains now used in Pyongyang.
Tin Bo Travel Service -Tin Bo Travel Service - Canadian company offering tours of North Korea.
Travel in North Korea - Travel in North Korea - Personal account of and links on travel to North Korea, including list of tour operators.
TravelGIS.com - TravelGIS.com - North Korea travel guides on interactive maps and databases with listings. Tourist and business directory.
Travel-Images.com: Images of the DPRK - Travel-Images.com: Images of the DPRK -
Visit To North Korea -A Visit To North Korea - Pictoral travelogue of visit to the DPRK.
Visiting, Working or Investing in North Korea - Visiting, Working or Investing in North Korea - Visiting, Working or Investing in North Korea or the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea.
VNC Asia Travel - VNC Asia Travel - Netherlands company with experience in travel to Asia and North Korea. Site includes North Korea Online Travel Guide.
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Also - Also - Also

Escape From America Magazine - Escape From America Magazine - If you haven't read our eZine, we hope you'll give it a glance. Contains a wide range of articles on living overseas.
Offshore Real Estate Quarterly - Offshore Real Estate Quarterly - The Offshore Real Estate Quarterly is a new companion to our original magazine. The original Escape From America Magazine is the most popular and exciting Offshore webZine on the Internet. Learn about Living Overseas, Jobs overseas, Unique Lifestyles, Exotic Real Estate, Offshore investing, Overseas Retirement and more. Find out why over 350,000 subscribers look forward each month to their copies of the Escape From America Magazine -
If you've read our Magazines but have not seen our new section on unique lifestyles - Unique Lifestyles and Living Locations -
International Living Magazine - International Living Magazine - Yes, before there was an EscapeArtist.com there was an International Living Magazine. For over 21 years International Living Magazine has been writing an up-to-date magazine/newsletter about living overseas.
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Jobs Overseas Index Page - Jobs Overseas Index Page - Jobs Overseas current listings updated 24 hours a day, seven days a week - Overseas Employment - Lifestyles - Opportunities - Homesteading Overseas - Investments
Retire Overseas - Overseas Retirement Havens - Retire Overseas - Overseas Retirement Havens - Double your buying power by retiring overseas - Less crime, less pollution, lower prices, better ambiance - live your retirement!
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Or, our expatriate resources section - Expatriate Resources for Global Relocation - .