Newsletter by SAND
2024. 10. 4 Number 36 | publisher Kyong-hui Choi
South And North Development
www. sand.or.kr
Just as Sand means sand in English, the SAND Research Institute will fill the empty space in inter-Korean relations and North Korea research amid the social focus, and communicate with society with a confident attitude and innovative research results. The SAND Research Institute, comprised of researchers from North and South Korea, will play its role as the main material to build a new 'house of unification' and pave the 'path to unification', just as sand is used as a key material for semiconductors in the era of the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
News and Issues
Son Kwang-ho, North Korean Sports Vice Minister Who Greeted Dennis Rodman, Arrested for Foreign...
- He Led the North Korean Delegation to the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon
Son Kwang-ho, a key figure in North Korean sports under Kim Jong-un and former Vice Minister of the Ministry of Physical Culture and Sports, has been arrested for embezzling foreign currency. He played a major role in North-South sports exchanges, welcoming Dennis Rodman at Pyongyang’s Sunan Airport in 2013 and 2017, and leading North Korea’s delegation to the...
NK Focus
Cho Chung-hee
Ph.D. in North Korean Studies,
Director of Good Farmers Research Institute
Rising Inflation
Recent reports show growing concerns over inflation in North Korean markets, with rice prices surging to 7,000 won in Pyongyang and Pyongsong and up to 8,000 won in inland Ryanggang and North Hamgyong provinces—marking the highest increase in recent years. As of September 2024, North Korea's Central Bank set the official exchange rate at 9,000 won per U.S. dollar, while the market rate is 18,000 won. Table 1 outlines the fluctuations in grain prices in Pyongsong and Hyesan since 2021.
Opinion
Yoo Min-young
Ph.D. in Political Science
Ishiba Shigeru, Japan’s New Prime Minister: Moderate on Historical Issues, Tough on Security
On September 27, Ishiba Shigeru, the former Secretary-General of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), was elected as its new leader. He is set to take office as Japan’s Prime Minister in a special parliamentary session on October 1. Known for being a reformist outsider in the LDP, Ishiba finally secured the party’s top position and the premiership on his fifth attempt. Other strong candidates in this race included Economic Security Minister Takaichi Sanae and former Environment Minister Koizumi Shinjiro.
Opinion
Park Jong-chul
Visiting Professor at Daejeon University
The 2007 North–South Summit Declaration: Significance, Challenges, and Essential Steps Forward
For over seven decades, North-South Korea relations have experienced dramatic ups and downs. During this time, several Inter-Korean Summits and dialogues across various sectors took place, resulting in multiple agreements. Among them, the 2007 North–South Summit Declaration, signed by Former President Roh Moo-hyun and North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, stands out as a key milestone in inter-Korean relations.
Featured Articles
Kang Dongwan
Dong-A University prof. / kangdongwan TV
The 80-Year Legacy of North Korea’s Workers’ Party: Will a Fourth Generation of Hereditary Rule Follow?
To cut to the chase, North Korea’s fourth-generation succession must not happen, nor should it be allowed to. Ever since Kim Jong-un started bringing his daughter, Kim Ju-ae, to public events, speculation about a possible fourth-generation succession has intensified. Some scholars have attempted to analyze this issue through the lens of social science, debating whether Kim Ju-ae is the next heir. However, this issue is not one of academic debate...
North Korea in History
Kang In-deok
Former Minister of Unification of the Republic of Korea
North Korea 30 Years After Kim Il-sung's Death: Past, Present, and Future (6) - Kim Il-sung’s Disappointment in...
As the 1990s began, North Korea faced a major international crisis. The collapse of the Soviet Union and Germany’s reunification marked pivotal changes in global politics, ending the Cold War with capitalism’s victory over socialism. Isolated as the Soviet Union, Eastern Europe, and China normalized relations with South Korea, North Korea, under Kim Jong-il, turned to nuclear development as its only means to offset conventional military disadvantages...
Column
Jeon Byung-kil
Senior Consultant of YESInnovation
former of Secretary General of UniKorea Foundation
Marketing In North Korea (8) - Go Global! Ryuwon - North Korean marathoner Jong Sung Ok's shoes
August 24, 1999. North Korea's unheralded athlete Jong Sung Ok won the women's marathon at the World Athletics Championships in Seville, Spain. It was a dramatic victory, as she edged out Japan's Hari Ichihashi by three seconds in a race that went down to the wire. "At the finish line, I remembered Supreme Leader Kim Jong-il calling out to me, 'Welcome home,' and I pushed myself to the end," said Jong Sung-ok. Jong's shoes and sportswear were made by...
Defectors' Podium
Han Jin-myung
Former Diplomat of the North Korean Embassy in Vietnam
North Korean Young Generation Administrative Officials Defying the WPK-Led Control
Each of North Korea's past leaders governed with distinct ideologies, using these beliefs to consolidate power and control the population. Kim Il-sung's era was marked by People-First Politics, while Kim Jong-il's rule was defined by Military-First Politics. But what characterizes Kim Jong-un's leadership approach? At the beginning of his rule, Kim Jong-un promoted a system based on the rule of law and public order, seemingly in an attempt to mirror democratic states.
kim Myong-sung's Inside North Korea
Kim Myong-sung
Secretary General of the SAND Institute
North Korea Orders Traders to Import Large Quantities of Chemicals, Including Body...
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