North Korea Reinstates Market-Oriented Official
By CHOE SANG-HUN
Published: August 23, 2010
SEOUL, South Korea — A former North Korean prime minister who was banished three years ago for pushing market-oriented reforms too far has returned to the center of economic policy, leading to speculation that the nation’s leader, Kim Jong-il, might give such proposals a second chance.
The former prime minister, Pak Pong-ju, 71, resurfaced at a state function in the capital, Pyongyang, on Saturday, carrying the title of first deputy director of the central committee of the ruling Workers’ Party of Korea, according to the North’s state-run Central Broadcasting Station.
He is the latest among senior North Korean officials whose sudden banishment and equally unexpected reinstatement have sparked outside speculation about Mr. Kim’s intentions. Mr. Pak appeared to have fallen from Mr. Kim’s favor when he was fired from the premiership in 2007 and sent to work as a factory manager in a provincial town.
“His reinstatement could signal the return of pragmatists and reformists,” said Cheong Seong-chang, a North Korea analyst in the Sejong Institute south of Seoul. “We may be able to see him push the economic reform and openness he had once championed.”
Analysts in Seoul say that few North Korean officials wield much individual influence in Mr. Kim’s government. But they say that they can infer Mr. Kim’s plans from the way he punishes and rewards officials identified with various policy approaches.
“Pak’s reinstatement indicates that North Korea is shifting back to market reforms, even if grudgingly, after its botched attempt to re-enforce state control on the economy,” said Baek Seung-joo, the head of North Korea research at the government-financed Korea Institute for Defense Analyses in Seoul.
Mr. Pak, a lifetime technocrat, was best known as the architect of “Measures to Improve Economic Management Order.” Issued on July 1, 2002, they indirectly acknowledged the failure of the North’s ration system by instructing factories, collective farms and other economic units to provide their own daily necessities and give incentives for workers.
In September 2003 Mr. Pak was made prime minister, a post in charge of carrying out economic policies.
His reforms were necessitated by the collapse of the centrally planned economy after a famine in the mid-1990s. But they also coincided with — and fueled — the spread of private markets, which quickly emerged as a key source of food and other necessities for North Koreans.
But Mr. Pak’s reform programs irked the government’s old guard, especially in the hard-line military, which had grabbed the lion’s share in trade under the old system. The markets facilitated the influx of DVDs and other smuggled goods the government considered a capitalist threat.
Around 2005, North Korea began controlling markets. Its attempt to reinforce state control on the economy peaked late last year when it replaced its banknotes with a new currency, shut down markets and ordered people to buy goods only from state-run stores. The currency reform was aimed at stifling the markets by drastically reducing traders’ personal wealth in the old currency.
The moves quickly backfired. Inflation surged as traders hoarded their goods and government stores failed to meet demand. Sporadic protests were reported. Earlier this year, Pak Nam-gi, head of finance and planning who led the failed currency reform, was executed, according to South Korean news reports. North Korean markets began coming back to life, according to recent defectors.
Pak Pong-ju, the former prime minister, returns as North Korea prepares for a party caucus early next month. Officials and analysts in Seoul say they will monitor the meeting for changes in the cabinet and party leadership that might provide clues to Mr. Kim’s plans to hand over power to his third son, Kim Jong-un, who is in his late 20s.
Mr. Pak’s reinstatement adds to the growing influence of Jang Song-taek, Mr. Kim’s brother-in-law, said Mr. Baek, the researcher.
In June, Mr. Kim presided over a session of the rubber-stamp Supreme People’s Assembly where Mr. Jang, a potential caretaker for his son, was elevated to the No. 2 post in the ruling hierarchy. In the same meeting, Mr. Pak’s successor as prime minister, Kim Yong-il, who reportedly made a rare apology in February for the botched currency reform, was fired.
Mr. Pak, as first deputy director, is believed to report directly to Kim Kyong-hee, Mr. Kim’s younger sister and Mr. Jang’s wife, who works as party director in charge of the North’s light industries, Mr. Cheong said.
Mr. Jang, 64, is widely seen as a main player in ensuring the transfer of power to the leader’s son. He may even head a collective caretaker government if Mr. Kim dies before his son is firmly in control or is seen as too young to lead a ruling hierarchy that includes generals in their 70s and 80s, analysts said
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〔記者林恕暉、蘇永耀、邱燕玲/台北報導〕台北市長郝龍斌拋出公務員調薪議題,但北市府上週提送議會的預算報告完全未提此事,民進黨議員痛批郝龍斌不是真心要替公務員加薪,只想騙選票,為了選舉,才突然丟出加薪議題;民進黨也強調,軍公教調薪不應操作成選舉議題,執政黨如果有意調整軍公教待遇,就應該反映在明年度的預算中。不是由藍營候選人操作成選舉話題。
郝︰帶動民間企業跟進
郝龍斌則否認與選舉有關,他相信透過公務員調薪,能帶動民間企業替勞工調薪,讓民眾也能得到經濟成長的果實。
民進黨發言人林右昌指出,吳揆表示不排除在適當條件下以追加預算方式為軍公教調薪,這根本違反預算制度與慣例,連主計處也表示反對。這種說法明顯是在配合選舉話題炒作,是騙選票的模式,民眾不會輕易上當。
歷次調薪都編在公務預算
歷次公務人員調薪,都是編在公務預算內,民國八十四年至九十年,幾乎每年都調薪,幅度有三%、五%不等,但自九十一年起,只在九十四年調薪。九十四年調薪時,政府編了一百六十七.一億元,編在公務預算內。
民進黨台北市議員莊瑞雄指出,郝龍斌日前才剛到台北市議會進行明年度預算報告,他完全沒有提及公務員調薪,證明郝市府根本沒打算替公務員調薪,只想要騙選票,調薪案是選票考量下的政治口水,為了郝龍斌的一己之私,非常不應該。
台北市政府發言人趙心屏則說,經濟成長數字雖然好,但民眾感受不到,部份企業也質疑政府沒有帶頭調薪,如何要求企業調高勞工薪資,郝市長才會提出調高基層公務員薪資的構想,但公務員調薪屬於中央權限,台北市出身的立委都允諾要爭取調薪,郝市長希望拋出議題,由中央來決定,行政院長吳敦義已有善意回應。
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