An investigation into the problem of North Korea's special economic zone and its alternative starts with the analysis of all legal problems of investment in the special economic zone of China, the socialist state, that had no friendly relations but economic exchange with Korea, so as to drive North Korea to change and openness and guarantee investing firms and individuals capital and safety. Furthermore, an attempt was made to investigate and analyze every process from the introduction of the four special economic zones in North Korea to the present. As a result, it could be found that the cause of their failure originated from the 'political surplus and economic deficit of North Korea's special economic zone policy, the man-dominated government structure and the arbitrariness and legal mind of its legal system. North Korean firms and individuals investing in the special economic zones of North Korea are not guaranteed their investment and personal safety. Accordingly, this study was intended to investigate the economical, legal and political scheme to resolve all the problems arising from the reality that the South-North Korean special relationship with no mutual amity does not guarantee the restriction of 'lawsuit claim' and 'state immunity'.
In the research scope and method of 'the analysis of the problem of North Korea's special economic zone and its alternative, this study attempted to investigate and compare and analyze all the problems occurring in the special economic zones of North Korea with a focus on the case of all the legal problems of the Chinese special economic zones with no amity with Korea that might become a precedent of economic exchange between South Korea and North Korea placed in the transitional period of the socialist regime.
The greatest difficulty in collecting primary data for this study was the reality that it was impossible to make access to the non-disclosure law originating from the 'man-dominated government' due to the legal mind of North Korea. In North Korea, the instructions of the chieftains Kim Il-seong and Kim Jeong-il, the rules of the Labor Party and the like not only have the higher effect than the positive laws such as the Constitution.
And North Korea is the representative man-dominated country that even the 'amended constitution'(Apr 9, 2009) including the 'Trade Law' is closed as the non-disclosure bill, the 'the principle of legality'(grundsatz nulla poem sine lege), and analogical interpretation is allowed. Accordingly, the basic principle of the criminal code is not admitted. This set of action is a facet of the closed nature of the legal mind of North Korea. Accordingly, this study attempted to investigate raw data published in North Korea and the materials of correspondence and newspapers between South Korea and North Korea that make the present situation of North Korea most accessible.
The form of North Korean special economic zone is imitating the Chinese form of special economic zone but the basic system operating the special economic zone is completely different between North Korea and China. In 1979, the Chinese Communist Party realized that economy could be successful only on the economic logic and that the western world was better aware of the capitalist economic system than China. So they unveiled the "Curtain of Bamboo" and devoted every energy to the formation of trust, the basis of international trade and finance towards which they are oriented. Accordingly, the Chinese Joint Venture Law was proclaimed in Jan, 1979 in order to restore trust with foreign investors and amended the constitution to insert 'openness' in it as the means to introduce the capitalist economic system in 1993. By doing this, it elevated 'adherence to change and openness' as the constitutional principle. China, starting with Sunzeon & Juhai as its special economic zone for the first time in Aug 1980, designated as five special economic zones including Hainan in Apr 1988 as the overall 'port-opening type of special economic zone' along the coastline of China.
But the North Korean chieftain Kim Il-seong immediately criticised 'revisionism' for China's adopting the capitalist economic system for the purpose of modernizing four things in the 3rd Chinese Plenary Session of the Central Committee in 1978. But in an address for the New Year of 1979, he showed an interest in the special economic zone of China through the discourse of "The present reality calls for the further development of foreign trade. North Korea adopted the North Korean Joint Venture Law imitating the Chinese Joint Venture Law as it was in Sept 9, 1984. Finding that the remarkable economic development of the Chinese special economic zones laid the foundation for the economic growth of China Proper, Kim Il-seong designated "Rajin-Seongbong Free Trade Zone" as the special economic zone of North Korea in Dec 28, 1991, eight years after North Korea adopted the North Korean Joint Venture Law.
The 'Rajin-Seongbong Special Economic Zone' opened by Kim Il-seong failed because of failure to attract attention from foreigners due to the lack of international publicity about North Korea and the poor investment realities of having to make an investment in social infrastructure.
Thereafter, North Korea-China Amity was established in Aug 24, 1992, and North Korea felt a sense of betrayal against China and the economic gap between South and North Korea became larger. The interest of Japanese investors in the Rajin-Seonbong Special Economic Zone became loose.
Moreover, China and the old Soviet did not join it, and so it came to fail. Kim Il-seong thought that foreign investment capital would rush to North Korea like the tide as in China only if the special economic zone was opened. But foreign capital did not made an investment in it as Kim Il-seong thought. So North Korea declared the new North Korea Joint Venture Law and strove to expand and promote the special economic zone more by complementing the existing North Korean Joint Venture Law in Jan 20, 1994. But the special economic zone of North Korea left the historical regret as it was completely hidden under water on account of the sudden death(Jul 9, 1994) of Kim Il-seong.
This special economic zone of North Korea can be classified into two periods in a broad sense. The Rajin-Seonbong The first-term special economic zone was opened with the enactment of the Joint Venture Law and the New Joint Venture Law under the initiative of Kim Il-seong.
The 2nd-term special economic zone of North Korea led by Kim Jeong-il succeeding to the regime since the death of Kim Il-seong included three special economic zones composed of "Kumgangsan Special Economic Zone" and "Kaeseong Special Economic Zone" in addition to "Sineuiju Special Economic Zone" opened to the present from 2002, the year when 11 years have passed since the opening of the first special economic zone. The 2nd-term special economic zone has begun to change since 2002 when 8 years have passed in order to construct the political base into the Kim Jeong-il regime due to the death of Kim Il-seong and secure the military leadership.
To resolve the stagnant economic accumulation phenomenon of North Korea, the 7․1 Economic Change was carried into effect and the one-nation and 2-system type of "Sineuiju Special Administrative Zone" was abruptly executed by appointing the minister Chinese-Dutch Yangbin in August, the same year. But North Korea underwent the unanticipated friction of interests with China by carrying into effect the Sineuiju Special Administrative Zone without prior fine-tuning with China about it. And he was immediately arrested and imprisoned by the Chinese Police Authorities, which prevented the Sineuiju Special Economic Zone from being executed.
But in spite of the failure of the Sineuiju Special Administrative Zone, Kim Jeong-il opened to the South Korean firms two special economic zones such as the "Kumgangsan Special Tourism Zone" and the "Kaeseong Industrial Zone" in October and November, the same year. coming to exhibit the substance of North Korea's 'island-opening type of special economic zone'.
The island-opening type of special economic zone is the "economic logic of political surplus" that attempts to win the economic gain by keeping the North Korean regime untouched as it is and entangling the capitalist regime in the 'mosquito net'. It is intended to operate the special economic zone in a sense of isolating it like the island of the sea by insulating it from the North Korean society thoroughly while adopting the "Juche Ideology" and "Military-oriented Politics" as the last stronghold to maintain the North Korean regime.
The Kaeseong Special Economic Zone determined like this predicts failure from the stage of location selection. The life of the special economic zone is the function of smooth export. Accordingly, it is the basic locational condition that is to locate the seaport within the special economic zone. For the special economic zone to be successful, it is necessary to set the zone with a focus on the seaport which enables the items made by processing, assembling and reprocessing material to be exported and then make it function as the free port among other things. Nevertheless, North Korea designated the area located in Panmun-gum Kaeseong City as the special economic zone out of political consideration.
In fact, North Korea should have designated the "Haeju Special Economic Zone" with 'Haeju Port' closest to Incheon as the free port. If it had been achieved, it would have enabled it to function as the free trade port. And it could have provided a solution to the sharp military conflict between South and North Korea and to a military clash due to the entry into and departure from the port of the large-scale vessels of foreign nationality aa well as South and North Korean vessels on the sea related to the setting of NLL(northern limit line) on the borderland of the Yellow Sea. In addition, it would have provided a direct maritime route for physical distribution between South and North Korea connecting Haeju and Incheon.
And South Korea and North Korea have a special relationship that they do not reciprocally recognize each other as a official state. So it is impossible to apply lawsuit claim and state immunity to each other. In this respect, the instability of agreements or contracts with North Korea, the threat to guarantee of capital invested by South Korean firms and to North Koreans' personal danger, and the never-ending failure of the restoration of economic trust cause the actual difficulty in attracting capital from South Korean firms and foreign capital.
And South Korean government has not still provided a proper solution to the realities of poor safeguard for investment in relation to the stable production activity of South Korean firms making an investment in the Kaeseong Industrial Zone and their personal danger. These remain as the pending problem of the serious special economic zone of North Korea and as the task to be resolved without fail.
This study attempted to make an investigation into all the problems of North Koreas special economic zone policy including the exogenous problem of the special economic zone and the endogenous problem of the North Korean regime. And it presented the alternative to it, both :microscopical(economical, legal) and macroscopical(political, internationally), through the research and analysis of those problems.
The :microscopical(economical, legal) alternative to be urgently resolved includes the application of the principle of estoppel and 3-state dispute settlement regulations, the conferment of the exception of the country of origin through the free trade agreement(FTA), training and education of specialists on North Korea, and the multinational consortium.
The macroscopical(political, internationally) alternative to be gradually resolved includes the active attraction of international development funds, the translation of North Korea into the buffer bridging state, standing South-North Korea summit talks, and the 'contemporary Sodowha'(modern-extraterritorialization) of North Korea's special economic zone. Coping with all the problems of North Korea's special economic zone through microscopical and macroscopical alternatives would provide a foundation for North Korea's special economic zone to restore its proper function and grow with rapidity because of the guarantee of investment and the safeguard of people's personal danger.
Accordingly, South Korean government should make active use of the special economic zone that North Korea has opened by itself and induce North Koreans to change and open themselves. For this purpose, South Korean government should avoid the trap of "political surplus and economic deficit" by providing the carrot for economic solution and providing a concern and alternative to the negotiation structure for North Koreans of "Engagement Mode" of gaining more than one fruit of several elements necessary for south Korea.
As can be known from the findings of the questionnaire recently conducted for people by the Ministry of National Unification, the matters to be discussed and resolved first at the time of the resumption of the South-North Korean talks include the buildup of military trust(34%), safety from people's personal danger(26.7%), the revitalization of the "Kaeseong Industrial Zone"(14.3%) and the like. Accordingly, the respondents have the great expectation that the attitude and urgent concern of national opinions include the government measure for the buildup of trust with North Korea and the guarantee of people's personal safety in the SEZ.
In conclusion, there should be the stabilized economic environment that should be kept in North Korea's special economic zone of island-opening type.
But if the belief and trust in North Korea is incessantly broken on account of the "political surplus" policy, the special economic zone would lead to failure. Kim Jeong-il and his power group should be aware that there is only the miserable future that the North Korean regime is doomed to collapse and need to make a paradigmatic shift that they can give up the 'Military-oriented Politics' and 'nuclear weapon' so as to become a member of the international community.
And North Korea's special economic zone policy is the only optimal key to lead North Korea, the containment state, to change and openness. It is necessary to implement the specific policy concerning microscopical(economical, legal) alternative and macroscopical(political, internationally) alternative presented to solve the problems related to North Korea's special economic zone policy. And it is expected that South and North Koreans will reconcile each other and build up the peace regime on the Korean peninsula by guaranteeing the investment made by South Korean firms and individuals, secure safety to people's personal danger and build up mutual coexistence and trust.
Moreover, it is expected that North Korea's special economic zone policy will be recorded as one of the successful world cases in the world by resolving 'three economic difficulties' of North Korea and achieve high economic growth.
카카오톡
페이스북
블로그