Russia writes off 90 percent of North Korea's debt
52 replies, posted
[QUOTE]MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia said on Tuesday it agreed to write off 90 percent of North Korea's $11 billion debt and would reinvest the balance in the reclusive Asian state, in a sign of closer engagement with Pyongyang under new leader Kim Jong-un.
By writing off most of the sum owed by North Korea, one of the world's poorest countries, Russia granted a level of forgiveness in line with debt reduction deals it has given to its most impoverished debtors.
Moscow said the remaining $1 billion or so of the debt racked up by Pyongyang when it was a client state of the Soviet Union would go towards energy and education deals as well as development aid.
"It will be decided later by the parties for what purposes the funds received for the repayment of this debt will be used," Konstantin Vyshkovsky, head of the debt department at the Russian Finance Ministry, told Reuters.
Parts of the international community have been seeking to re-engage with North Korea since the death of Kim Jong-il, amid hopes that his son and successor would seek ways to end years of isolation and poverty.
RAIL AND POWER LINES
Analysts believe infrastructure deals will likely be a big part of the investments, including in railway and power lines.
Russia is also considering building a gas pipeline to energy-hungry South Korea - which Alexander Vorontsov, head of the Korean and Mongolian Studies department at a Russian Academy of Sciences institute, said Pyongyang would be bound to welcome.
"Yes, they're in conflict (with the South), but undoubtedly, North Korea is very interested in the pipeline," he said.
The two Koreas remain technically at war and are separated by one of the world's most militarized frontiers.
Analysts say those tensions and other sources of gas that South Korea benefits from mean the pipeline project is unlikely to get off the ground, at least for the time being.
"Nothing will happen immediately," Vorontsov said. "But the (debt) agreement is a success - first, it will improve economic cooperation with North Korea itself and this could gradually lead to the expansion of Russia's influence in Eastern Asia."
North Korea traditionally played off China, its main economic and political backer, against the former Soviet Union until the latter's collapse in 1991. Negotiations on restructuring the debt to Russia stalled for most of the past two decades, with fresh talks starting only a year ago.
Russia, which hosted an Asia-Pacific summit earlier this month near the North Korean and Chinese borders which Pyongyang did not attend, is keen to increase its influence in Asia's fast growing economies.
Moscow ships half of its exports to Europe but, prompted by the region's debt crisis, the government wants to double the share of exports that go to the Asia-Pacific region, which now make up a quarter of the total.
At the summit in Vladivostok, gas export monopoly Gazprom signed a draft deal with Japan on a liquefied natural gas export terminal on Russia's Pacific seaboard that dealt a blow to the trans-Korea pipeline's prospects.
The outstanding debt owed by North Korea will be managed by Russia's state development bank, Vnesheconombank.[/QUOTE]
[URL="http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/sns-rt-us-korea-north-debtbre88h0nh-20120918,0,1774084.story"]Source[/URL]
Welp
well that's nice of them!
Well so much for NK imploding financially.
Those diamonds.
It's not like they can get much poorer, I think a bankruptcy would hardly effect the populace
And within 6 months, that debt will be back to previous levels once more
Hooray starvation and dictatorship!
Is it me or is Kim Jong-un actually really trying to open up North Korea to the world and help his country unlike his father kim jong il?
[QUOTE=-n3o-;37712470]Is it me or is Kim Jong-un actually really trying to open up North Korea to the world and help his country unlike his father kim jong il?[/QUOTE]
He's trying to open up his country to better culinary
[QUOTE=-n3o-;37712470]Is it me or is Kim Jong-un actually really trying to open up North Korea to the world and help his country unlike his father kim jong il?[/QUOTE]
it's you
This is bad for south korea if they do build those pipelines to the south, north korea will have an upper hand agaisnt the south a major one at that
I think Russia finally gave up and acknowledged NK could never pay.
[quote]Moscow said the remaining $1 billion or so of the debt racked up by Pyongyang when it was a [B]client state of the Soviet Union[/B] would go towards energy and education deals as well as development aid.[/quote]
[quote]North Korea traditionally played off China, its main economic and political backer, [B]against the former Soviet Union[/B] until the latter's collapse in 1991. Negotiations on restructuring the debt to Russia stalled for most of the past two decades, with fresh talks starting only a year ago.[/quote]
huh?
[QUOTE=DainBramageStudios;37712802]huh?[/QUOTE]
most of this debt is left over from the Soviet Union, what's so hard to understand?
Now they can go back to oppressing civilians at 99% efficiency
[editline]18th September 2012[/editline]
Oh, wait, infrastructure. I guess we'll see about that
[QUOTE=hypno-toad;37712927]Now they can go back to oppressing civilians at 99% efficiency
[editline]18th September 2012[/editline]
Oh, wait, infrastructure. I guess we'll see about that[/QUOTE]
They can have even more empty roads
[QUOTE=hypno-toad;37712927]Now they can go back to oppressing civilians at 99% efficiency
[editline]18th September 2012[/editline]
Oh, wait, infrastructure. I guess we'll see about that[/QUOTE]
Nah man, it's oppression infrastructure, you know like more tanks and propaganda towers and stuff.
[QUOTE=Emperor Scorpious II;37712381]Well so much for NK imploding financially.[/QUOTE]
Sorry, but no one, not even the West wants North Korea to collapse overnight.
Especially the South Koreans and Chinese having to deal with millions of refugees.
Russia just wants to build rail and gas and powerlines to the south, to gain more money.
[QUOTE=NoDachi;37713047]Sorry, but no one, not even the West wants North Korea to collapse overnight.
Especially the South Koreans and Chinese having to deal with millions of refugees.[/QUOTE]
No one wants NK to crumble because otherwise neighboring countries would have to take care of refugees. Pathetic. It's ok if they are getting oppressed as long as we don't have to deal with them.
Maybe North Korea is starting the fix-up-your-fucking-country procedure with the help of Russia.
[QUOTE=trotskygrad;37712869]most of this debt is left over from the Soviet Union, what's so hard to understand?[/QUOTE]
It says NK was a client state of the Soviet Union and the goes on to say that NK used China as a force against the Soviets.
[QUOTE=itisjuly;37713094]No one wants NK to crumble because otherwise neighboring countries would have to take care of refugees. Pathetic. It's ok if they are getting oppressed as long as we don't have to deal with them.[/QUOTE]
No, it's because the countries would crumble under the sheer weight the refugees would place on their food supply and housing. They can handle refugees, but they can't handle twenty million refugees fleeing the country.
[QUOTE=itisjuly;37713094]No one wants NK to crumble because otherwise neighboring countries would have to take care of refugees. Pathetic. It's ok if they are getting oppressed as long as we don't have to deal with them.[/QUOTE]
its completely true, its not nice but they become everyone's burden. induct them into a chinese labor force
[QUOTE=itisjuly;37713094]Pathetic. It's ok if they are getting oppressed as long as we don't have to deal with them.[/QUOTE]
Welcome to geopolitics!
[QUOTE=King Tiger;37713297]It says NK was a client state of the Soviet Union and the goes on to say that NK used China as a force against the Soviets.[/QUOTE]
Well, back in the young days of China as a communist country, the Chinese and the Soviets were BFFs. Then they got into sort of an argument about how equal equality is supposed to be equally distriputed to the equal masses, and they got all pissy at eachother. This was called the Sino-Soviet split. North Korea was stuck in the middle of this, and while they had recieved a lot of shit from the Soviets early on, they later went on to side with the Chinese in the split. So the debt is oooold as fuck.
[QUOTE=itisjuly;37713094]No one wants NK to crumble because otherwise neighboring countries would have to take care of refugees. Pathetic. It's ok if they are getting oppressed as long as we don't have to deal with them.[/QUOTE]
Welcome to ~the world~
[editline]18th September 2012[/editline]
[QUOTE=Marbalo;37713427]That's assuming 95% of the population will flee, which is completely ridiculous given how a massive portion of the people are fairly patriotic. Maybe not to the government, but to the land itself and its history.
An actually reasonable percentage of the population, i.e 5% to 10% of refugees is much more likely. Which is very much feasible for neighboring countries, and the world at large, to handle.[/QUOTE]
how rather unsubstantiated.
Yay more money for the ruthless dictator!
I honestly thought i couldn't hate Russia any more than i do now...
[QUOTE=itisjuly;37713094]No one wants NK to crumble because otherwise neighboring countries would have to take care of refugees. Pathetic. It's ok if they are getting oppressed as long as we don't have to deal with them.[/QUOTE]
If they'd stop fear mongering everyone they wouldn't have this problem
[QUOTE=trotskygrad;37712378]well that's nice of them![/QUOTE]
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=awQDLoOnkdI[/media]
in case someone hasn't seen this (it's not the NK one)
This can hardly be called a break. It's going to take a lot more than a few billion dollars to fix a nation like NK.
You know, like maybe the leaders not being complete cunts.
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