Newsletter by SAND
2024. 9. 6 Number 34 | 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.
Feature Article
Cho Young-ki
Secretary-General of the Hansun Foundation, former professor at Korea University
The Legitimacy Competition on the Korean Peninsula: The Founding of South Korea and the North Korean...
Legitimacy is commonly understood as the general acceptance of a society or state's political system, authority, and traditions as rightful. In a state context, legitimacy involves the justification and legality of power that earns widespread trust and support from its people. Establishing legitimacy is crucial because it encourages the voluntary compliance of citizens with the state's order, which, in turn, fosters stable governance. Legitimacy provides a government with a foundational rationale for its rule, reinforcing both its...
Current Affairs Analysis
Kim Hyung-seok
Former Vice Minister of Unification
Anticipating North Korea’s Reaction to the ‘August 15 Unification Doctrine’ and Its Outlook
On August 15th, President Yoon Suk-yeol of South Korea delivered a speech for the 79th Liberation Day, introducing the ‘August 15 Unification Doctrine’ under the theme ‘Challenges and Responses for Freedom and Unification.’ This doctrine builds upon the 1994 'National Community Unification Formula,' updating it to reflect the current situation on the Korean Peninsula and outlining clear strategies and plans for unification. The key points of the ‘August 15 Unification Doctrine’ are: South Korea's complete...
Issue Brief
Jung Jun-hee
Auditor, Korea Institute for National Unification
The U.S. Presidential Election and Inter-Korean Relations
Many anticipate that regardless of the outcome of the U.S. presidential election, we will either see a continuation of Joe Biden’s policies or a return to Donald Trump’s approach. In terms of foreign policy, both candidates are expected to prioritize maintaining the status quo over implementing significant changes, with only minor adjustments anticipated. Both the Democratic and Republican parties are focused on the U.S.-China rivalry, albeit with different strategies—Democrats tend to favor leveraging...
Analysis of issues
Suk Ju-hee
Northeast Asian History Foundation
Sado Gold Mine Listed as a World Heritage Site: Issues and Challenges
On July 27, 2024, the 46th UNESCO World Heritage Committee (WHC) officially designated Japan's Sado Gold Mine as a World Cultural Heritage site. Located on Sado Island, 45 kilometers west of Niigata City, the Sado Gold Mine has been a site of gold extraction since the 12th century, yielding a total of 78 tons of gold and over 2,330 tons of silver. Mining activities at the Sado Gold Mine began in 1601 and continued...
Nk Focus
Lee Seung-hyun
Research Fellow at SAND Institute,
Ph.D. in Public Administration
What New Medicines Is Kim Jong-un Looking For?
Officials from North Korea's Ministry of Public Health reportedly visited Dandong, Shenyang, and Beijing last July to buy large quantities of medicine. A Shenyang-based source with over 30 years of experience in North Korea trade said the list included more than 20 types of medications, such as treatments for tuberculosis, vitamins, stomach remedies, diabetes medications, painkillers, anticancer drugs, and medicines for cystitis and gout.
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 (4)
- "Strengthening the Revolutionary...
Kim Il-sung believed that purging dissenters had secured his regime's stability. Confident in this, he held the 4th Congress of WPK in September 1961...
Feature Article Series
Jeon Byung-kil
Senior Consultant of YESInnovation
former of Secretary General of UniKorea Foundation
Marketing In North Korea (7)
- Sanitary napkins for women, its name...
Defectors' Podium
Lee Young-mi
North Korean Defector of Repatriated Korean Descent Residing in Japan
North Korean Otaku in Japan and Japanese Culture in North Korea: Which Japanese Songs Captivated North Koreans?
The Hallyu (Korean Wave) phenomenon has sparked a significant increase in the number of Japanese people interested in learning Korean.
From their early teens to their early 50s, women experience more than 400 periods. Women are usually more concerned about quality than price of sanitary napkins. In other words, when women buy sanitary napkins, they pay close attention to what ingredients they're made of and how comfortable they are when they wear them. That's why sanitary napkin manufacturers customize their products for consumers.
So what kind of sanitary pads are North Korean women using? Prior to the 2000s, North Korean women used lightweight, soft cheesecloth or artificial cloth sanitary napkins. Then, in the mid-2000s, disposable sanitary napkins started arriving from China. But North Koreans who couldn't afford it weren't interested in buying sanitary napkins. At the time, most North Korean women didn't think it was necessary to pay a lot of money for sanitary pads that would be used once and thrown away. Unsurprisingly, disposable sanitary napkins didn't sell well.
After Kim Jong Un took power in 2012, sanitary napkin products of varying prices and quality began to...
kim Myong-sung's Inside North Korea
Kim Myong-sung
Secretary General of the SAND Institute
Flooding Paralyzes North Korea's Arms Production Hub in Jagang Province, Disrupting Supplies...
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