Swedish startup selling North Korean jeans

http://www.spiegel.de/international/business/0,1518,670826,00.html?

by maxklein • 17 years ago

65 64 17 years ago

Anything made in North Korea, as long as it is not overly expensive, would be worth buying just for the sake of owning something made in North Korea. (At least in my humble opinion.)

If North Korea wanted to they could probably make a whole lot of money, and improve the living standards of their citizens, by hiring a few good foriegn designers and created a whole line of specialty products "100% made in North Korea." Just imagine the premium they could charge!

The only difficulty that I can think of is how they would rehabilitate their image.

nazgulnarsil2• 17 years ago

i don't understand. why would people want to own an artifact of human misery?

AlphaMonkey6• 17 years ago

Weren't some rich Russians willing to pay for the privilege of a pirate-hunting vacation off the coast of Somalia? You're assuming everyone has a conscience, which is an unrealistic assumption.

ilkhd216• 17 years ago

1) People in USA/Canada/Other western world are _addicted_ to products made in misery (in China, for example). Less miserable of course, but still far from good conditions. 2) If there are reasons to think that it can improve their condition, than it os a good idea.

rivo• 17 years ago

you might want to read this: http://judiciary.senate.gov/hearings/testimony.cfm?id=292...

InclinedPlane2• 17 years ago

How could you possibly imagine that the North Korean regime would undertake any activity to "improve the living standards of their citizens"? The appalling levels of human misery achieved in North Korea are the product of the regime. It takes only the slightest mote of thought to imagine that without the regime the North Korean people would enjoy wealth and comfort of the level of South Korea.

spazmaster• 17 years ago

I just bought some cool propaganda merchandise from teh official North Korean website :)

koevet3• 17 years ago

Actually, I wonder if more entrepreneurs like those Swedish geeks started to invest in North Korea would initiate a "Chinafication" process of the country.

mahmud• 17 years ago

"Entrepreneurs" are doing brisk business with North Korea, to the tune of billions every year, doing arms deals, chemicals, construction, money laundering, commodities, and what have you. Second to the Chinese, Singapore government officials are deeply tied to the NK regime, for example.

koevet3• 17 years ago

Naturally I was implying some sort of legit investment, such as goods that can be mass produced and sold to the world. It may sound cynical, but a fascination indeed exists with products coming from troubled places. Furthermore, there is a whole commercial philosophy behind supporting developing countries: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fair_trade

AlphaMonkey6• 17 years ago

I wondered the same. North Korea is a potential gold mine. Sooner or later, the regime will collapse or open up to capitalism, and when that happens the influx of foreign capital will be enormous. When the labor costs in China become "too high", and when Vietnam is no longer "that cheap", going to NK will be the natural option. Location-wise, NK is right next to Japan, so it's less of a logistic nightmare than, say, Cambodia or Laos.

In fact, I remember reading an article in the mid-1990s about an investment fund that only invested in extremely risky places, like war-torn countries in Africa, or hermit states like Belarus or NK. The idea is that when things have hit the bottom, the only possibility is for things to get better, and though the risk is very high, if 1 out of 20 countries they invested in turns out to become a stable, investor-friendly state, then the foreign investors will flock there, prices will rise, and the fund's initial investments will yield astronomical returns.

ilkhd216• 17 years ago

No, North Korea will not be a gold mine in this case, it would be yet another nail into the coffin of the western world (USA especially) , insanely, hysterically excited about it's own deindustrialization.

AlphaMonkey6• 17 years ago

Maybe the "Chinafication" of NK started in 2009: last year the country had its first pizzeria opened, and there was a beer ad on TV! :-)

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/mar/16/north-korea-pizz...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8132199.stm

dminor• 17 years ago

Barring a major change in government, likely not. China allows citizens to build up wealth, while North Korea tries to prevent it: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/dec/03/north-korea-won-...

antidaily• 17 years ago

http://nokojeans.com/

chrischen• 17 years ago

On one hand if you deal with a corrupt government, you legitimize them. On the other hand, if you don't legitimize them, they can blame their ineffectivenesses on forced isolation.

EugeneG• 17 years ago

By the way, this is the page they are talking about: http://www.korea-dpr.com/exports.htm

I remember looking at this and laughing a few years ago. Ah, if only!

Swedish startup selling North Korean jeans

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