Half a century has passed since North Korea launched its automobile industry by breaking the ground in November 1950 for the construction of the 600,000 square meter Tokchon Motor Plant in Tokchon City, South Pyongan Province, that could be billed as the Detroit of North Korea. Re-christened as Sungri (victory) Motor Plant in 1975, the factory has produced a number of models including the Jaju (independence) and Shintaibaik.

Production facilities are concentrated at the foot of Mount Sungri in Tokchon City, reputed for the discovery of paleolithic relics from the mountain's tunnels. Some of the facilities were built by the Chinese as a logistical base during the Korean War (1950-53). Car assembly and parts manufacturing are done on the ground, and most vehicle parts except glass and tires are produced there. The annual production capacity, claimed to be 20,000 units early in the 1980s, reportedly stood at between 6,000 and 7,000 units and plummeted markedly in the 1990s when the food crisis hit the country, turning out a mere 150 units in 1996 when the economic woes climaxed.

The dismal condition of the automobile industry in Tokchon is ascribable in part to the fact that motor vehicles produced there are not for military but for civilian use, and are supplied to public agencies, business corporations and 'shock troops.' Military vehicles are produced in Pyongsong, South Pyongan Province and elsewhere under the jurisdiction of the Second Economic (logistical economy) Committee.

Competition to get motor vehicles assigned is fierce among public agencies and business firms that need them desperately and lobbying activities never cease. All auto parts without fail have black market price tags. In principle, nobody can possess and sell automobiles in the North, as they are allocated under a set program only. However with supply falling absolutely short of demand, there is no alternative but to secure vehicles resorting to bribery. Senior party officials in Tokchon are accordingly reshuffled often. Merchants obtain auto parts in Tokchon and sell them elsewhere for profit.

In the absence of competition, technological renovation is basically hard to realize in North Korea. Since the 1950s, North Korea's auto industry has persistently relied on "anatomy plan drawing" - a practice of disassembling foreign-made car models and drawing their parts design one by one. Through this method, they produced late in the 1980s the "Mount Paikdu" model, a replica of the German made Mercedes-Benz. "The car is a poor replica, with the door not shutting properly due to unmatched window sections," recall North Korean defectors in the South who had traveled in the car.

Beginning with the "Sungri-58" truck that debuted in November 1958, North Korea has produced, among others, the "Sungri 425" truck, the "Jaju" five-seat passenger car, the "Construction" passenger car, the "Mount Kumsusan" 40-ton truck, the "Mount Baikdu" passenger car and the "Rebirth" jeep. The production of the "Mount Kumsusan" truck is said to have been discontinued because of excessive fuel consumption, among other reasons. "Jaju" passenger cars, which are common in the North, have reportedly earned this derisive comment: "The car has been so christened because it is often out of order." (jaju can also mean frequent)

Senior North Korean leaders use imported German- or Japanese-made cars. Most military vehicles are also imported. The car self-sufficiency rate is very low in the North and local products are so inferior in quality to foreign-made cars that a popular saying goes: "North Korean cars can be likened to ox-carts while their foreign counterparts are airplanes."

The completion in 1999 of the Peace Motor Plant in Nampo, South Pyongan Province, in a joint inter-Korean venture, meanwhile, brightens the prospects for the North Korean automobile industry. With a huge assembly line, 100m in length and 200m in width, installed, the plant has an annual capacity of 100,000 units, according to Kim Hyon-tak, a mid-level manager of the plant. The factory, a manufacturer of civilian-use vehicles, is scheduled to turn out its first batch of cars this month, adds Kim.

(Kim Mi-young, miyoung@chosun.com )