N. Korea cautions against foreign investment

SEOUL, Dec. 26 (Yonhap) -- North Korea believes the global economic crisis has
left lessons to be learned, including the danger of foreign investment, according
to the North's official newspaper obtained on Friday.
Pyongyang has been encouraging foreign direct investment into the country since
the 1990s to resuscitate its ailing economy. An Egyptian mobile operator, Orascom
Telecom, became the latest firm to invest in North Korea this month, launching a
third-generation mobile service and reportedly promising US$400 million for it.
"If a country does not base its economic development on righteous economic
theories and science technology but goes after reckless growth based on survival
of the fittest, an economic crisis will come at an unexpected time," Rodong
Sinmun, a newspaper published by the North's Workers' Party, said in its Dec. 17
edition. The current crisis "shows that a reckless inflow of foreign capital can
destroy the nation's economy," it said.
The commentary titled "What the Global Financial Crisis Teaches Us" also blamed
the huge U.S. spending on the Iraqi war as one of the primary reasons for the
country's current turmoil and called on western powerhouses to "immediately
withdraw aggressive foreign policies that infringe upon other nations'
sovereignty."
The newspaper also cautioned against the U.S.-centered world economy.
"As the financial crisis erupted in the U.S., it instantly brought economic
turmoil to capitalist countries around the world," it said. "Following after the
U.S., they eventually fell off the edge of a precipice along with the U.S."
hkim@yna.co.kr
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