Yang Bin, First Minister of Shinuiju Special Economic Zone, Paroled

It was reported on July 22 that the president of Eurasia Group, Yang Bin (41), who was appointed as the first minister of the Shinuiju Special Economic Zone in North Korea and arrested by Chinese authorities, was recently paroled and placed under house arrest in the Dutch village in Shen-yang, Liaoning, which he had been constructing.

A source in Shen-yang said that Chinese authorities took such measures to allow Yang to conduct his project at the site in order for him to liquidate his Dutch village business and to collect the unpaid land tax of 60 million yuan (approximately nine billion won).

However, western diplomatic sources in Beijing announced that they heard of Yang Bin’s release, but it has not yet been confirmed.

They analyzed, “If Yang, who was sentenced for 18 years, is paroled in just one year, it means that North Korea has continually put effort into releasing him in many ways. For example, Chairman Kim Jong-il, when he visited China in April, pushed for Yang’s release during the summit with Chinese President Hu Jintao.

It is not clear whether Yang, the Chinese-born Dutch national, will be deported to the Netherlands or again be involved in the Shinuiju Special Economic Zone project in case he ends up liquidating his business and clearing the land tax problem.

North Korea held back the Shinuiju Special Economic Zone project when the Chinese government arrested Yang in October, right after the Shinuiju project was announced in September 2002. The North Korean government, however, has not yet officially annulled Yang’s appointment as the minister of the Shinuiju Special Zone.

Young-Sik Kim spear@donga.com