Jim Rogers, chairman of Rogers Holdings and Beeland Interests, speaks during an interview with The Korea Times at the Stanford Hotel in Seoul, Friday. Korea Times photo by Choi Won-suk

'Kim Jong-un is different from his father'

By Kim Bo-eun

Skepticism is growing over North Korea completely denuclearizing following the failure of the Hanoi summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.

Many are raising doubts about Kim's sincerity, but legendary American investor Jim Rogers believes he is serious about ending the regime's nuclear program and opening up the North Korean economy, because he thinks Kim is different from his father and grandfather

Rogers, chairman of Rogers Holdings and Beeland Interests, said Kim is virtually not "Korean" but "Swiss," due to his background of being educated there.

"Kim is a different person. He grew up in Switzerland," he said in an interview with The Korea Times in Seoul, Friday. The 76-year-old investor was here for leisure company Ananti's board meetings, the first he has attended since he began a three-year term as an outside director in December.

"Would he rather live in Switzerland or North Korea? He can't go back to Switzerland, so he has to change North Korea," Rogers said.

As part of such efforts, Kim has built a ski resort and special economic zones, and held bicycle races and international marathons, Rogers said.

The Singapore-based investor has visited North Korea twice, in 2007 and 2013.

"When I was there, all the signs were about the military, defense and protecting themselves," he said.

"Now everything is about the economy, how they can become more prosperous."

The 2011 leadership change is one of the main reasons Rogers holds an optimistic view of investment prospects in North Korea, despite some developments that have raised concerns.

The second Trump-Kim summit in late February failed to produce an agreement on Pyongyang's nuclear disarmament steps and reciprocal measures Washington would offer. There have also been signs that North Korea is rebuilding its Tongchang-ri missile test site that it partially dismantled last year.

Jim Rogers. Korea Times photo by Choi Won-suk

Rogers' appointment as an outside director to Ananti drew attention here, as the company owns a resort on Mount Geumgang in the North. Regarding whether Ananti was preparing for other business ventures in North Korea, he said the resort would be enough for now.

Tours to Mount Geumgang began in 1998 but were halted in 2008, after a South Korean tourist who wandered into an off-limits zone was shot dead by a North Korean soldier.

The resort has been abandoned for more than a decade after the tours stopped, and Ananti has much work to do in restoring the facility. Rogers said he did not know whether Ananti was in contact with the North.

Earlier, he said he was willing to invest all of his assets in North Korea.

In February, a local daily reported the North Korean leader invited Rogers to visit the country, with the approval of the U.S. government.

At the time, Rogers denied the report, stating he "was not contacted by North Korea about the meeting."

During the interview, he said he had not been in any sort of contact with North Korea or the U.S. government.

Rogers holds shares of Ananti and also Korean Air, because he believes South and North Korea will become a tourist destination, once the 1950-53 Korean War is declared over, and economic cooperation between the two begins.

"Railroads on the east and west coast will be rebuilt and restored ― the Koreas will become a transportation hub," he said.

"The curiosity factor is going to be very strong. As part of that, people will come to see the Koreas and the attractions here. The Koreas will become a tourist attraction due to their own peculiar circumstances."

Meanwhile, Rogers said South Korea will be affected by the global economic slowdown and overhang of global debt, but added North Korea could provide a buffer for the South.

"Since 2008, debt all over the world has skyrocketed except for in North Korea," he said.

"When the next financial crises come, South Korea as a major trading country will be affected but North Korea will not. There will be a whole new frontier such as connecting railroads which will help your economies suffer less than the rest of the world."

Rogers is among the world's three most noted investors, along with Warren Buffett and George Soros.