North Korea Fails to Stamp Out Private Markets

I wonder how long it will take for a North Korea “expert” in some South Korean university to call this a sign of reform:

North Korean leader Kim Jong-il slapped restrictions on farmers’ markets last year, but his writ does not appear to run there. The North Korean regime said permitting the markets to operate had been “a transitional step taken under difficult economic conditions,” and according to a notice posted at Haeju Market, South Hwanghae Province that the Chosun Ilbo secured on Monday, goods are limited to farm produce and clothes.

All manufactured goods and imported products are to be handled by state-run stores. Markets are also only to be held once every 10 days, authorities announced.

But the controls “are not effective,” said a government official here. “They have become so essential to people that Kim Jong-il’s orders don’t get through.” [Chosun Ilbo]

Food has long been one of the regime’s main weapons of control. Despite some alarming reports earlier last year, North Korea does not appear to have slipped back into a large-scale famine. The markets, and the protests that ensued when the regime tried to control them, may be the main reason for that.

“Many citizens therefore say, ‘How will we live when they convert the jangmadang into a farmers market where only vegetables are sold?’ The authorities know that opposition from citizens will be considerable, so the maintenance office has not been able to convert to the 10-day markets.”

However, the sale of imported industrial goods from China such as clothing, shoes, cosmetics, kitchen utensils and bathing products has become more restricted in the market. Subsequently, street markets or sales of such goods through personal networks have become increasingly popular.

The source noted, “Inspection units regulate the markets with one eye closed and the other eye open, so it is not as if selling is impossible. With a bribe of a few packs of cigarettes, it is easy to be passed over by the units. However, the sale of industrial goods has rapidly decreased and, if unlucky, one can have his or her goods taken, so the number of empty street-stands has been increasing.” [….]

“It has even been difficult in Pyongyang, where rations are provided, to convert to 10-day markets due to opposition from citizens, so restricting sales in the provinces, where there is virtually no state provision, is impossible in reality. It is highly likely that the recent measure will end as an ineffective decree, like the ones to prohibit the jangmadang or the sale of grain,” he expressed. [Daily NK]

The food situation appears to have recovered modestly since then, and there is even talk of resuming the distribution of food rations.