The number of street-side vendors is increasing in North Korea’s rural regions, revealing yet another aspect of the country’s continuing marketization.
“For farmers, it’s a big deal to bring their produce from far away into the markets to sell. However, these days, markets are also popping up in nearby farming villages. This means that there are more convenient locations to buy things,” a source in Kangwon Province told Daily NK on June 8.
“Starting from about two years ago, they stopped cracking down on street vendors, so small street markets started emerging in agricultural towns. Kangwon Province is near the Wonsan Kalma Beach Tourism Region, so it sees a lot of products being transported through. Now it’s possible to buy things in rural regions that are available in the cities.”
“By selling products that were previously only available in cities to the distributors [going through the rural regions], the distributors benefit and people in the rural regions can make a profit. This new kind of system is forming. The residents generally agree that there should be more of these kinds of markets,” the source said.
In North Korea, street vendors are often individuals who can’t afford a stall to sell their wares in the official markets. They often gather around the fences of the official markets, and can fall victim to crackdowns by the Ministry of Public Safety [the police] and the market management office.
These days, however, it is possible to find street markets in places other than outside the official markets. Vendors are grabbing spots to sell at locations with greater traffic flows such as train stations and central intersections. In addition, in cases similar to Wonsan, wherever there is a large-scale state sponsored construction project, residents take advantage of their locations to connect to customers and make sales.
A source from South Hamgyong Province said, “South Hamgyong Province is also hugging the East Sea so there is a fair amount of seafood coming through. Merchants often stop on their way through the rural regions at street markets to sell some of their goods. They like these ‘easy markets’ because they can sell at a higher price than in the city, and they can unload some of the heavy produce from their bicycles.”
“The official marketplaces are only located in the big cities and places with large populations, so they’re not convenient for residents of rural regions. Thanks to the appearance of street-side markets, the residents really benefit. Some merchants prefer the rural markets and come more often than they go to the city because they don’t want to pay the stall fees,” the source continued.
“Even though there aren’t a lot of different stalls available at the street-side rural markets, each vendor sells a variety of items,” she said, explaining that because of this, both locals and those passing through are able to purchase the things they need.
“According to distributors who travel all over the country, these markets are not only in places with a large amount of foot traffic, they are also adjacent to highways where servicha (privately operated transporters) frequent. It is much more convenient than before, so residents are happy, but it is uncertain whether they will be subject to a crackdown in the near future.”
