This is “NK Market Trends,” bringing you
weekly updates on the North Korean economy. This week we sat down with reporter
Kang Mi Jin to discuss the latest trends; but first, let’s take a look at how
the jangmadang [market] has been doing.
We will let you know the price of things
being sold in the North Korean markets, including the exchange rate and the
price of rice in North Korea the previous week. First, the price of rice. In
Pyongyang, 1kg was 5,150 KPW. In
Sinuiju, 1kg was 5,200 KPW. In Hyesan,
1kg was 5,500 KPW. Next, the exchange
rate. US$1 was trading for 8,200 KPW in
Pyongyang and Sinuiju, and 8,155 KPW in Hyesan.
Moving along, the price of corn kernels. In Pyongyang and Sinuiju, 1kg was 2,000 KPW,
while in Hyesan it was 2,300 KPW. Pork
was being traded at 14,000 KPW for 1kg in Pyongyang and Sinuiju and 15,000 in
Hyesan. Next, the price of oil. Gasoline was being sold for 9,300 KPW in
Pyongyang and Sinuiju for 1kg and 8,500 KPW in Hyesan. Diesel fuel was being sold for 5,100 KPW per
1kg in Pyongyang. In Sinuiju it was 5,300
KPW and in Hyesan it was 5,500 KPW. This
was your rundown on North Korea’s latest market prices.
1. These days the weather is extremely
hot. When it is hot like this, I wonder,
how are things like food sold if they have to be kept fresh and cold in North
Korean markets?
Yes, currently the temperatures in South
Korea are usually above 30 degrees Celsius.
North Korea also experiences temperatures ranging from 22 to 35 degrees
Celsius. If it is 35 degrees Celsius, it
is, needless to say, exceedingly hot. In South
Korea, because refrigeration equipment is available in places like supermarkets
or traditional markets, consumers can easily purchase food and fresh
vegetables. However, North Korea has either
places that have refrigeration equipment, or those where there rarely or never
is any. Therefore, the quality of
vegetables or food whose freshness needs to be guaranteed, of course, drops.
2. In South Korea, as there are refrigeration
facilities, vendors can sell vegetables like cabbage and lettuce fresh and their
customers like buying it that way. But if that’s not the case in the North, the
food can go bad I would imagine.
Yes, as you mentioned, North Koreans have
said that food spoils in places since there is no refrigeration. According to
recent reports from sources inside the country, they say they can’t even
imagine buying fresh vegetables cabbage and radishes that had been stored. For
food like mock meat with rice or tofu, which easily spoil in the hot weather, if
it’s not stored properly vendors can’t even cover the costs. So you can see why
hot weather would make a lot of food vendors unhappy.
3. These days in the hot weather, food like
tofu of course spoils even if you store it wrong just for a while. That’s why I also buy tofu and immediately
put it in the fridge, then cook and eat it.
But in an environment like North Korea, where generally there are no
refrigerators, I’d like to know how they store it.
Yes, last week we shared a story about how
water vendors are doing well in Hyesan Market.
The thing that keeps the tofu vendors going are the nearby water vendors
and ice vendors. Actually, I think that
water vendors are needed even more. Ice
is difficult to buy if you do not have electricity. With water, because you can buy it whenever, so
I think tofu vendors also prefer water vendors more who can purchase cold water
with stability. Tofu is put in big
washbowls and sold in water. Tofu that is not kept in water and rather stored
at room temperature spoils faster than those that are stored in water.
4. I can see tofu vendors getting bored during
the peak of summer. The temperature is
high so even using something to block out the sun probably does not help at
all, right?
Tofu vendors at the market with stalls are
in a better position because they have cover that can shield them from sun and
rain. However, most tofu vendors sit in
the street at the entrance to the marketplace and sell their tofu. Tofu is a side dish enjoyed by North Korean
residents, and most vendors who think that they have to be in an easily visible
spot if they want to be able to sell a lot, so they sell tofu on the
street. If the tofu vendors sell in a
stall, which has a covering that can block the sun, they can of course avoid
the heat to some extent, but it’s said that the vendors who are in the street
sell more tofu than those in the stalls.
Even in my case, while I was living in
North Korea, whenever I came home late due to farm mobilization or other tasks,
if I went to the market in order to buy side dishes for dinner, I didn’t bother
going all the way into the market. Since
they sell tofu on the streets as well, I wouldn’t want to lose time over just a
block or two of tofu. Currently the price of one block of tofu in the Hyesan
market is 1,300 KPW. If there were a
place where the tofu price was relatively cheap, you would probably look around
in the market, even if you have to invest some time doing it, but for some
reason, it’s as if all the tofu are colluding to sell at the same price. So
that’s why the vendors who sit in the street sell their products first.
5. In South Korea, if you buy a product or
food that has gone bad, if you take the receipt and actual good with you, they
either give you a refund or let you exchange the product. What happens if you
buy spoiled tofu without knowing in North Korea?
Yes, most tofu vendors will judge whether
or not the tofu is spoiled and if it has spoiled then will not sell it. In the event that they make a misjudgment,
they apologize and give back the money. In some cases, the tofu is fine when
it’s sold, but it goes bad while the customer is taking it home. So sometimes
customers and vendors get into arguments. The best method to determine who is
right is tasting the tofu that the vendor is selling and the tofu that has
already been sold.
I think most tofu vendors, if they judge
that they have spoiled tofu, they do not sell it. There are times like this: If a resident who buys tofu looks around here
and there in order to buy other goods, then time goes by. In this case, tofu, which has been placed
into a plastic bag, will spoil quickly.
However, the customer will believe it was because they were sold bad
tofu and complain to the vendor, even though they were the actual cause. Then
they can compare the two products and determine who is right.
6. In the summer, I feel like the vendors who
sell goods that spoil easily like tofu will feel quite upset. Who are some of
the other vendors that have a hard time?
Yes, have you heard of mock meat with rice? You take leftover soybeans from which you
have removed the oil, denature them and then process them. In the 90s we wanted to eat meat during the
famine, but there was none so some vendors who understood the mentality of
residents who could not eat began to make it, and it spread suddenly throughout
North Korea. It is one of the most loved
foods in the North, and the price is cheap.
And of course there is tofu rice, but it isn’t as popular as the mock
meat with rice. Come to think of it,
both tofu and artificial meat rice are food made from soybeans, so they have
that point in common. Food made from
soybeans spoils easily, as you know. Mock
meat with rice spoils easily in the same way that tofu does. Perhaps it spoils faster than tofu, because
they pre-make it and then sell it. This is why some vendors put some food in an
icebox, then put a little bit in a bowl and sell it. After selling all of it, they’ll take out more
bit by bit. To guarantee the quality of the food people all try their best in
different ways.
7. I think I have heard about artificial meat with
rice. How does it taste?
There’s something to the likes of it that
is circulated among some defectors in the South, but most agree that both the
quality and taste differ greatly from what’s sold in the North. I’m not quite
sure how to describe it. I sometimes made and sold artificial meat with rice
for a short time when I was living in North Korea. The taste is like eating
rice with meat that has a little spicy seasoning, and to North Korean residents
it is a beloved dish.
8. If you say it is food enjoyed by the masses,
it seems like it would not only taste good but also be pretty affordable. What
kind of price range are we talking about when it comes to tofu rice or mock
meat with rice?
Most of the defectors who have settled in
South Korea say they sometimes make their own for memories sake. It shows just
how popular these two dishes are. The price of one serving of artificial meat with
rice is between 250 and 300 KPW, with a 250 KPW piece’s size being 15cmx4cm,
and the 300 KPW piece’s length going up to 20cm. To make it, you make cuts in
the artificial meat and put rice inside, so they call it artificial meat rice. They put rice into the strip so it reaches
about 7cm.
And then there’s tofu rice, which is
usually made by slicing the block of tofu into quarters or halves, flash frying
those portions, and then stuffing them with rice. After a dusting of seasoning, tofu rice
divided into four parts is sold for 500 KPW; when it’s only divided into half
it sells for 1000 KPW.
9. How much profit do these artificial meat vendors
make from selling the artificial meat with rice?
Currently, the price of 1kg of artificial
meat at the Hyesan market in Yangkang Province is the equivalent of 1kg of
rice, so 5500 KPW. From 1kg of artificial meat, you can make between 200 to 230
pieces of artificial meat rice, usually at 250 KPW apiece. Generally speaking, if they take out the ones
that don’t make the cut to sell, you would still be able to get about 200 pieces,
the total sales would be in the area of 50,000 KPW. For the costs, artificial
meat is 5,500 KPW and 1.5 kg of rice is approximately 8,000 KPW. And then you
have costs for seasonings like onions, MSG, garlic, and red pepper powder,
which come to 3,000 KPW. Then since you
need to steam the rice and artificial meat, so including the price of fuel wood
it comes out at approximately 20,000 KPW.
If you deduct 20,000 KPW from the sum you made, the profit comes to be around
30,000 KPW.
10. The artificial meat rice business is rather
profitable. If they earn money like that
every day, I think they are earning quite a bit of money, right?
No, it is not like that really. Tofu rice
vendors need to have lunch at the market. You might think a food vendor would
just eat from his or her supply, but that only happens in the worst case when
they cannot sell enough of their goods. Most buy noodles or other food, which
would cost them around 1,000 or 2,000 KPW. In addition, they need to pay their
market fees, right? And if they buy the
material they need to sell goods the next day, they barely have enough left to
buy 1.5kg of rice. This is of course assuming that they manage to sell all of
their goods.
This is why people say North Koreans live
by the day.
11. Now that you put it that way I see what you
mean. So this would be the same for tofu and tofu rice vendors.
Tofu rice, according to defectors, makes a
little more profit than artificial meat rice.
One block of tofu is 1,200 KPW.
Usually one 1,000 KPW block can produce 10-12 pieces of tofu rice. If you exclude the ones that you might ruin,
it comes to usually 9-10 pieces. If the
price per unit is 1,000 KPW, that comes out to around 9,000 or 10,000 KPW. If you deduct the prices of fuel wood,
spices, rice, and tofu, approximately 3,000 KPW is left. If you calculate the profit, compared to the money
put into it, tofu rice has a higher profit than artificial meat rice, but in
the marketplace, relatively, there are more artificial meat vendors than tofu
rice vendors.
This is because tofu rice spoils
faster than artificial meat rice, so they feel pressure to sell things in a
short time. It is also because residents
seem to look more for artificial meat rice. One friend who lived in my old neighborhood, at first was in the tofu
business but then moved on to the tofu rice business, but not surprisingly, she
soon changed again to the artificial meat rice. At the time I wondered why she
would switch to something that’s less profitable, but it turned out it was all
for good reasons.
I always hope that things pick up for North
Korean residents and that the Kim Jong Un leadership will stop focusing so
heavily on idolization and instead, try to provide more stability for its
people. Also, I would like to tell everyone in the North to take good care of
themselves in the summer heat.
