Demand for charcoal has increased in some regions in North
Korea as residents prepare to treat their guests to foods such as bulgogi
[grilled marinated beef] during the Lunar New Year’s [Seollal, or Seol] celebrations. This demand
is revealing a deep schism in North Korean society, as teenage children of
ordinary residents work as traveling charcoal salesmen while wealthy children
frolic and play.
During a telephone conversation with the Daily NK on
February 6, an inside source from South Pyongan Province said, “There’s been a
boost in residents trying to purchase charcoal in the days leading up to the
Lunar New Year. Housewives need lots of charcoal to fuel the day-long marathon
preparation of traditional foods for the special day. Even husbands need
charcoal as well, since they have recently started cooking Jjigae (stew) while
playing card games with the neighbors during the holiday. These new trends has
stimulated additional demand for charcoal.”
Daily NK spoke with an additional source in South Pyongan
Province on the same day, who corroborated this development.
According to the source, “residents in the cities prefer
charcoal to liquid petroleum gas because it’s cheaper, healthier, and safer.
Considering that housewives will be busy cooking all day long for the various
guests that come to greet them during the holiday, coal purchases have shot
through the roof.”
For this reason, people as young as teenage students have
been loading charcoal on their back using “A-frame” mounts and traveling from
neighborhood to neighborhood to make sales. Teenage students with quieter
voices have been strapping megaphones around their neck and using them to
scream out, “Charcoal, here!” to residents near and far. They travel around
like this selling all day long.”
“While the children of cadres and the donjuLiterally "masters of money," donju refers to people who hav... More (nouveau riche)
are using the Lunar New Year money they received to buy gifts for themselves or
see movies, poor students are forced engage in the very tough work of carrying
a heavy load of charcoal for the purpose of selling it to help their parents
make ends meet,” she explained.
“However, this hard work is not regarded as a low deed of
the impoverished. The hard-working teenagers are being complimented for doing
their family duty. The students take the coal that their fathers have collected
from far away forests and selling it to those who need it. Residents are saying
that these industrious youngsters represent the hard truths of North Korean
society.”
Families in South Pyongan Province have been using charcoal
since the beginning of 2010, and the corresponding rise in demand has even
caused the appearance of specialty charcoal manufacturers.
She concluded, “The expert charcoal makers take care of room
and board for the workers who provide the raw materials. They then make large
quantities at once. Charcoal produced in this method is sometimes sold directly
by the manufacturer, but they will also sometimes work with donjuLiterally "masters of money," donju refers to people who hav... More to transport
mass quantities to the market.”
