Domestic products start to edge out Chinese equivalents in markets

In this week’s installation of “Market Trends,” we will be discussing the rising popularity of North Korean products in the marketplace. For details, we turn to special  economic reporter Kang Mi Jin.
North Korean consumers are beginning to turn away from Chinese products in the markets. Until quite recently, North Koreans relied on Chinese goods to meet their food and general consumer needs. However, customers in the interior regions and even the border regions are now starting to favor North Korean products instead. 
According to sources inside North Korea, the competitiveness of Chinese products has been on a gradual decline. Domestically-produced snacks, candies, drinks, fruits, toothpaste, and cosmetics are starting to displace their Chinese equivalents as buyers look to “buy domestic.” This trend is occurring in tandem with another significant change. Even though the North Korean authorities have historically banned English-writing on clothing made in North Korea, North Korean products are beginning to emerge with English letters. 
Despite these two developments, North Korean residents who have the purchasing power still prefer to buy South Korean products. Although these goods are banned, they can be obtained through smugglers, overseas workers, and residents with relatives in China who go abroad.  

Originally, stalls in the markets were mostly filled with Chinese-made goods, but now North Koreans are beginning to reject these items. Can you tell us a little more about the reason for this shift? 
According to information obtained through informants in Pyongyang and Pyongsong (South Pyongan Province), Chinese products like snacks, candy, and drinks are being pushed aside and replaced by domestic items. This is partially explained by taste. North Koreans prefer a simple, clean flavor, but Chinese drinks and candy tend to be spicy and complex. North Korean food products are also made with natural flavors, so that’s another reason why Chinese goods fail to make the cut. 
In a 2017 North Korean calendar obtained by Daily NK, a number of new drink products with strawberry and apple flavors have recently been introduced to the marketplace. According to one North Korean resident, shoppers have tended to buy Chinese goods in the past because there weren’t many North Korean alternatives available. However, now that domestic goods are higher in quality and lower in price than the Chinese items, people are choosing the local products over the imports.

Can you tell us a little more about which North Korean products are rising to prominence in the markets? 
According to reports gathered from a number of traveling merchants who travel around the country, the North Korean products that really leap out at shoppers include fruit, beverages, shoes, candy, snacks, children’s bags, toothpaste, and cosmetics. In North Korea, women are usually in charge of the household finances. So women’s goods like cosmetics have naturally become common in the marketplace.  
Recently, Korean Central Television showed footage of a department store that featured an interview with a shopper promoting “Unhasu [Milky Way] Cosmetics,” a North Korean brand. So I became curious about the kind of cosmetics that are preferred by North Korean women and began to ask around. South Korean makeup is in the number one slot, with North Korea’s Unhasu Cosmetics in second place. South Korean products are popular because of the many varieties available. 
North Koreans have been buying Chinese goods for at least ten years. What explains the sudden change?
I think we can say that North Koreans have become accustomed to Chinese goods because they’ve been using them since the 1990s, but North Koreans remain inherently attracted to Korean-made products. Chinese products have idiosyncratic characteristics, and North Koreans prefer the characteristics of their domestic goods. When North Koreans purchase Chinese clothing, for example, they tend to make alterations and re-stitch it before wearing it. That’s because the quality is often low. 
Food products are similar. When it comes to grain, North Koreans prefer the taste of domestically-produced rice and corn over the Chinese varieties. So if the finances are in good shape, they tend to purchase home-grown grains. 
You mentioned earlier that North Korean producers are making clothing with English writing on it. I’m also curious about what other products have English writing.  
A toothpaste called Nanoun has been labeled with the letters “A-G.” 
Cigarettes, cosmetics, and calendars also have English writing these days, and residents have been wearing clothing with English text on it without being punished. I once sent an Adidas tracksuit to a friend in North Korea. They say that they wear it quite comfortably and have not been punished yet. 
Why do you think the authorities haven’t cracked down on this? 
Perhaps it’s a reflection of the times that the authorities have realized that they cannot cover their eyes or crackdown on economic activities. Little kids run around with Mickey Mouse bags. If the regime were to crack down on offenses like that, everybody would be affected. It appears that they have decided to focus crackdowns on more serious offenses. 
Kim Jong Un and his wife, Ri Sol Ju, also use foreign products, so if the regime cracks down on residents wearing Adidas pants, doesn’t that mean that the authorities also need to target Ri Sol Ju? Perhaps that also explains part of the rationale for backing off.