It’s time for our weekly series “Market Roundup” with special correspondent and economic specialist Kang Mi Jin. Today we’ll discuss the latest trends and news from the North Korean economy. First, I’ll ask Ms. Kang to give us a general overview of what has been happening in the past week.
The market price for rice
varied by regions. One kilogram of rice was sold for 5,000 KPW in Pyongyang,
Sinuiju, and Hyesan. The Korean People’s Won against the U.S. dollar traded for
8,100 KPW, 8,200 KPW, and 8,400 KPW in Pyongyang, Sinuiju, and Hyesan,
respectively, posting a slightly higher exchange rate from the previous week.
One kilogram of corn kernels fetched 1,600 KPW in Pyongyang and Sinuiju, and 1,700 KPW
in Hyesan. In terms of pork, one kilogram stood at 12,500 KPW in Pyongyang,
12,000 KPW in Sinuiju, and 13,500 KPW in Hyesan. Next is the price of oil. In
Pyongyang and Sinuiju, one kilogram of gasoline traded for 10,500 KPW and
11,000 KPW in Hyesan. Diesel fetched 8,000 KPW per kilogram in Pyongyang, 8,500
KPW in Sinuiju, and 9,000 KPW in Hyesan.
Spring in the North means most residents are looking forward to the weather warming up
so they can go pick wild greens. Reflecting some of those positive sentiments,
we’re also hearing that prices in markets have been on a decline, and we’re
joined by reporter Kang Mi Jin who will tell us more about it.
1. We’ve heard that prices for
some goods in the market have been on a downward trend. Tell us more about it.
According to sources within North Korea,
the prices of soybean oil from China, school uniforms, eggs, and spring
vegetables in some markets have been falling. Market prices usually rise at
this time of the year, but this year, prices for the most part have remained
stable. Although limited to certain goods, some prices have even been falling.
2. Soybean oil and spring vegetables are
some of the most commonly purchased items in the North, do we know why the
prices have been dipping?
According to a source from Yangkang
Province in North Korea, most markets including those in Hyesan and Wiyon are
seeing a drop in prices of soybean oil, school uniforms, eggs, and spring
vegetables. If we first look at why the price of cooking oil would be falling,
some say it may be because of a rumor that has been spreading among the public.
The rumor says that there are many ‘yojae’ in the oil, which can lead to
stomachaches. ‘Yojae’ refer to counterfeit ingredients in North Korea, so
people are not only afraid of consuming such bad oil themselves, they’re also
worried about the effects it could have on others around them.
There have not yet been any accidents
resulting from consumption of Chinese soybean oil, but the rumor has made food
vendors reluctant to use the oil. A lot of food vendors use oil in large
amounts, but as their demand drops, the prices have naturally gone down as
well.
3. You mentioned people being worried about
others as well when using this oil. Could you elaborate on that, please.
People in general are worried about their
own consumption of bad oil, but food vendors are more worried than others. They
worry that cooking food with bad oil could harm their customers, which would
then hurt their business. In the case of merchants who sell apparel or other
goods, they can somehow convince the customers that they were merely passed on
the (bad) goods. However, it is different for food vendors who directly make
the very goods that they sell. So it would be harder to win back trust from
customers once a problem arises. Food vendors avoid purchasing oil for this
reason, and this has naturally led to the fall in prices of Chinese oil.
4. You also mentioned earlier that the
price of school uniforms has dropped. The new semester started in April in North Korea, correct? Has the price of school uniforms dropped because the
semester is now underway?
No. The drop in the price of school
uniforms and the start of a new semester have no correlation. Last fall, North
Korea introduced new uniforms for middle school and university students
nationwide, and all students now need to wear these new uniforms from this
semester. The previous uniforms have now become outdated, which is why their
prices are on the downward trend.
Old uniforms used to be quite popular that
even second-hand ones still sold well. But nobody buys them anymore. Merchants
are trying to make at least a paltry sum of money off of the uniforms by
selling them at prices below the original cost. However, even these attempts
have failed to draw in customers, causing a lot of concern for the merchants.
Some complain that all of this trouble is
ultimately because of the new uniforms. Unlike other clothing, North Korean
uniforms are very particular in the sense that they’re hard to wear in any
other capacity. The color is blue, so even if vendors want to sell them as
regular pants for women, the color doesn’t work well, and the upper garments
are even worse, so no one will buy them.
5. I can see why the vendors would be
unhappy. How about some of the other goods? If you could tell us what’s causing
their prices to drop?
Sure. As I mentioned earlier, the price of
eggs and spring vegetables have also dropped. Most of the spring vegetables
planted last year such as spinach will be edible past April 15th, and people
will also start seeing wild greens growing on hillsides nearby. As a result,
the prices for vegetables such as cabbages and cucumbers, which were extremely
expensive in February and March, are starting to gradually decline.
But sources say, there are a lot of vendors
who run restaurants in the marketplace or individually and they consume a large
portion of vegetables. Also, it will still be a while until full heads of
cabbage and cucumbers hit the markets, so they say prices probably won’t go
down any further.
In Hyesan City in Yangkang Province,
cabbage is said to be going for roughly 2,200 KPW per kilogram, and that’s a
significant 800 KPW dip from the recent price of 3,000 KPW.
6. So these were some of the reasons behind
the sliding prices of some goods. How about the price of eggs?
Winter is when chickens are least likely to
lay eggs. I actually used to raise chickens in North Korea, and when you hit
mid-April or so they sometimes lay eggs every day. They start wandering out in the
spring and eating things from nature, so unlike when they’re given feed at home,
they start producing eggs each day. You can then understand what would happen
to the price of eggs.
If more eggs are selling in the markets,
naturally, the price of eggs drops. People who come from farming communities
with large quantities of eggs, sell them for very cheap prices. This is because
everyone knows the prices will dip during spring. Also, unlike in the winter,
it’s hard to keep the eggs fresh for a long time, so vendors are more eager to
sell their eggs quickly while they’re good. That weighs in as another factor.
7. Does any of this have to do with the
stability in rice prices these days?
Yes, that’s right. Many defectors will tell
you that most prices are determined by the cost of rice. When the price of rice
goes up, so will other prices.
Currently, the price of rice in most
markets is holding at 4,000 KPW per kilogram. If the price of rice goes up from
here, the fastest to follow will be beer or other types of alcohol, and then
potatoes and bean prices will follow.
If the price of rice remains stable in the
market, it will also help maintain levels for other goods, so I hope things at
least stay as they are so they don’t make things more difficult for people
going through the hungry season of spring (that comes after people consume most
of their food stored for the winter).
