Seasonal vendors profit on lean period

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] did this past week. 

The price of a kilogram of rice was 5,100 KPW in Pyongyang and Sinuiju, and 5,500 KPW in Hyesan. 1 USD was trading at 8,150 KPW in Pyongyang, 8,200 KPW in Sinuiju, and 8,025 KPW in Hyesan. A kg of corn kernels cost 1,900 KPW in
Pyongyang and Sinuiju, and 2,000 KPW in Hyesan. A kg of pork cost 13,500 KPW in
Pyongyang, 14,000 KPW in Sinuiju and Hyesan. A kg of gasoline cost 9,300 KPW in
Pyongyang and Sinuiju, and 8,500 KPW in Hyesan. A kg of diesel cost 5,200 in
Pyongyang and Sinuiju, and 5,100 KPW in Hyesan. This has been a weekly rundown on North Korea’s latest market prices.

1. This is the peak of the spring lean
period. Let’s talk about the diet of ordinary citizens and marketplace
developments during this period.

Yes, it has been several decades since South
Korea has solved the problem that is the spring lean period. But it has
persisted in North Korea for several decades. North Koreans call this period
the barley hump. During this time, high-priced goods don’t sell well. I
apologize for beginning today’s time with a depressing thought, but the truth
can’t be avoided. Today, I want to talk about the effect that this period is
having on the marketplace.

2. The barley hump is such a sad time for
North Koreans, and I wonder how it has affected the marketplaces.

To cut to the chase, business is picking up
for the seasonal vendors. Most people who sell in the market have their own market
stands and work in the market on a fixed basis. But at this time of the year,
even those who don’t own a market stand become involved in the market. These seasonal
vendors sell cabbages, bok choy, green onions, and even lettuce, which is not common
on the market. Right now, in Hyesan, 20 lettuce leaves are being sold for 5 KRW.
You can buy a block of ice for the same price; however, these lettuce vendors are
active only in June.

A number of lettuce vendors will carry
their lunches with them and sell their goods to other vendors with a market
stand, while others will travel to the apartment complexes. The new garlic crop
is also popular. Vendors who sell in the market all year round change their
goods according to the season. Right now, they are selling garlic, and they’ll
sell cabbage or red radishes when it comes in.

3. There’s word that most of the
manufactured goods in the North are made elsewhere like South Korea and China.
What is the source of origin for the vegetables sold in the markets?

That’s a good question. North Korea’s manufacturing
has yet to reach the pre-Arduous March [North Korea’s widespread famine of the mid-1990s] standards of production. A large amount
of foodstuffs is still being imported from China or Russia or received through
foreign aid, and so it is no surprise that the majority of consumer goods in North
Korea are Chinese imports. However, more affluent households use South Korean-
made goods. Vegetables that are eaten during the spring lean period are mostly from
North Korea and China. 

Previously, cabbage and garlic from China were more
expensive, but now North Korean vegetables are more expensive. The reason is
that North Korean vegetables in the past were bug infested and smaller, but now, perhaps
due to better selective breeding, the quality of the vegetables has vastly
improved. While North Korean cabbages are delicious even when eaten raw, those
from China are said to be bland and watery-tasting. In Hyesan’s marketplaces, a
kilogram of North Korean bok choy costs 1700 KPW and that from China costs 1500 KPW.

4. What other seasonal items are being sold
in the marketplaces?

For obvious reasons, ice cream and ice vendors
are very busy during the summer. Due to the seasonal nature of ice cream, vendors
have a small window to earn money. For this reason, ice cream production goes
on 24 hours a day in houses with refrigerators. People don’t know when
electricity might go out, so that they have to make as much ice cream as they
can while power is available. Also, because power might go out at any time,
people can’t sleep easily at night, lest the ice cream in the refrigerator go
to ruin. The same goes for ice vendors as well.

5. Are cold noodles and cold water popular during
this period?

Sale of cold noodles has increased either
because of the hot weather, or the change in the pricing and portion of cold
noodles. For example, the price of a bowl of cold noodles in Hyesan last year
ranged from 2000-6000 KPW. This year, the price is 500-1000 KPW. Although
cold noodles is popular during the summer, the previous prices turned away many
would-be consumers, especially children. Moreover, the portions were too large
for one person to finish so that there would always be leftovers. The new prices
and portions are just right for both children and adults, so that people are buying
more bowls of cold noodles.

Just as popular is cold water; in fact,
people line up to draw water early in the morning at a certain spring in
Hyesan. They will fill up several 50-liter plastic bottles and transport the
water to the market. Their customers are the market people who need water like
tofu vendors, fish vendors, and other food vendors. Because the water is sourced
from a mountain spring, it is chillingly cold even in the summer.

For this
reason, someone is there to maintain the order at certain springs because of
the large numbers of people trying to draw water. The price of 50 liters of
water is not set, but it is linked to the price of 1.5 kilograms of rice. Most
of these water vendors are either the very poorest people who have no start-up capital
for a business or university students. Although this work is very laborious,
they are motivated by the thought of contributing to the family livelihood or
earning a little spare change.

6. You’ve given us some very intriguing
news. Is it safe to infer that the government is not strictly regulating people’s
involvement in the market from the fact that even those without a market stand
are able to sell in the market?

Yes. The word out of North Korea is that
there has been no crackdown on marketplace activity since the new regime came
into power 3 years ago. The regime is, however, regulating the movement of
illegal goods, such as South Korean goods, precious metals like gold, silver,
and bronze, and drugs. The government is tolerating the market for ordinary
consumer goods, which has resulted in an increase in the number of market
stands.

7. The spring lean period and the summer
heat are making cold noodles and cold water popular items. Do the ice cream vendors have a ready system of refrigeration available to them?

One thing that North Koreans are very
envious of in the outside world is the refrigeration system. Ordinary vendors
do not yet have a system of ready refrigeration available to them because of
the unsteady power supply. Even business centers and state-owned enterprises
don’t have enough electricity available, so that even they can’t run their
refrigeration all day. Ordinary citizens who are involved in ice cream
production and sales are far more uneasy. Some people own a small generator and
use it to power their refrigerator from 11a.m.-2p.m., the hottest times of the day.
However, most ice cream vendors will just carry ice boxes.

The melting ice cream makes the vendors
very nervous while they are selling, so that they don’t get paid properly when
there are too many customers. To do business properly requires peace of mind,
but the daytime heat means that vendors are preoccupied by the thought of
selling ice cream as quickly as possible. The vendors have to pay the ice cream
makers for the amount that isn’t sold and has melted. Therefore, in order to sell
as much as possible, vendors walk long distances. The same nervousness goes for
the ice cream makes as well.

8. You mentioned that garlic and red
radishes are being sold in the markets; are these produced within North Korea?

Those  vegetables are grown throughout all of North Korea.
The major centers for cultivating red radishes are Yangkang and Hamkyung
Provinces. By this time, last year’s kimchi is almost all eaten, and red radish
kimchi is a good fill-in for the cabbage kimchi, especially due to its red
color and taste.

Red radishes are innately hot, so that
pepper isn’t needed in making kimchi with it. Garlic is cultivated all throughout
Hamkyung Province, and especially popular in Yangkang Province where you have
to wait two to three months to eat garlic. People eat salted garlic as a side
dish, and the garlic’s root and leaf are eaten as well.

9. What kind of vegetables do North Koreans
enjoy the most during this time?

Obviously, bok choy, cabbages, and lettuce.
Leaf mustard kimchi is a popular dish during the summer. Some will plant the
leaf mustard, while others pick the wild plants; with a little effort, anyone
can have a dish that will blow away the summer heat.

On this note, I want to give a word of
encouragement to the people who are weeding the fields in the North right now,
as well as the refugees who have settled in South Korea and elsewhere.