Manure brokers emerge, alleviate mobilization for a price

This year, North Korean residents are really emphasizing economic success in their New Year’s plans. Our listeners in North Korea will know what I mean by that. 

Money comes into focus around this time because residents are concerned with how they will make ends meet during the year. The North Korean authorities also generally make annual demands from the residents at the beginning of the year. From the first week of the year, all residents are required to complete manure collection, which entails contributing a certain quantity of manure to the regime. In a sign that marketization is spreading across all corners of the country, we are now seeing the emergence of manure brokers in the jangmadang (markets, official or otherwise). 

All North Korean households are required to contribute a manure quota to the regime on a yearly basis. Because many people have a hard enough time just getting by, an inside source from Ryanggang Province tells us that the quota is a source of significant concern for residents. In response, opportunistic vendors have begun to develop new methods to capitalize on the demand.  

 

In the past, families and groups of families generally used a collection system in their household bathrooms to donate human waste as manure. However, it was difficult to secure enough waste to fulfill the requirement this way, so many residents turned to livestock as a solution. However, a scarcity of manure remained for many people, so they were forced to search high and low to complete the yearly order.

Brokers with an entrepreneurial spirit sought out confirmation certificates from farm cadres to sell. A certificate of this type frees the resident from having to contribute manure or participate in the labor mobilization order. The service might sound a bit unusual to us, and it’s even a surprise to many North Koreans when they first hear about it. 

The majority of residents are quite glad to see the emergence of manure brokers. By paying the brokers to get confirmation from a farm cadre, they can focus on their daily market activities. This gives them more time to earn money. 

The manure mobilization occurs from the beginning of January to the middle of April. In most regions, it requires approximately two or three days of work per week. So that’s a total of 30-40 days of labor spent helping the regime to produce manure. But by securing a confirmation from the brokers, residents free themselves of this responsibility. 

From the perspective of the farms, that might indeed be the case, but in the “Bribery Republic of North Korea,” there is nothing that a little money can’t solve. The managing cadres who accept the bribes give a proportion of the money to the farmers. So the farmers are essentially forced to work a bit more to compensate, but they do receive money for their time and labor.

The cadres typically give cigarettes, alcohol, or fruit to the farmers, and keep the lion’s share of the bribe for themselves and buy things like TVs or padded coats. 

There are two types of certificates available. One is for peat manure, which is a mixture of manure and different kinds of partly decomposed vegetable materials. The other is for humus soil, which consists of manure and humus, a dark brown mixture of decaying plant or animal matter. In Ryanggang Province’s Pochon Market and Hyesan Market, peat manure certificates sell for KPW 100,000 per ton, and humus manure sells for KPW 50,000-60,000 per ton. But this doesn’t include the commission fee charged by the broker which is usually an extra KPW 15,000- 20,000. 

The more savvy and well-connected brokers can earn up to KPW 100,000 in a single day. What’s more, there are even some companies that buy certificates in bulk. In these cases, the companies will sometimes provide televisions or bicycles as bribes instead of cash. The value of goods given depends on the number and type of certificates being provided. 

The fact that brokers are able to earn so much suggests that there must be a lot of demand. Is that the case? 

Merchants take a close look at the cost of a certificate and compare the price with how much they would earn in the marketplace while avoiding the mobilization order for 30 to 40 days. I think the increased demand for the certificates is being driven by the fact that more and more people are concluding that the cost is justified. 

In addition, some companies are making the same conclusion and are willing to pay large bribes to get certificates for their workers.