This is “NK Market Trends,” bringing you
weekly updates on the North Korean economy. The jangmadang (markets,
official or otherwise) was really upbeat for a stretch because of Jeongwol Daeboreum
(the first full moon of the year). We have reporter Kang Mi Jin with us to tell
us more about the atmosphere in the North during this celebration.
Yes. So, it was Jeongwol Daeboreum on
February 22, and in the South people enjoy dishes like ogokbap (five-grains
rice), yakbap (steamed sweet glutinous rice), and bureom (variety of nuts). In
the North, it’s not much different with people enjoying ogokbap with nine
different namul (seasoned vegetables). Naturally, it was like the holidays at
the marketplace with a lot of people looking for ingredients to use for their
special dishes. In the South, for Jeongwol Daeboreum, you can easily see large
supermarkets and even small stores selling the ingredients you need for ogokbap
and other Jeongwol Daeboreum dishes, but this in the North is what you see at
the jangmadang.
What kind of food do people prepare?
Jeongwol Daeboreum may have already passed,
but I think people in the North listening to this right now would think us
remiss if we didn’t talk about it.. In the past, it was hard for vendors to
secure all the ingredients, so most people went about it on their own, but now
the markets have enough supplies, so they say you can get what you want as long
as you have money. Jeongwol Daeboreum food in the North is similar to the
South’s but different in some ways. In the South, you make ogokbap with black
and red beans, sorghum, millet, and glutinous rice, right? But in the North,
it’s made with barley, glutinous rice, string beans, millet, and sorghum.
But in some areas, they use rice instead of
sticky rice, or put in maize rice instead of sorghum, according to some
defectors. When I was in the North, I used non-glutinous rice more than sticky
rice for ogokbap.
In the South, people also make a lot of
different types of namul with zucchini, dried eggplant, dried mushrooms,
bracken, sweet potato stems, and other vegetables. There’s also bureom and
gwibalgisul (ear-quickening wine, said to help people hear good news throughout
the year). How about in the North?
Just as they do in the South, in the North,
people make namul with dried or aged vegetables as well. Those who live near
the mountains use vegetables they had picked and stored in the past summer, but
people in the city mostly buy the ingredients at the market. I was born in and
grew up around the mountains, so my family would mostly use the vegetables we
picked in the summer to make the namul side dishes.
On this day, people also crack walnuts and eat
them as part of their hopes for strong teeth, and in places where they don’t
have walnuts, some break yeot (taffy made with boiled grains and malt) instead.
Men on this day drink gwibalgisul for good hearing, and this alcohol is served
cold. Even men who don’t usually drink will at least have a glass of this
‘ear-quickening wine,’ so it goes to show how people all want to stay healthy.
In the South, regardless of age and gender,
everyone drinks gwibalgisul. Isn’t that the case in the North as well?
In the North, unlike the South, even if
it’s to hope for good hearing, we don’t offer it to children. There’s actually
an amusing story about gwibalgisul that I remember. My friend who lives in the
same village that I used to live told me about it. She might be listening to
our broadcast right now. She told me that one day, she offered her
father-in-law gwibalgisul on Jeongwol Daeboreum and he turned it down. When she
asked all confused why he didn’t want to drink it, he said ‘if I can hear well,
I’ll be able to hear the calls for mobilization as well.’ He instead told his
son and my friend to drink it, jokingly saying so they can listen better to
what elderly members of the household have to say.
I couldn’t help but laugh when I heard this
story. How tired must he have been of being mobilized for work to have said
this? It also reflects a sentiment that most elderly people have: ‘If you
listen to people who are older and do what you’re told, you will never fail.’
This is probably what he wanted to share with them.
The sad part about the story is that
there’s some underlying truth to it. I heard that in the North, there’s not
only propaganda about the Kim family and its revolutionary ideology but also
about Jeongwol Daeboreum. I found that a bit surprising.
From the 2000s, North Korea started to
celebrate events such as Lunar New Year, Jeongwol Daeboreum, Cheongmyeong,
Dano, and Chuseok as major national holidays, following orders from Kim Jong
Il. This is in turn used as propaganda, saying that the General Kim Jong Il
brought the country’s traditional holidays, which people had forgotten about,
back to life.
For events like these, state authorities
actually offer lectures for members for the Korean Democratic Women’s Union on
food preparation and more. During the lecture, officials tell people, “What
allows us all and our families to enjoy this Jeongwol Daeboreum is the loving
benevolent touch of our General who has such great care and works to advance
the nation’s traditions.”
Most families these days in the North rely
on women for their livelihoods, so most of them are very busy when it comes to
Jeongwol Daeboreum. So propaganda like this is so far from reality that women
legitimately complain about it. In order to get all the ingredients that they
need together for the celebration, they have to put in so much more work, so
this kind of propaganda rings hollow for these women who have to struggle from
morning to night at the markets.
Tell us about the costs involved in getting
all these dishes together.
First to make ogokbap, you need barley,
sticky rice, beans, millet, and sorghum. At the markets in Yanggang Province,
barley sells for about 3,250 KPW for 1 kg, sorghum is about 5,000 KPW,
glutinous rice is 6,000 KPW, red beans are 4,000 KPW, string beans are 5,000
KPW, and millet is 4,100 KPW. For a four-person household, 2.5 kg will be a
day’s worth of food. Unlike Seol (Lunar New Year), not many homes have tteok
(rice cakes), so it’s not too difficult for families to secure what they need.
When it comes to namul, since a lot of people rely on what they get from the
mountains, it doesn’t cost that much.
I had thought that maybe celebrating
Jeongwol Daeboreum after going through the New Year and Lunar New Year holiday
might make it hard to buy the ingredients needed, so it’s good to know that
families can celebrate the occasion without spending too much. Finally, as we
close, let’s get a look at market prices in the North.
We’ll begin by providing a rundown of the
price of rice, the currency conversion rates, and the cost of other goods in
North Korean markets. In most areas around the country, we saw prices
inch up because of Jeongwol Daeboreum and also because rumors have
started to spread about international sanctions. The price of 1 kg of rice was
5,100 KPW in Pyongyang and Sinuiju, and 5,260 KPW in Hyesan. The cost of 1 kg
of corn kernels was 2,160 KPW in Pyongyang, 2,140 KPW in Sinuiju, and 2,300 KPW
in Hyesan. The USD was trading at 8,200 KPW in Pyongyang, 8,290 KPW in Sinuiju
and Hyesan. The Renminbi was trading at 1,330 KPW in Pyongyang, Sinuiju, and
Hyesan. Moving along, 1 kg of pork was selling at 10,900 KPW in Pyongyang,
11,000 KPW in Sinuiju, and 11,200 KPW in Hyesan. Gasoline was trading at 7,050
KPW per kg in Pyongyang, 7,100 KPW in Sinuiju, and 7,150 KPW in Hyesan.
Finally, 1 kg of diesel fuel was selling at 5,350 KPW in Pyongyang, and 5,300
KPW in Sinuiju and 5,350 KPW in Hyesan. This has been a rundown of the latest
market prices in North Korea.
