As North Korea cracks down on informal markets, the country’s commercial landscape is shifting dramatically.
Since the devastating famine of the 1990s known as the Arduous March, many North Koreans have depended on market trading to survive. Now, as authorities tighten restrictions, people are finding creative new ways to make a living.
Multiple sources inside North Korea report that merchants who once sold grain and manufactured goods at major marketplaces have moved their operations home, conducting business through mobile phones instead.
This new approach works like informal food delivery: customers call merchants to order rice, side dishes, manufactured goods, and imported items, which are then brought directly to their homes.
While phone-based rice delivery isn’t entirely new, the practice has become widespread recently. Deliveries by bicycle, motorcycle, and small truck are now so common that merchants are hiring dedicated delivery staff.
Since conducting business from home or other non-market locations violates government rules, these transactions must stay under the radar. Merchants take elaborate precautions to avoid detection during unannounced police raids. They don’t save customer phone numbers and carefully time their visits when few people are around, sometimes pretending to be there for other reasons.
Trust is crucial in this underground economy. Merchants only sell to customers they’ve worked with repeatedly, avoiding strangers who might be informants.
Surviving the crackdown
When dealing in forbidden items like foreign currency or fuel, merchants use elaborate code words. Rice becomes “books,” U.S. dollars become “herring,” and Chinese yuan become “trout.” When a customer asks for “two herring,” only they know it means $200.
Even market supervisors sometimes help merchants evade enforcement. “If market supervisors comment about ‘nice weather,’ it means the enforcers won’t be making rounds,” explained a source in North Hamgyong province. “Supervisors have good reason to help vendors—without them, there are no market fees to collect.”
The crackdown has made bribes a daily necessity for merchants. “Law enforcement jobs are money-makers,” say merchants who criticize officers for exploiting market controls to collect payoffs. “Police take bribes without hesitation, and state security agents pocket our money when no one’s looking.”
A source in North Pyongan province noted, “You can’t go a single day without paying someone off. It’s especially crucial for those trading banned items. People who can’t afford bribes work in constant fear.”
Another source added, “It’s routine to give cigarettes or cash to police and other officers. Even those already bribed expect a little extra before they’ll show you respect.”
Increasingly, vendors are pushing back against the crackdowns rather than accepting them quietly. “When enforcers try to confiscate goods, vendors don’t just take it anymore,” the North Pyongan source said. “Vendors from nearby stalls will often rally together and challenge the enforcers’ actions.”
