The kimchi making season, or kimjang, has arrived, but many North Koreans have given up on preparing kimchi for the winter due to economic distress, Daily NK has learned.
A source in Yanggang Province told Daily NK last Thursday that although the kimjang began in Hyesan on Oct. 15, few families are taking part.
“This is because even though cabbages aren’t expensive this year, many families cannot make kimchi because of financial troubles,” he said.
According to the source, locals began the kimjang sooner than last year with the weather growing colder earlier.
Cabbages and radishes cost KPW 1,000 a kilogram each as of Oct. 18, some KPW 500 less than last year. They are cheaper than last year because many have been eaten by insects, and they suffer internal imperfections.
However, the price of red pepper powder has skyrocketed since last year. A kilogram of whole red peppers currently costs KPW 35,000 to KPW 40,000 in Hyesan, while red pepper powder reportedly costs KPW 45,000, about triple last year’s prices.
The source said the prices appear to have spiked due to droughts, torrential rains and typhoons causing a poor harvest this year, and because merchants have been buying up much of the crop.
“It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that the rise in pepper prices is one of the reasons people have given up on kimjang,” said the source. “Unable to make a proper day’s living, people can’t imagine making kimchi in their circumstances.”
In fact, most people in Hyesan suffering economic distress are putting off making kimchi. Inminban, similar to neighborhood watch units, usually consist of about 25 to 30 households, but only two or three are making kimchi, based on the Yanggang Province-based source’s account.
PEOPLE FACE BIGGER CONCERNS THAN KIMCHI
The source said with cold weather arriving earlier this year, many people feel gathering firewood is more urgent than making kimchi.
“With people having trouble not only dealing with immediate food insecurity but also putting together the money to buy firewood for the winter, many households cannot do kimjang,” he explained.
In years past, people received at least a bit of cabbage and radish from their workplaces, so hard up families could make white kimchi – that is, kimchi without the red pepper powder. However, the source said that since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, workplace provisions of vegetables for the kimjang have ceased, and the number of households unable to make kimchi is growing every year.
“Before COVID-19 started, no matter how poor your were, you could make at least a little kimchi with the cabbage or radish you got from work, but since last year, making kimchi has proven difficult, unless you’re a cadre or a well-off household,” said the source.
“People barely make KPW 5,000 a day working, and they use that money to buy rice or firewood that they need right now,” he continued, adding, “So they can’t even think of making kimchi.”
Kimchi accounts for so great a portion of the people’s sustenance that North Koreans call it “food for half the year.” However, the source said as economic troubles deepen, more and more people are giving up on making kimchi, so many people are just frustrated when kimjang season arrives.
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