North Korea recently began boosting the number of trading companies affiliated with the military and is currently supplementing personnel to staff them, Daily NK has learned.
“There are an increasing number of defense ministry-affiliated trading companies dealing with not only domestically oriented trade duties, but also arms smuggling, construction, contract labor, farming and even restaurant management. A personnel expansion is also underway,” a Daily NK reporting partner in North Korea said Monday, speaking on condition of anonymity due to security concerns.
For example, the defense ministry-affiliated Chonryong Trading Company has been doubling both the number of soldiers who work for it and civilian staff in response to an recent order from the Workers’ Party’s Central Military Commission to “increase the number of personnel by supplementing en masse the soldiers and staff personnel” who work for the company.
Founded in 2019 as a trading company affiliated with the Ministry of Defense, Chonryong Trading Company secures funds for the country’s ruling party by sending personnel overseas to earn foreign currency.
According to the reporting partner, besides Chonryong Trading Company, several other new military-affiliated trading companies have emerged since 2019.
By increasing the number of both military-affiliated trading companies and their staff, North Korea seems to be trying to secure foreign currency — which it lacks — through military-led trade.
However, some North Koreans are reportedly expressing concern that the country “will see a revival of the obstinate trading landscape of the Songun era, when military-affiliated trading companies filled their own pockets ostensibly doing state smuggling or earning foreign currency on the back of the state.”
The Songun era refers to the reign of current North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s predecessor and father, Kim Jong Il.
The reporting partner told Daily NK that there will be a windfall for the military leadership if military-affiliated trading companies take off due to government support. He pointed out, however, that ordinary trading companies may not be able to push forward trade like they did prior to COVID-19.
North Korea is recruiting not only personnel to handle domestically oriented trade duties such as imports and exports, but also personnel the companies will ultimately send overseas.
“People really prefer to work for military-affiliated trading companies, with only one of 50 candidates getting recruited. This is because of stable salaries and rations,” the reporting partner said.
Translated by David Black. Edited by Robert Lauler.
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