North Korean authorities are intensifying their crackdowns on food wholesalers and resellers in Bukchang County, a source in South Hamgyong Province told Daily NK on Tuesday.
“[The crackdown] is related to efforts to ensure that rice is sold in state-run food shops rather than markets,” he said.
According to the source, North Korea has been selling rice at lower-than-market prices at state-run food shops since last year.
In fact, a kilogram of rice reportedly costs KPW 5,500 in Bukchang County’s markets, but just KPW 4,700 in state-run food shops.
People with money to spend welcome the sale of rice at less-than-market prices, but with the government securing so little rice, restrictions are in place at the state-run food shops, with households able to buy no more than five kilograms of rice each.
The source said the authorities are responding to this lack of rice by cracking down on rice wholesalers and resellers who they believe are hindering the state’s efforts to secure food stocks.
North Korean rice wholesalers make money by purchasing rice from professional resellers — who either make backroom deals to bring in rice from regions where it is relatively cheap or by getting it from farmers using unfair methods — and selling it to marketplace sellers.
Rice wholesalers have used this method to corner food distribution, moving between two and three tons of rice at a time.
“Food that the government needs to have is leaking into markets through secret deals, leading the authorities to desperately crack down on illegal food transactions conducted by wholesalers and resellers,” said the source.
“In Bukchang County, the police have begun cracking down on illegal food transactions, and if you are caught, they confiscate your stock without compensation,” he added.
POLICE USE ANY AND ALL TACTICS TO TRAP WHOLESALERS
The source further reported that the police are using all methods and means at their disposal to bust the wholesalers, including cracking down on retailers and pressing them about where they got their stocks of rice.
“Rice wholesalers with a lot of rice are being extremely careful not to get caught in crackdowns, with some even suspending their sales,” he said.
Given that some wholesalers are making even more efforts to hide their activities, police are changing their tactics, trying to catch them by using market retailers to lure them into sales.
However, the source said that retailers — who have no desire to get caught up in these traps — are avoiding the markets altogether, quietly selling rice from home or on the streets.
The source further reported that even though rice is cheaper in state-run food shops, “people who can’t afford even a kilogram of rice on their daily wages are buying rice on credit from private merchants.”
The crackdown on rice wholesalers and resellers is also underway in Hyesan, Yanggang Province, the source added.
Translated by David Black. Edited by Robert Lauler.
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