North Korea recently notified the country’s provincial authorities that goods imported from China will be released in areas of the country where commodity prices are most stable. The notification also emphasized the importance of “state-led trade.”
A source in North Hamgyong Province told Daily NK last Thursday that the Central Committee and Cabinet released the notification on Feb. 14. The notice said that supplies recently imported by train will be released to “areas where there are stable markets and local authorities are doing a good job managing commodity prices.”
The party and people’s committees of North Hamgyong Province received the notification, along with all cities and counties within the province.
The notice emphasized that with the COVID-19 pandemic continuing, trade will take place under party leadership, and that the state will control commercial activity of each province because all trade comes under state control.
The notification stressed that the central government will release imported supplies after ascertaining the status of provincial commercial departments, and only by improving the situation through “this method” can the authorities keep domestic prices stable and improve the difficulties faced by the people.
The source said that because North Hamgyong Province does not have its own quarantine base or state-approved quarantine space, it can only receive goods imported through Sinuiju, North Pyongan Province. Accordingly, provincial authorities have stressed the need to stabilize market prices as desired by the central government.
The source said the provincial party committee warned that in accordance with government policy to stabilize prices, marketplace merchants, state-run shops, privately-run shops, restaurants, and stores must not arbitrarily raise prices fixed by the state. Those caught doing so will immediately have their goods or booths confiscated — or even have their businesses shut down — for the crime of “rejecting party policy,” and workers at those shops will be subject to party, administrative, or legal punishments.
Many North Koreans are reportedly unhappy with the state’s focus on market prices. They complain that prices naturally climb during times of scarcity and fall during times of plenty, but the state is already trying to control prices even before goods hit the market.
Specifically, people have been complaining that the state “always shouts about this or that but brings nothing to the table;” that what is “most important is for goods to come in, yet the authorities are starting off with price controls;” and that with all the controls in place they are not sure “when the goods will be available.”
The source said provincial cadres tasked with conveying the market price stabilization policy share the public’s skepticism, questioning just how much effort the state will put into stabilizing prices.
The source further reported that officials wonder how long it will take for goods that entered the country through Sinuiju to make it to North Hamgyong Province. Among themselves, officials are also wondering if each province along the border should just make its own trade zone, he added.
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