North Korean authorities sold grains including corn and whole wheat to the public at state-run grain shops last month, Daily NK has learned.
Multiple sources in North Korea recently told Daily NK about the prices and amounts of grain sold at a state-run grain shop in Pyongyang in February.
According to these sources, the grain shop sold corn, wheat noodles and whole wheat on two days in early February (Feb. 6 – 7) and two days in late February (Feb. 28 – 29), for a total of four days in the month. The items on sale varied somewhat, with corn and wheat noodles available in the first sales period and corn and whole wheat available in the second sales period.
Customers had apparently been expecting rice to be on sale since the Day of the Shining Star (the birthday of Kim Jong Il), North Korea’s biggest holiday, occurs on Feb. 16, and one person complained to the cashier that only wheat was being sold, and no rice. But the cashier retorted that the Workers’ Party has asked people to adopt wheat as a staple food and accused the customer of harboring an old-fashioned attitude.
“When you’re eating wheat, just imagine it’s rice,” the cashier suggested.
It turned out that both the corn and the whole wheat that were being sold at the state-run grain shop were imports. The available grains were so different from what is grown locally that anyone could tell at a glance that they had been imported, multiple sources confirmed. In fact, most customers assumed that the grains at the shop had been imported from Russia.
The grains were cheaper than market prices, but there was some grumbling that they seemed to be more expensive than in previous sales at state-run shops.
Even Pyongyang suffers from shortages
In the first sales period, in early February, corn sold for KPW 2,100 per kilogram and wheat noodles sold for KPW 2,220 per kilogram on Feb. 6 and KPW 2,600 on Feb. 7. The price of wheat noodles was raised by KPW 400 per kilogram on the second day of the sale because supplies were running low.
Then in the second sales period, in late February, corn was sold for KPW 2,400 per kilogram and whole wheat for KPW 2,500 per kilogram. Whole wheat sold out on the first day (Feb. 28), with the result that only corn was available on the second day (Feb. 29). That suggests that the supply of grain was insufficient even in the North Korean capital of Pyongyang.
The prices of corn and whole wheat at the grain shop were 14% and 17% cheaper, respectively, than prices at a nearby marketplace. But considering that grain shop prices were 20-30% cheaper than market prices when the shops were opened by the government in 2021, some North Koreans think the gap between the government and market prices is gradually narrowing.
The North Korean authorities set an upper limit on the amount of grain that each family could buy.
In the first sales period, each family was allowed to purchase a week’s worth of grain at a ratio of six parts corn to four parts wheat noodles. In the second sales period, families were only permitted four days’ worth of grain at a ratio of seven parts corn to three parts whole wheat.
Under North Korea’s standards for a day’s ration of food, ordinary workers are supposed to receive 700 grams a day, while elementary school students receive 400 grams. Assuming a three-person household composed of two ordinary workers and one school-age child, the family would have been able to purchase up to 12.6 kilograms of grain at the state-run store in the first sales period last month.
Grains get mixed reviews
People’s assessment of product quality varied with the grain, but negative reviews were common in regard to the wheat noodles sold in the first sales period. “The boiled noodles had a raw smell to them,” one customer said, while another complained that “they weren’t easy to eat because they either fell apart or clumped up.”
In contrast, consumers generally approved of the whole wheat that was sold in the second sales period. Most customers said the wheat was easily distinguished from what is grown in North Korea because the kernels were large, plump and shiny and because it held together and had a savory aroma when cooked.
In regards to the corn, some customers said what they received was clean, while others complained that it contained a lot of straw and blank kernels.
Meanwhile, another state-run grain shop in Sinuiju sold corn, corn noodles, and whole wheat last month. There were complaints in the city that grain prices at the state-run shop are getting closer to market prices, a source in the city told Daily NK.
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