North Korea’s largest permanent market is Chongjin’s Sunam Market, which sprawls over an area exceeding 23,000 square meters, according to the Korea Institute for National Unification. It is now the site of an investigation into the actions of a market manager who has reportedly embezzled thousands of dollars in taxes and fees over the years, North Korean sources reported on February 17.
Management committees in North Korea’s markets collect 1,000 to 2,000 KPW in “market fees” each day from merchants in exchange for space to sell their wares. The manager in question, a woman in her 50s, was in charge of collecting these taxes and fees at the market and is suspected of embezzling the funds, which were supposed to go to the state.
“A female manager who worked at the market for around 10 years was arrested in mid-January for embezzling market taxes and fees and is currently under investigation,” said a North Hamgyong Province-based source. “The money she stole was in the thousands (of dollars) so locals are all abuzz in amazement at how she pulled it off.”
The Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington DC-based research institute, reported last year that North Korea generates some 56.8m USD each year from market taxes and fees, with Sunam Market contributing 849,329 USD annually.
The market manager supervises the stalls where merchants conduct their business and collects market taxes and fees, making that position highly amenable to bribes. The job is thus seen as highly desirable among government officials. Market managers are frequently the relatives of Chongjin City Party cadres or local People’s Committee officials.
The woman in question, however, does not have any relatives who are Party officials. Displaying uncommon abilities, she has reportedly held the position of market manager for the past 10 or so years.
“She maintained good relationships with several cadres over the past 10 years and become the managing director of market managers last year,” said a separate source in North Hamgyong Province with knowledge of the case.
“Market merchants complained that she unfairly raised the market taxes and fees, but she had remained unscathed until her sudden arrest in mid-January.”
The merchants had petitioned the state in regards to her activities, leading to her arrest. They complained in the petition that she had raised the market taxes and fees to rates higher than in other markets, and threatened merchants with removal from the market if they didn’t pay the bribes.
The woman reportedly acknowledged during the course of her interrogation that she took some of the market taxes and fees for herself, but denied that she touched any of the funds earmarked for the state. The financial records, however, show inconsistencies between transactions and the number of stalls in the market, serving as proof that she had stolen from the state, according to an additional source in North Hamgyong Province.
“The authorities searched for hidden money in her house and found a bag full of 100 (Chinese) yuan bills under the floor of her bathroom,” she said. “It’s not clear how much money was in the bag but it’s likely to be in the tens of thousands of North Korean won.”
The authorities say that the woman will face severe punishment due to the extent of her embezzlement. North Korea generally sentences those found guilty of stealing state assets to at least five years and a maximum of 10 years of “reform through labor.”
According to the sources, merchants at Sunam Market are hopeful that the woman’s arrest will lead to reduced corruption amongst the managers there.
