The pressure public policy is able to exert on market prices in North Korea was revealed over the July 27th “Victory Day” period, as preparations for commemorative events, coupled to flooding and damage in lowland areas, hindered cross-border traffic and caused havoc for supply chains.
In border cities like Hoiryeong and Musan in North Hamkyung Province and Hyesan in Yangkang Province, rice went from 5000 won to 7000 won per kilo over the July 27th holiday, before receding once the pressure of Victory Day was removed.
A source from Hoiryeong told Daily NK on the 6th, “For Victory Day the controls were such that formal and informal cross-border trade was all-but impossible,” adding, “Because of this, the price of rice rose dramatically, and currently a kilo of rice goes for 7000 won.”
“The Tumen River was really high until not so long while ago, so smuggling was inconceivable,” the source added. “There is not a lot of rice entering the market, although I can’t tell whether that is because rice traders are hoarding what they have, or because they are all out.”
A source from Hyesan said that things were unusually tough this year. “The controls haven’t always been as strict as this,’ he said. “Last year you could probably have gone smuggling on Victory Day itself.”
The testimony implies that preparations for Victory Day were the main cause of the price rises. 60 is an important waypoint in Northeast Asia, so 2013, the year when North Korea marks the 60th anniversary of its “victory” in the Korean War, was always going to yield bigger and more impressive celebrations, and civilian controls, than other anniversaries.
“The price shot up to 6,000 won over the course of three or four days,” a source from Musan told Daily NK. “And if the price rose like that here on the border, then it will have gone up further in the interior.”
However, she added, “They stopped the controls on the 6th, and in the days since then the price of rice has stabilized.”
