As North Koreaβs private economy expands
and the gap between the rich and poor worsens, wedding gifts have also begun to
reflect socioeconomic class. Women from wealthy families have developed a
preference for South Korean cosmetics, while men dream of receiving a laptop
computer from the South.
Recently, our Daily NK reporter spoke by
telephone with a source located in Yanggang Province who said, βMen who are
engaged to be married might receive a variety of different gifts from their
future brides, but it all depends on economic class. Wedding gifts range from
portable electric lights or key rings to South Korean laptop computers. Right
now, the best gift for a groom is a laptop, and the best gift for a bride are
South Korean cosmetics.β
Two additional sources, one in North
Hamgyong Province and one in South Hamgyong Province, reported the same trends
in their respective regions.
While in the past Chinese or German-made
electronics (laptops)* were quite popular, as South Korean brands gain traction
in the market brides who are well-off give their husbands-to-be these computers
as gifts in addition to the more traditional wristwatches.
Chinese laptops will cost the average upper
class buyer 1,500,000 KPW(174 USD), while German brands run between 2,500,000 (291 USD) and
3,000,000 KPW (349 USD). South Korean brands, on the other hand, are both difficult to
acquire and twice as expensive as German computers, costing 5,000,000 KPW (581 USD) or
more. But North Koreans with family who defected to South Korea receive enough
money from their relatives to live a comfortable life, and can buy their sons
or daughters expensive gifts when they get married.
Of course, the lucky recipients of South
Korean-made goods do not wave them around for everyone to see on their wedding
day, some going so far as to conceal the brands. But after the wedding it is
easy to tell who received these nice gifts as they use them in daily life.
One young man who was attending university
received a South Korean laptop from his wife for their wedding, which made him
the envy of his classmates. After all, βmost university students struggle
to afford just dormitory fees,β the source pointed out, adding that many
students with this degree of wealth will sarcastically remark, βmust be nice to have a wife from
a family like thatβ while nursing their own envy and dismissing βthese types of
guys as snobs.β
These days, life is more stable in North
Korea compared to the past, and more and more people are using the markets to
make a bit of money. But families who have relatives in the South have an extra
cushion. With the help they receive from their family members, it is said that
βthey are able to weather any event, big or small, without suffering much economic
impact,” according to the source.
The current generation still factors
economic status into consideration when choosing a marriage partner as much as
the previous generation did. βIt doesnβt matter if youβre in the city or the
countryside as long as you can enjoy a stable married existence, and these
days, having a member of our family living in South Korea [defector] in
your family isnβt so bad either,β she concluded.
*It is unlikely that what the sources and others residents are referring to here are electronics actually produced in Germany. Rather, this reporter, originally from North Korea, speculates that the sources and the residents with whom they conversed, are under this impression due to the appearance of the Latin alphabet either on the product itself or its manual. There are many residents who associate this with Germany even if the information is not in German. Daily NK does not doctor the information it receives from our inside sources in order to convey their opinions and the situation on the ground as accurately as possible.
