North Korea’s markets — known as jangmadang (장마당) — emerged from the famine of the 1990s and have since become the backbone of the country’s informal economy. Daily NK tracks grain and rice prices, foreign currency exchange rates, government crackdowns on market activity, the rise of the donju merchant class, and the broader marketization of North Korean society. Our network of in-country sources provides some of the most detailed and timely reporting on North Korea’s markets available in English.
Tag: markets
North Korean factories turn workers into salespeople under revamped informal labor...
A longstanding informal labor arrangement in North Korea is taking on a new form, with factory workers now directly distributing factory-made goods and remitting...
Pet shop in Pyongyang sparks anger and envy among North Korea’s...
North Koreans outside Pyongyang are reacting with resentment and disbelief after state media broadcast footage of Kim Jong Un and his daughter, Ju Ae,...
North Korea courts Chinese fishing investment while preaching self-reliance
Despite publicly championing "self-reliance," North Korea has been quietly courting Chinese investment in its fishing and aquaculture sectors, dispatching officials to China's border regions...
Flu outbreak overwhelms North Korean hospitals as children develop pneumonia
A flu outbreak is sweeping parts of North Korea, overwhelming hospitals and forcing parents to seek private doctors as children as young as one...
North Korea loosens mobile restrictions as it courts Chinese investment
North Korea appears to be easing mobile phone restrictions on Chinese nationals entering the country for business, a move observers inside the country are...
North Korea arrests factory workers for diverting goods to markets
Three workers at a state-run local industry factory in North Hamgyong province were publicly struggled against and arrested last month after diverting factory output...
North Korea threatens criminal punishment for diverting factory goods to informal...
The party committee of Songchon county, South Pyongan province, has ordered a complete halt to the flow of state-produced goods into informal markets, threatening...
North Korea fuel prices surge 20% as Iran war squeezes oil...
North Korea's market prices have surged for the second consecutive month, with fuel costs leading the way as gasoline and diesel prices each jumped...
Eased restrictions fuel optimism as North Korea’s crab season gets under...
North Korea appears to be allowing private individuals to go crabbing for the first time since the pandemic, with entrepreneurs flocking to the Yellow...
North Korean youth ditch tradition as “going Dutch” becomes the norm...
North Korean high school students in Hamhung have begun dining out with classmates multiple times a week, with splitting the bill evenly becoming the...
