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<\/p>\n
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In North Korea, the gift-giving culture of exchanging high-priced A source in South Hwanghae Province reported to Daily NK on September 7th, \u201cWhen Chuseok draws nears, officials and the donju<\/i> [newly affluent He went on to say that during holiday season, officials now spend For Chuseok and other holidays, there are officials that North Korea\u2019s rampant <\/span>bribery culture has contributed to a spreading awareness of the During the build up to Chuseok, \u201cMost utilize the Beijing to Pyongyang train to bring in the fiery Chinese spirit baijiu, \u201cIce\u201d is also referred to as \u201cbingdu\u201d in North Korea and is A gram of ice costs 100 RMB In North Korea, people are forbidden to slaughter cows for <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" In North Korea, the gift-giving culture of exchanging high-priced goods amongst officials is growing rapidly, just in time for the Chuseok holiday. Daily NK has learned through informed sources within the country that officials are bribed with payments of beef, despite the illegality of slaughtering cows, and even worse, a drug locally known as \u201cice\u201d […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":122,"featured_media":28269,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wikipediapreview_detectlinks":true,"footnotes":""},"categories":[645],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-28267","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-economy"],"yoast_head":"\n
\ngoods amongst officials is growing rapidly, just in time for the Chuseok holiday.
\nDaily NK has learned through informed sources within the country that officials
\nare bribed with payments of beef, despite the illegality of slaughtering cows,
\nand even worse, a drug locally known as \u201cice\u201d (crystal methamphetamine, or
\n\u201ccrystal meth\u201d).<\/span><\/p>\n
\nmiddle class] become engaged in working their way to the head of the line for
\nbribes. Currently, the most opulent bribe one can give at the holidays is a
\ngift of meat and cash.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n
\nmore time in the markets, working on maintaining their connections and
\ninfluence, than with their families. In the old days, a person\u2019s rank was the
\nindicator of his influence and power; now, it\u2019s the era of money in North
\nKorea.<\/span><\/p>\n
\nmust be, without fail, approached and given bribes. This includes the
\nfollowing: the market manager [in charge assigning merchants to their
\nlocations, collecting fees, etc.] the State Security Department [SSD] member in
\ncharge of surveillance and regulations, and fuel wardens who manage gasoline
\nand diesel oil.<\/span><\/p>\n
\nimportance of good relations with officials if one wants to remain untroubled
\nwhile taking part in market activities. Although giving and receiving bribes is
\nnow considered a matter of course, the kinds of bribes given are diverse, and the
\nprice of bribes is increasing.<\/span><\/p>\n
\nliquor, premier spirits, pineapples, bananas, and other prized items,” the source elaborated. “People
\nuse holiday gift giving as an opportunity to surreptitiously present a bribe to
\nan official. Not so long ago, cash and a gift of nutritious carp or cigarettes
\n[for men] would have been an adequate bribe. Lately, the drug \u2018ice\u2019 is also
\nseen as an ideal gift.\u201d<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n
\nmass-produced in Hamheung, South Hamgyung Province by pharmaceutical companies
\nlike Nanam Pharmaceuticals. As of late, illegal transactions and distribution
\nhave spread to the point that even members of the SSD are known to sometimes partake
\nin the consumption of the drug.<\/span><\/p>\n
\n[approximately 130,000 North Korean Won]. Though the price is formidable, it is
\nnot prohibitively so for officials who use the drug. It is regarded as simply
\nthe cost of also maintaining influence and connections in the market. He went
\non to say, \u201cBecause enforcement isn\u2019t very strict, officials can comfortably
\nreceive drugs as gifts. Generally, the amount of ice given depends on the
\nstatus and rank of the person being gifted; higher-ranking officials receiving
\nlarger amounts of ice. If you just need something stamped, one gram of ice is
\nsufficient. If you need to do business with an official, the usual method is to
\ngive a gram of ice along with a U.S. dollar. What\u2019s more, even though the
\nslaughter of cows is officially prohibited, beef is being given as a bribe;
\nwhen delivering the meat for bribery purposes, they have to keep up a pretense about the cow
\nhaving been sick.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n
\ntheir meat, as cows are extremely important and deemed a \u201cmeans of production.\u201d
\nHowever dead cows can be utilized as provisions, usually for officials or
\nsoldiers. These days on Chuseok officials don\u2019t want the usual songpyeon<\/i> [small
\nrice cakes with various fillings), they want meat. There are some people who
\nare willing to do whatever it takes to procure meat to sell. Really clever
\nmerchants time their endeavors to coincide with holidays like Chuseok. They go
\nand offer bribes to managers in charge of meat to disguise fresh meat as being
\nfrom a cow that has died of a disease. Then the merchants are able to purchase the
\nbeef,\u201d he concluded.<\/span><\/p>\n