As North Korea\u2019s private economy expands
\nand the gap between the rich and poor worsens, wedding gifts have also begun to
\nreflect socioeconomic class. Women from wealthy families have developed a
\npreference for South Korean cosmetics, while men dream of receiving a laptop
\ncomputer from the South. <\/p>\n
Recently, our Daily NK reporter spoke by Two additional sources, one in North While in the past Chinese or German-made Chinese laptops will cost the average upper Of course, the lucky recipients of South One young man who was attending university These days, life is more stable in North The current generation still factors *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.<\/font><\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" As North Korea\u2019s 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 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":145,"featured_media":31818,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[645],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-31816","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-economy"],"yoast_head":"\n
\ntelephone with a source located in Yanggang Province who said, \u201cMen who are
\nengaged to be married might receive a variety of different gifts from their
\nfuture brides, but it all depends on economic class. Wedding gifts range from
\nportable electric lights or key rings to South Korean laptop computers. Right
\nnow, the best gift for a groom is a laptop, and the best gift for a bride are
\nSouth Korean cosmetics.\u201d<\/span> <\/p>\n
\nHamgyong Province and one in South Hamgyong Province, reported the same trends
\nin their respective regions.<\/span> <\/p>\n
\nelectronics (laptops)* were quite popular, as South Korean brands gain traction
\nin the market brides who are well-off give their husbands-to-be these computers
\nas gifts in addition to the more traditional wristwatches.<\/span> <\/p>\n
\nclass buyer 1,500,000 KPW(174 USD), while German brands run between 2,500,000 (291 USD) and
\n3,000,000 KPW (349 USD). South Korean brands, on the other hand, are both difficult to
\nacquire and twice as expensive as German computers, costing 5,000,000 KPW (581 USD) or
\nmore. But North Koreans with family who defected to South Korea receive enough
\nmoney from their relatives to live a comfortable life, and can buy their sons
\nor daughters expensive gifts when they get married.<\/span> <\/p>\n
\nKorean-made goods do not wave them around for everyone to see on their wedding
\nday, some going so far as to conceal the brands. But after the wedding it is
\neasy to tell who received these nice gifts as they use them in daily life.<\/span> <\/p>\n
\nreceived a South Korean laptop from his wife for their wedding, which made him
\nthe envy of his classmates. After all, \u201cmost university students struggle
\nto afford just dormitory fees,\u201d the source pointed out, adding that many
\nstudents with this degree of wealth will sarcastically remark, \u201cmust be nice to have a wife from
\na family like that\u201d while nursing their own envy and dismissing \u201cthese types of
\nguys as snobs.\u201d<\/span> <\/p>\n
\nKorea compared to the past, and more and more people are using the markets to
\nmake a bit of money. But families who have relatives in the South have an extra
\ncushion. With the help they receive from their family members, it is said that
\n\u201cthey are able to weather any event, big or small, without suffering much economic
\nimpact,” according to the source.<\/span> <\/p>\n
\neconomic status into consideration when choosing a marriage partner as much as
\nthe previous generation did. \u201cIt doesn\u2019t matter if you\u2019re in the city or the
\ncountryside as long as you can enjoy a stable married existence, and these
\ndays, having a member of our family living in South Korea [defector] in
\nyour family isn\u2019t so bad either,\u201d she concluded.<\/span> <\/p>\n