{"id":55478,"date":"2023-06-27T18:00:36","date_gmt":"2023-06-27T09:00:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/?p=55478"},"modified":"2026-04-05T15:14:26","modified_gmt":"2026-04-05T06:14:26","slug":"north-hamgyong-province-market-sellers-still-find-hard-make-money","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/north-hamgyong-province-market-sellers-still-find-hard-make-money\/","title":{"rendered":"N. Hamgyong Province market sellers still find it hard to make money"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In North Hamgyong Province, market prices of some food items are falling to pre-COVID-19 levels, but food sellers are still finding it hard to make money, Daily NK has learned.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Speaking on condition of anonymity for security reasons, a source in North Hamgyong Province told Daily NK on Friday that \u201cthe prices of food in Hoeryong\u2019s markets have been continuously falling, with the price of some items falling below what they were before COVID-19.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">According to the source, the prices of cooking oil, seasonings and other foodstuffs in Hoeryong\u2019s markets have recently fallen to \u2014 or below \u2014 pre-COVID levels.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For example, a kilogram of cooking oil in Hoeryong\u2019s markets cost KPW 10,000 as of June 19. This was far below what oil was selling for as recently as last month, when it cost KPW 15,000 a kilogram. As the price of cooking oil in Hoeryong\u2019s markets was KPW 11,000 prior to COVID-19, the current price differs little in comparison.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A 450-gram packet of seasoning costs KPW 13,500, similar to the pre-COVID price of KPW 14,000.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Eggs \u2014 which are sold by the kilogram \u2014 cost KPW 12,500 a kilogram. One kilogram equals 15 eggs, so each egg costs KPW 835, which is lower than the pre-COVID price, the source said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In Chongjin\u2019s markets, a kilogram of cooking oil cost KPW 11,000 as of June 19, while a 450-gram packet of seasoning cost KPW 13,800. Prior to the pandemic, cooking oil cost KPW 11,000 a kilogram and a packet of seasoning KPW 14,000, which shows that prices have returned to pre-pandemic levels.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">However, market sellers still cannot make much money because almost nobody has cash to spare, the source said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cEconomic troubles that emerged after the pandemic still continue, and combined with the barley hump, so many people are struggling that you can count on one hand the number of families that eat three meals a day. No matter how much the market price of foodstuffs falls, few people are buying anything, so sellers are having a tough time making money.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cPeople constantly complain that the price of food [grains like rice] isn\u2019t falling, so it doesn&#8217;t matter if the price of seasonings and other items fall. Everyone is saying that unless smuggling starts again, markets will remain inactive and people&#8217;s hardships will grow worse.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><i>Translated by David Black. Edited by Robert Lauler.\u00a0<\/i><\/p>\n<p><em>Daily NK works with a network of sources who live inside North Korea, China and elsewhere. Their identities remain anonymous due to security concerns. More information about Daily NK\u2019s reporting partner network and information gathering activities can be found on our FAQ page\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/faq\/\">here<\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p><i>Please direct any comments or questions about this article to dailynkenglish@uni-media.net.<\/i><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/20230623-2\/\"><i>Read in Korean<\/i><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In North Hamgyong Province, market prices of some food items are falling to pre-COVID-19 levels, but food sellers are still finding it hard to make money, Daily NK has learned.\u00a0 Speaking on condition of anonymity for security reasons, a source in North Hamgyong Province told Daily NK on Friday that \u201cthe prices of food in [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":132,"featured_media":42496,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[67,645],"tags":[100,767,1656],"class_list":["post-55478","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news","category-economy","tag-markets","tag-food","tag-dprk"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.7 (Yoast SEO v28.8) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>N. Hamgyong Province market sellers still find it hard to make money - North Korea News \u2014 Daily NK | Latest DPRK Updates 2026<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/north-hamgyong-province-market-sellers-still-find-hard-make-money\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"N. 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