{"id":60923,"date":"2024-08-27T16:45:08","date_gmt":"2024-08-27T07:45:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/?p=60923"},"modified":"2026-04-06T14:07:49","modified_gmt":"2026-04-06T05:07:49","slug":"floods-halt-north-korean-state-smuggling-yalu-driving-up-prices-border-city","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/floods-halt-north-korean-state-smuggling-yalu-driving-up-prices-border-city\/","title":{"rendered":"Floods halt North Korean &#8220;state-led smuggling&#8221; across Yalu, driving up prices in border city"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>State-led smuggling remains suspended due to high water levels on the Yalu River following heavy rains last month, driving a steep increase in the prices of imported goods in Hyesan, Daily NK has learned.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;With cross-border smuggling still off limits, the prices of imported goods, including electronic devices, have been rising across the board in Hyesan,&#8221; a source in Ryanggang province told Daily NK on Aug. 23, speaking anonymously.<\/p>\n<p>According to the source, state-led smuggling has not resumed since its suspension during an on-the-spot guidance by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in the city of Samjiyon on July 10.<\/p>\n<p>State-led smuggling is a form of unofficial trade overseen by North Korea&#8217;s Ministry of State Security.<\/p>\n<p>State-led smuggling was supposed to resume on July 21, but when the Yalu River waters began rising during the monsoon rain, the green light was not given, and the ban remains in effect.<\/p>\n<p class=\"whitespace-pre-wrap break-words\">High water levels have prevented the resumption of state-sanctioned smuggling, which the North Korean government had initially suspended.<\/p>\n<p>Higher water levels on the Yalu River make it very difficult to safely transport goods across the border from China to North Korea.<\/p>\n<p>In past years, state-led smuggling has often been suspended for several days when the Yalu River began to rise during monsoon rains. But the pause has been extended this year due to serious damage caused by record-setting rain, and it remains uncertain when authorities will allow smuggling to resume.<\/p>\n<h4><strong>Halt in smuggling leads to skyrocketing prices<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p>These circumstances are leading to increased prices of imported goods including automobile parts and electronic devices such as evaporative coolers and refrigerators.<\/p>\n<p class=\"whitespace-pre-wrap break-words\">Freezers selling for 2,500 yuan (about $340) in Hyesan in mid-July are now going for 3,000 yuan ($410), an increase of about 500 yuan ($70). The price of car tires has also risen 400 yuan ($55) over the same period, from 2,000 yuan ($275) to 2,400 yuan ($330).<\/p>\n<p>Sales of seasonal electronics such as freezers and refrigerators tend to sag as summer proceeds, which keeps prices from rising. But prices are nevertheless increasing due to a lack of incoming stock, the source said.<\/p>\n<p>Prices have also been shooting up for imported fruit and condiments such as sugar, putting pressure on merchants and the general public.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;When prices go up, fewer people are willing to buy. And when less is sold, merchants&#8217; profits decrease as well. The markets were doing brisk business when state-supervised smugglers were bringing in imported goods, but now business is slack once again,&#8221; the source said.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;It used to be possible to make a stable living at the marketplace, but it&#8217;s gradually getting harder to maintain your livelihood there. I hope that both state smuggling and individual smuggling will pick back up to galvanize product distribution and make the markets as profitable as they used to be,&#8221; he added.<\/p>\n<p class=\"whitespace-pre-wrap break-words\"><em>Daily NK works with a network of sources in North Korea, China, and elsewhere. For security reasons, their identities remain anonymous.<\/em><\/p>\n<p class=\"whitespace-pre-wrap break-words\"><em>Please send any comments or questions about this article to dailynkenglish@uni-media.net.<\/em><\/p>\n<p class=\"whitespace-pre-wrap break-words\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/20240823-4\/\"><em>Read in Korean<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>State-led smuggling remains suspended due to high water levels on the Yalu River following heavy rains last month, driving a steep increase in the prices of imported goods in Hyesan, Daily NK has learned. &#8220;With cross-border smuggling still off limits, the prices of imported goods, including electronic devices, have been rising across the board in [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":132,"featured_media":41297,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[67,645],"tags":[100,162,165,222,271,717,735,738,881,1242],"class_list":["post-60923","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news","category-economy","tag-markets","tag-ministry-of-state-security","tag-samjiyon","tag-border","tag-ryanggang-province","tag-smuggling","tag-trade","tag-hyesan","tag-yalu-river","tag-flooding"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.7 (Yoast SEO v28.6) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Floods halt North Korean &quot;state-led smuggling&quot; 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