{"id":62530,"date":"2025-02-24T17:58:45","date_gmt":"2025-02-24T08:58:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/?p=62530"},"modified":"2026-04-06T13:55:58","modified_gmt":"2026-04-06T04:55:58","slug":"n-korean-markets-fall-silent-as-merchants-and-customers-vanish","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/n-korean-markets-fall-silent-as-merchants-and-customers-vanish\/","title":{"rendered":"N. Korean markets fall silent as merchants and customers vanish"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"whitespace-pre-wrap break-words\">North Korean marketplaces are experiencing a significant decline in activity. Sources indicate both customer traffic and merchant presence have notably decreased.<\/p>\n<p class=\"whitespace-pre-wrap break-words\">Recent photos obtained by Daily NK from a marketplace in Sinuiju, North Pyongan province, reveal scattered merchants displaying food and industrial goods amid numerous empty stalls.<\/p>\n<p class=\"whitespace-pre-wrap break-words\">&#8220;These photos were taken around 3 p.m., shortly before the market&#8217;s opening time,&#8221; said a local source. &#8220;Usually, merchants would be jostling to enter with their goods. It&#8217;s unusual to see so few vendors.&#8221;<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_62532\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-62532\" style=\"width: 741px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/02\/20250212_hya_\uc7a5\ub9c8\ub2f92.jpeg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-62532 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/02\/20250212_hya_\uc7a5\ub9c8\ub2f92.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"741\" height=\"494\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/02\/20250212_hya_\uc7a5\ub9c8\ub2f92.jpeg 741w, https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/02\/20250212_hya_\uc7a5\ub9c8\ub2f92-300x200.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/02\/20250212_hya_\uc7a5\ub9c8\ub2f92-630x420.jpeg 630w, https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/02\/20250212_hya_\uc7a5\ub9c8\ub2f92-696x464.jpeg 696w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 741px) 100vw, 741px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-62532\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">A marketplace in Sinuiju, North Pyongan province, North Korea. \/Photo=Daily NK<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"whitespace-pre-wrap break-words\">The source explained that declining foot traffic stems from a combination of factors: &#8220;People lack money, and with street vendors setting up outside as evening approaches, the marketplace remains quiet. Once darkness falls, vendors line the roads and alleyways outside, so nobody bothers entering the market even though it&#8217;s open until 8 p.m.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"whitespace-pre-wrap break-words\">Some merchants are abandoning their stalls, seeing little reason to pay market taxes when sales are so low.<\/p>\n<p class=\"whitespace-pre-wrap break-words\">Even vendors selling popular items are struggling. &#8220;Soybean-based &#8216;artificial meat&#8217; is a beloved side dish, but when even these vendors can&#8217;t make sales, imagine how other merchants are faring,&#8221; the source noted. &#8220;With business this poor, some are leaving to avoid paying market taxes.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"whitespace-pre-wrap break-words\">Another source from the province pointed to state construction projects as an additional deterrent: &#8220;The government is pushing construction work everywhere. If you&#8217;re caught walking around, you risk being drafted into construction sites \u2013 that&#8217;s another reason people avoid the marketplace.&#8221;<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_62533\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-62533\" style=\"width: 741px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/02\/20250212_hya_\uc7a5\ub9c8\ub2f97.jpeg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-62533 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/02\/20250212_hya_\uc7a5\ub9c8\ub2f97.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"741\" height=\"494\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/02\/20250212_hya_\uc7a5\ub9c8\ub2f97.jpeg 741w, https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/02\/20250212_hya_\uc7a5\ub9c8\ub2f97-300x200.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/02\/20250212_hya_\uc7a5\ub9c8\ub2f97-630x420.jpeg 630w, https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/02\/20250212_hya_\uc7a5\ub9c8\ub2f97-696x464.jpeg 696w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 741px) 100vw, 741px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-62533\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">A marketplace in Sinuiju, North Pyongan province, North Korea. \/Photo=Daily NK<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"whitespace-pre-wrap break-words\">These factors have transformed these once-bustling centers of North Korean economic activity into eerily quiet spaces.<\/p>\n<p class=\"whitespace-pre-wrap break-words\">The marketplace photos reveal a predominance of Chinese-made goods. Among them are &#8220;84&#8221; branded laundry soap, scrubbing pads, and various cosmetics and sundries \u2013 likely all Chinese imports rather than domestic products.<\/p>\n<p class=\"whitespace-pre-wrap break-words\">In one photo, a merchant wears a hat bearing the South Korean &#8220;FILA&#8221; logo, presumably unaware of its origin. The hat was likely either imported from China or locally produced without knowledge of the brand&#8217;s nationality.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_62534\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-62534\" style=\"width: 741px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/02\/20250212_hya_\uc7a5\ub9c8\ub2f96.jpeg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-62534 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/02\/20250212_hya_\uc7a5\ub9c8\ub2f96.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"741\" height=\"494\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/02\/20250212_hya_\uc7a5\ub9c8\ub2f96.jpeg 741w, https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/02\/20250212_hya_\uc7a5\ub9c8\ub2f96-300x200.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/02\/20250212_hya_\uc7a5\ub9c8\ub2f96-630x420.jpeg 630w, https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/02\/20250212_hya_\uc7a5\ub9c8\ub2f96-696x464.jpeg 696w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 741px) 100vw, 741px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-62534\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">A marketplace in Sinuiju, North Pyongan province, North Korea. \/Photo=Daily NK<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"whitespace-pre-wrap break-words\">This reality stands in stark contrast to Kim Jong Un&#8217;s &#8220;20&#215;10 regional development policy,&#8221; now in its second year. While state media regularly showcases new provincial factories and satisfied citizens examining locally made products, the abundance of Chinese goods in marketplaces undermines the government&#8217;s promises to strengthen the domestic economy through high-quality local manufacturing.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/20250217-6\/\">Read in Korean<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>North Korean marketplaces are experiencing a significant decline in activity. Sources indicate both customer traffic and merchant presence have notably decreased. Recent photos obtained by Daily NK from a marketplace in Sinuiju, North Pyongan province, reveal scattered merchants displaying food and industrial goods amid numerous empty stalls. &#8220;These photos were taken around 3 p.m., shortly [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":256,"featured_media":62531,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wikipediapreview_detectlinks":true,"footnotes":""},"categories":[67,645],"tags":[743,886,972,1007,2077,100,140,695,696,714],"class_list":["post-62530","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news","category-economy","tag-factories","tag-manufacturing","tag-finance","tag-imports","tag-regional-development","tag-markets","tag-construction","tag-sinuiju","tag-north-pyongan-province","tag-economy"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.7 (Yoast SEO v28.2) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>N. Korean markets fall silent as merchants and customers vanish - North Korea News \u2014 Daily NK | Latest DPRK Updates 2026<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"North Korean marketplaces are experiencing a significant decline in activity, with both customer traffic and merchant presence decreasing.\" \/>\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\/n-korean-markets-fall-silent-as-merchants-and-customers-vanish\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"N. Korean markets fall silent as merchants and customers vanish\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"North Korean marketplaces are experiencing a significant decline in activity, with both customer traffic and merchant presence decreasing.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/n-korean-markets-fall-silent-as-merchants-and-customers-vanish\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"North Korea News \u2014 Daily NK | Latest DPRK Updates 2026\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-02-24T08:58:45+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-04-06T04:55:58+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/02\/20250212_hya_\uc7a5\ub9c8\ub2f93-696x464-1.jpeg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"696\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"464\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Seon Hwa\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Seon Hwa\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/n-korean-markets-fall-silent-as-merchants-and-customers-vanish\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/n-korean-markets-fall-silent-as-merchants-and-customers-vanish\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Seon Hwa\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/56e31cad2f3fd00c6933bcc75fd064f0\"},\"headline\":\"N. Korean markets fall silent as merchants and customers vanish\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-02-24T08:58:45+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-04-06T04:55:58+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/n-korean-markets-fall-silent-as-merchants-and-customers-vanish\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":451,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/n-korean-markets-fall-silent-as-merchants-and-customers-vanish\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2025\\\/02\\\/20250212_hya_\uc7a5\ub9c8\ub2f93-696x464-1.jpeg\",\"keywords\":[\"factories\",\"manufacturing\",\"finance\",\"imports\",\"regional development\",\"markets\",\"construction\",\"sinuiju\",\"north pyongan province\",\"economy\"],\"articleSection\":[\"News\",\"Economy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/n-korean-markets-fall-silent-as-merchants-and-customers-vanish\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/n-korean-markets-fall-silent-as-merchants-and-customers-vanish\\\/\",\"name\":\"N. Korean markets fall silent as merchants and customers vanish - North Korea News \u2014 Daily NK | Latest DPRK Updates 2026\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/n-korean-markets-fall-silent-as-merchants-and-customers-vanish\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/n-korean-markets-fall-silent-as-merchants-and-customers-vanish\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2025\\\/02\\\/20250212_hya_\uc7a5\ub9c8\ub2f93-696x464-1.jpeg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-02-24T08:58:45+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-04-06T04:55:58+00:00\",\"description\":\"North Korean marketplaces are experiencing a significant decline in activity, with both customer traffic and merchant presence decreasing.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/n-korean-markets-fall-silent-as-merchants-and-customers-vanish\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/n-korean-markets-fall-silent-as-merchants-and-customers-vanish\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/n-korean-markets-fall-silent-as-merchants-and-customers-vanish\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2025\\\/02\\\/20250212_hya_\uc7a5\ub9c8\ub2f93-696x464-1.jpeg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2025\\\/02\\\/20250212_hya_\uc7a5\ub9c8\ub2f93-696x464-1.jpeg\",\"width\":696,\"height\":464,\"caption\":\"markets\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/n-korean-markets-fall-silent-as-merchants-and-customers-vanish\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"N. Korean markets fall silent as merchants and customers vanish\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/\",\"name\":\"North Korea News \u2014 Daily NK | Latest DPRK Updates 2026\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Daily NK English\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2026\\\/04\\\/top_logo@1x.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2026\\\/04\\\/top_logo@1x.png\",\"width\":272,\"height\":90,\"caption\":\"Daily NK English\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"description\":\"An independent online news organization based in Seoul, South Korea, reporting on internal North Korean affairs through a network of in-country sources and defector journalists. Part of the Unification Media Group (UMG) consortium.\",\"email\":\"dailynkenglish@uni-media.net\",\"telephone\":\"82-2-732-6998\",\"legalName\":\"DailyNK\",\"foundingDate\":\"2004-12-01\",\"numberOfEmployees\":{\"@type\":\"QuantitativeValue\",\"minValue\":\"1\",\"maxValue\":\"10\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/56e31cad2f3fd00c6933bcc75fd064f0\",\"name\":\"Seon Hwa\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2026\\\/02\\\/9f4cf0f24b376077a2fcdab2e85c3584-150x150.webp\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2026\\\/02\\\/9f4cf0f24b376077a2fcdab2e85c3584-150x150.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2026\\\/02\\\/9f4cf0f24b376077a2fcdab2e85c3584-150x150.webp\",\"caption\":\"Seon Hwa\"},\"description\":\"Seon Hwa focuses on North Korea-China trade trends and changes in the daily lives of ordinary North Koreans. Questions about her articles can be directed to dailynkenglish(at)uni-media.net.\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/author\\\/seonhwadailynk\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"N. Korean markets fall silent as merchants and customers vanish - North Korea News \u2014 Daily NK | Latest DPRK Updates 2026","description":"North Korean marketplaces are experiencing a significant decline in activity, with both customer traffic and merchant presence decreasing.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/n-korean-markets-fall-silent-as-merchants-and-customers-vanish\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"N. Korean markets fall silent as merchants and customers vanish","og_description":"North Korean marketplaces are experiencing a significant decline in activity, with both customer traffic and merchant presence decreasing.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/n-korean-markets-fall-silent-as-merchants-and-customers-vanish\/","og_site_name":"North Korea News \u2014 Daily NK | Latest DPRK Updates 2026","article_published_time":"2025-02-24T08:58:45+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-04-06T04:55:58+00:00","og_image":[{"width":696,"height":464,"url":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/02\/20250212_hya_\uc7a5\ub9c8\ub2f93-696x464-1.jpeg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Seon Hwa","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Seon Hwa","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/n-korean-markets-fall-silent-as-merchants-and-customers-vanish\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/n-korean-markets-fall-silent-as-merchants-and-customers-vanish\/"},"author":{"name":"Seon Hwa","@id":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/#\/schema\/person\/56e31cad2f3fd00c6933bcc75fd064f0"},"headline":"N. Korean markets fall silent as merchants and customers vanish","datePublished":"2025-02-24T08:58:45+00:00","dateModified":"2026-04-06T04:55:58+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/n-korean-markets-fall-silent-as-merchants-and-customers-vanish\/"},"wordCount":451,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/n-korean-markets-fall-silent-as-merchants-and-customers-vanish\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/02\/20250212_hya_\uc7a5\ub9c8\ub2f93-696x464-1.jpeg","keywords":["factories","manufacturing","finance","imports","regional development","markets","construction","sinuiju","north pyongan province","economy"],"articleSection":["News","Economy"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/n-korean-markets-fall-silent-as-merchants-and-customers-vanish\/","url":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/n-korean-markets-fall-silent-as-merchants-and-customers-vanish\/","name":"N. Korean markets fall silent as merchants and customers vanish - North Korea News \u2014 Daily NK | Latest DPRK Updates 2026","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/n-korean-markets-fall-silent-as-merchants-and-customers-vanish\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/n-korean-markets-fall-silent-as-merchants-and-customers-vanish\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/02\/20250212_hya_\uc7a5\ub9c8\ub2f93-696x464-1.jpeg","datePublished":"2025-02-24T08:58:45+00:00","dateModified":"2026-04-06T04:55:58+00:00","description":"North Korean marketplaces are experiencing a significant decline in activity, with both customer traffic and merchant presence decreasing.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/n-korean-markets-fall-silent-as-merchants-and-customers-vanish\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/n-korean-markets-fall-silent-as-merchants-and-customers-vanish\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/n-korean-markets-fall-silent-as-merchants-and-customers-vanish\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/02\/20250212_hya_\uc7a5\ub9c8\ub2f93-696x464-1.jpeg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/02\/20250212_hya_\uc7a5\ub9c8\ub2f93-696x464-1.jpeg","width":696,"height":464,"caption":"markets"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/n-korean-markets-fall-silent-as-merchants-and-customers-vanish\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"N. Korean markets fall silent as merchants and customers vanish"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/","name":"North Korea News \u2014 Daily NK | Latest DPRK Updates 2026","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/#organization","name":"Daily NK English","url":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/04\/top_logo@1x.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/04\/top_logo@1x.png","width":272,"height":90,"caption":"Daily NK English"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"description":"An independent online news organization based in Seoul, South Korea, reporting on internal North Korean affairs through a network of in-country sources and defector journalists. Part of the Unification Media Group (UMG) consortium.","email":"dailynkenglish@uni-media.net","telephone":"82-2-732-6998","legalName":"DailyNK","foundingDate":"2004-12-01","numberOfEmployees":{"@type":"QuantitativeValue","minValue":"1","maxValue":"10"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/#\/schema\/person\/56e31cad2f3fd00c6933bcc75fd064f0","name":"Seon Hwa","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/02\/9f4cf0f24b376077a2fcdab2e85c3584-150x150.webp","url":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/02\/9f4cf0f24b376077a2fcdab2e85c3584-150x150.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/02\/9f4cf0f24b376077a2fcdab2e85c3584-150x150.webp","caption":"Seon Hwa"},"description":"Seon Hwa focuses on North Korea-China trade trends and changes in the daily lives of ordinary North Koreans. Questions about her articles can be directed to dailynkenglish(at)uni-media.net.","url":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/author\/seonhwadailynk\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62530","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/256"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=62530"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62530\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":62537,"href":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62530\/revisions\/62537"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/62531"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=62530"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=62530"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=62530"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}