To follow up on a previous “NK Market Trends” segment, Unification Media Group sat down with economic reporter Kang Mi Jin to ask some additional questions about North Korea’s markets, specifically regarding South Korean products.

1. The North Korean market has

already shown aspects of capitalist marketization, and we’ve heard that the

North Korean authorities are cracking down hard because of that. According to

some recent rumors, however, those very authorities are publicly using South

Korean products. Can you tell us about that?

Yes. Just

recently a North Korean living around the North Korea-China border went to go

visit their relatives in China. On their way back, they picked up some South

Korean items like rice cookers and makeup that some neighbors had requested.

After bribing the customs officer, they sold some of these items on the market

and got caught. They went to the security office and saw something shocking:

the security officers were drinking South Korean coffee that they had confiscated

in plain sight!

Basically, everyone knows that South Korean

products are the best, whether you’re a security officer or an ordinary

citizen. Even kids think of people that use South Korean products as “the

rich”. It reminds me of the 80s when everyone preferred Japanese products to

anything else. Japanese products are, of course, still good, but most North

Koreans prefer South Korean products. We’ve heard that high-level officials use

a lot of South Korean products too. People argue with security officers that

confiscate these items, saying that they know the security officers’ families

use them too. And it’s true; security officers frequently confiscate items sent

by defectors in South Korea and then use them themselves.

2. The North Korean authorities seem to

frequently censor items and take them off the market, so the North Korean

people must be used to dealing with it by now, right? Do the authorities just

take everything away? What happens, exactly?

Yes, well, first of all, there are two

types of raids: one where the North Korean authorities declare that certain

items are illegal, and two, where the raid is completely unexpected. The

unannounced raid usually comes after certain items are declared illegal.

They’re given a period of time in which to get rid of the items; the

unannounced raid is done afterwards to make sure that the people have complied.

So, for example, let’s say that a certain item is declared illegal and the

information is spread through community organizations and the market’s managing

offices. Afterwards, everyone would try to hide the items so they don’t get

caught. If they do and tempers flare and the situation escalates, security

guards are called to take away all of the illegal items. If not, and the person

that was caught begs for forgiveness, they might be let off the hook. After a

suitable bribe has been given, of course.

A background check is instigated for

especially belligerent people who absolutely refuse to comply because these

people might have powerful connections or might be very wealthy. People with

connections might be induced to comply depending on who they know or what

background they have. The wealthy are immediately negotiated with for bribes.

There’s also a system in place where you can rat other people out to save yourself.

If you don’t have any connections or money,

you would most probably try your best not to get caught. Obviously, this system

of constant censorship is harmful to the people. There are probably many of you

listening in North Korea right now who can empathize with many of these

situations.

3. You would think that as all of this

censorship and raiding continues, the North Korean people would stop using

South Korean products, but we hear that that’s not the case. In fact, sales for

these particular items are going up. Do you think the North Korean authorities

could ever stop the people from using South Korean products?

I really wish I could tell the North Korean

authorities to stop wasting their energy on trying to stop the people from

using South Korean products and to instead just let them freely and peacefully

buy and sell items on the market. The North Korean people often say, “If they

say not to do it, we do it more. Products don’t have an ideology.” Basically,

the more the authorities say not to do something, the more they try to crack

down and regulate, the more the people will want to do it. And, if they’re

going to outlaw a certain item, why do they just outlaw the ones that are from

South Korea? Why not the products from China? It doesn’t make sense. Anyone can

see that South Korean product quality is superior to Chinese. And if the prices

were the same, obviously people would want to buy items made in South Korea. I

wish the Kim Jong Eun regime would understand that they’ve seriously misjudged

the situation.

In North Korea, there are more high-level

officials that listen to South Korean broadcasts than ordinary citizens. To the

party officials, the national security officials, and just any puppet with

power in the Kim Jong Eun regime listening to this broadcast right now: think

about what you’re doing. You are regulating the people by force and putting

incredible pressure on them. This will bring you nothing but hostility. Think

about who you are and what you should stand for.