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NGO: Concern Worldwide

Wednesday, August 18th, 2010

(h/t CanKor) According tot he Concern Worldwide web page, they are engaged in the following projects in the DPRK:

Sanitation
Concern has recently begun work on an EU-funded programme in Phyongan province.

This work is focusing on sanitation and waste disposal in Hoichang town. We’re building water systems and improving sewage treatment systems and latrines in the area.

Over 55,000 people will benefit from this work.

Nutrition
Another EU-funded Concern programme is focusing on nutrition. We are aiming to increase sustainable food production in Hoichang and Koksan, and in two neighbouring cooperative farms.

To do this, we are establishing urban greenhouses, irrigation systems and goat milk processing facilities. We are also working with locals to increase their technical and management skills.

This programme will benefit over 43,000 people.

Water works
An important part of our work is focused on water, sanitation and hygiene promotion.

Between 2004 and 2009, Concern provided 252,500 people in the country with clean drinking water. We did this by renovating pump stations and providing household connections. Key innovations have included gravity-fed water systems and the use of solar powered water pumping systems.

In addition, 46,800 people have benefitted from improved sanitation facilities, especially in institutions such as schools, kindergartens, nurseries and the county hospital.

Forestry
In the rural communities where we work, our focus has been on halting deforestation and improving farming techniques.

We have provided 270,000 potted tree seedlings to three community-run nurseries. These potted seedlings grow quickly – in three to nine months – with undamaged root systems.

This is a major improvement on the more traditional bed-grown seedlings that were previously used. Traditional seedlings usually take one to three years to grow and often suffer from damaged roots.

As a result of the success of the potted seedlings, the Ministry of Lands and Environmental Protection is now keen to extend their use countrywide.

As part of our forestry work, we have also supplied nurseries with tools, pots and fuel.

Improving crops
With supervision from the Academy of Agricultural Research, we undertook a series of crop trials. We wanted to find out what types of crops could flourish on the lower slopes of hills and mountains.

The crops included new varieties of rice, sweet potato, sorghum, soya bean, millet, hybrid maize and ground nuts.

The trials were successful. There were positive results: the hybrid maize produced twice the normal yield; the millet produced standard yields using only half the normal amount of fertiliser. These crops are now being incorporated into the annual co-operative crop plans.

The ability to grow these crops on lower slopes will alleviate the pressure to produce crops on the higher steeper slopes.

Food production
Another EU-funded project aims at improving food production for people living on sloping land.

As part of this project, we are introducing conservation agriculture, which will increase yields, reduce soil erosion and reduce labour requirements to produce food.

We are also improving crop storage to reduce the post-harvest losses, and conducting crop trials for improved varieties of maize, winter wheat, soya bean, upland rice and potatoes.

Posted in Agriculture, CanKor, Concern, Food, International Aid | Comments Closed

DPRK govt monitoring grain prices in markets

Monday, August 9th, 2010

According to the Joong Ang Daily:

North Korea has added corn and rice to the list of items to be monitored for price hikes at markets in Pyongyang, a South Korean official said yesterday, suggesting that food staples are increasingly traded privately in the capital as its rationing system falters.

A Unification Ministry official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity due to the information’s classified nature, said North Korean authorities recently introduced price caps on the two staples at markets in Pyongyang.

“The regime appears to be increasingly allowing markets to take over the role its rationing system once played,” the official said, adding that the two items were not on the monitor list when his ministry obtained a copy of the document in February.

North Korea allows a limited number of markets to operate independently under strict rules. The country apparently cracked down on its growing merchant class when it conducted a sweeping currency reform last year.

…

In a related development, a Unification Ministry report said earlier this week that the price of farm products such as beans, chicken, corn and rice shot up two to three times from February to July.

The report said the increases can also be attributed to the appreciation of the Chinese yuan. Because North Korea imports many of its products from China, the rise of the yuan’s value can also affect the purchasing power of North Korea.

Read the full story here:
North eases trade rules on corn, rice
Joong Ang Daily
8/5/2010

Posted in Agriculture, Food, General markets (FMR: Farmers Market) | Comments Closed

DPRK seizes ROK fishing ship

Sunday, August 8th, 2010

UPDATE 3 (9/6/2010): The DPRK has announced the release of the fishing crew. According to Reuters:

North Korea said on Monday it was releasing the seven-man crew of a South Korean fishing boat, including three Chinese, after they illegally entered its waters last month.

State news agency KCNA said the crew would be sent back South Korea “taking into consideration the fact that they admitted the seriousness of their act and gave assurances that they would never repeat such an act”.

Tensions have mounted on the peninsula this year after the sinking of a South Korean warship — Seoul says it was sunk by a North Korean torpedo — and a series of recent military drills by the United States and South Korea.

UPDATE 2 (8/18/2010): The DPRK has acknowledged that it has the ship and crew. According to Bloomberg:

North Korea confirmed it seized a South Korean fishing boat last week off the communist country’s east coast for violation of the maritime border.

North Korea is investigating the four South Korean and three Chinese crew members, who had “confessed that they intruded into the economic waters,” the state-run Korean Central News Agency reported. The North Korean navy captured the boat on Aug. 8 at around 10:15 a.m. local time, the report said.

South Korea has sent a message to North Korea, urging a swift return of the 41-ton Daeseung and its crew. The incident came amid heightened tensions between the two countries after the South accused the North of torpedoing one of its warships in March, killing 46 sailors.

North Korea fired a barrage of artillery shells into the water off its west coast on Aug. 9 after repeated threats of “retaliation” against South Korea’s joint naval drills with the U.S. The U.S. and the South held anti-submarine exercises off the Asian country’s east coast last month and plan to hold more in the coming months.

UPDATE 1 (8/11/2010): According to Yonhap:

South Korea said Wednesday it sent North Korea a message urging the prompt release of the crew of a South Korean fishing boat the communist state seized three days ago amid high military tensions.

North Korea accepted the message delivered through a western military hotline between the two countries at 10 a.m., Unification Ministry spokeswoman Lee Jong-joo said in a briefing.

The message, addressed to the North’s top Red Cross official, contains a call by his South Korean counterpart to free the seven crew members of the Daeseung “promptly in line with international law and customs and on humanitarian grounds,” Lee said.

South Korea is investigating whether the 41-ton boat, which had left for a joint fishing area off the east coast of the Korean Peninsula on Aug. 1, trespassed into the North’s exclusive economic zone. Pyongyang has yet to offer any word on the state of the crew that included four South Koreans and three Chinese.

“We have also asked the North to explain in detail how the fishing boat was seized,” Lee said, adding the Red Cross channel is often used in inter-Korean issues involving civilian boats.

The seizure came amid high tensions between the two Koreas in the wake of the deadly March sinking of a South Korean warship near their western sea border. On Monday, North Korea fired more than 100 rounds of artillery along the Yellow Sea border near the area where South Korea had just ended five-day-long naval drills.

A government source said South Korea and China have been discussing the issue.

“An official at the South Korean embassy in China met with a Chinese government official a few times recently” to discuss the seizure and share information, the source said on condition of anonymity. “The seized crew include Chinese … If negotiations for their release begin in the future, we plan to cooperate with China where necessary.”

In July of last year, a South Korean fishing boat, the Yeonan, accidentally crossed into North Korea’s waters and was towed to a nearby port. The boat was released about a month later.

And according to Reuters:

Chinese diplomats in North Korea were trying to check the reports, said China’s official Xinhua news agency.

“If the report is confirmed, the DPRK should treat the Chinese crew members well with humanitarianism, guarantee their rights and interests, and inform the Chinese side of their conditions, the (Chinese) officials said,” according to Xinhua.

ORIGINAL POST: Surprisingly not anywhere near the NLL…

According to the New York Times:

North Korea seized a South Korean fishing boat in waters near their eastern sea border, the South Korean Coast Guard said Sunday, straining already high tensions between the two Koreas.

The 41-ton squidding boat was believed to have been detained after entering the North’s exclusive economic zone, where foreign fishing boats are banned, the coast guard said in a statement.

Four South Koreans and three Chinese crew members were on board. South Korea’s national news agency, Yonhap, quoting an unnamed coast guard official, said that the ship was being towed to Songjin, a port on the eastern coast of North Korea, for interrogation of the crew.

“Our government hopes for the safe return of our ship and crew according to international laws,” the coast guard’s statement said.

…

The South Korean squid ship left Pohang, a port on the east coast of South Korea, on Aug. 1 and was scheduled to return to port on Sept. 10. It made its last daily radio report to the South Korean Coast Guard on Saturday evening.

UPDATE via the Washington Post:

According to one report in the South Korean media, the boat was operating in a maritime area shared by North Korea and Russia, about 160 miles off the North Korean coast.

Additional thoughts
1. Well it is probably a good thing there was a Chinese crew aboard the ship as this will make it difficult for the DPRK to claim the fishing vessel was attempting espionage. If Chinese fishermen can protect South Korean ships from DPRK espionage accusations we might be able to predict that an escalation in tensions between North and South Korea will result in increased employment of Chinese fishermen in the ROK….Chinese fishermen index?

2. Songjin is known in North Korea as Kimchaek. See a satellite image of it here.

Posted in Agriculture, Sea shipping, South Korea, Transportation | 1 Comment »

Regular food rations not provided as Prices Soar and food shortages grow in DPRK

Friday, August 6th, 2010

Institute for Far Eastern Studies (IFES)
NK Brief No. 10-08-06-1
8/6/2010

Over the last five months, regular food rations have not been provided even to those in the capital city of Pyongyang, indicating the severity of food shortages in North Korea. According to the ROK Ministry of Unification, rice and corn were added to the list of goods with controlled prices in at least one market in Pyongyang. A list of controlled goods with state-set upper price limits has been distributed to each market throughout North Korea since 2003. While prices may vary slightly, comparing them with earlier price caps gives a good indication of the availability of goods.

The July appearance of rice and corn on the list of restricted goods, neither of which has been on the list even as far back as February, when strict market controls were enacted in the aftermath of failed currency reform measures, indicates that the ration system is not operating normally, even in Pyongyang. It also means that not only are officials not receiving normal rations, but that average residents are relying more on markets for their food. One Unification Ministry official stated, “Rice was on the list of controlled goods in markets outside of Pyongyang in February, but couldn’t be found in markets in the capital city…in July, rice and corn emerged [as items with price caps] in Pyongyang markets.” The official also explained that as the food ration system collapsed even in Pyongyang, the issuance of price caps on rice and corn was an indication that more people were turning to the markets to buy these staples.

Looking at other goods on the list, it appears that agricultural goods cost 3~7 times more in July than in February, and manufactured goods were as much as 7 times more expensive. Necessary goods, both agricultural and manufactured, have grown considerably more expensive in North Korea over just five months. More specifically, beans were up 3.6-fold; chicken, 3.3-fold; lettuce, 3-fold; apples, 6.3-fold; rice and corn, 2-fold. Ball-point pens and other daily-use items were up 5~6-fold. In July, rice sold for 550 won per kilogram, while corn was priced at 280 won per kilo.

The price caps are upper limits set by North Korean authorities, but the reality is that goods are often sold at higher prices. The shortage of agricultural goods, and the fact that the Chinese Yuan has appreciated 3-fold since February, has led to these record price-hikes. On May 26, Workers’ Party of Korea (WPK) authorities issued a decree, “Regarding Korea’s Current Food Situation,” calling for residents to fend for themselves. As prices skyrocketed on agricultural goods, one measure adopted by North Korean authorities has been to more than double exports of iron ore from Musan, North Hamgyong Province to China, while drastically increasing the import of corn. This increased import of corn has brought down the price of rice from 1,200 to 900 won per kilogram in Musan, while corn itself has fallen from 600 to 500 won. On the other hand, the drop in the foreign currency exchange rate in mid-July caused a shortage of dollars, driving the price of rice up to as high as 1,200 won per kilogram in some regions.

Posted in Agriculture, Agriculture statistics, Food, General markets (FMR: Farmers Market), Price liberalization, Public Distribiution System (PDS), RoK Ministry of Unification | Comments Closed

Flooding claims lives in DPRK

Wednesday, August 4th, 2010

UPDATE: According to the Associated Press (8/5/2010):

Flooding last month caused serious damage in North Korea, destroying homes, farms, roads and buildings and hurting the economy, state media said Thursday.

About 36,700 acres (14,850 hectares) of farmland was submerged and 5,500 homes and 350 public buildings and facilities were destroyed or flooded, the official Korean Central News Agency said.

“Not a small number of industrial establishments were damaged or flooded, inflicting an adverse effect on the economic growth and the people’s living,” the report said.

Landslides caused by the torrential rains wrecked bridges and roads and caused a power equipment failure that disrupted railroad traffic in some parts of the country, KCNA said.

“Active efforts have been made to heal the flood damage in the affected areas,” the report said without elaboration.

KCNA reported casualties in Jagang and South Hamgyong provinces but did not say how many, nor if people were injured or had died.

The news agency had previously reported heavy rains fell in the country in mid- to late July, but those earlier reports did not mention flooding or damage. State media in the impoverished, reclusive nation often report news days or weeks after an event takes place.

There was no indication the North would need outside help to deal with the flooding.

In 2007, the regime did seek outside help to cope with its most severe flooding in decades. About 600 people were dead or missing and 100,000 homeless after those floods, which destroyed more than 11 percent of the country’s crops.

North Korea is prone to floods and landslides due to poor drainage systems and massive deforestation after a famine in the 1990s that is believed to have killed as many as 2 million people.

The impoverished nation has relied on foreign aid to feed its 24 million people since its economy was devastated by natural disasters and mismanagement in the 1990s.

ORIGINAL POST: According to the Choson Ilbo:

Heavy rains since mid-July have inflicted heavy losses in North Korea, with 120 killed in Hungnam, South Hamgyong Province alone, Radio Free Asia reported Tuesday.

Quoting a source in Chongjin in the province, the radio station said over 2,000 people along the Songchon River were completely isolated when localized torrential rain that fell in Hungnam for three hours on July 22 flooded the dikes. Most of them were rescued by military helicopters and fishing boats, but 120, including 40 middle school students mobilized to help farmers, died.

A source in Sinuiju, North Pyongan Province said rumor has it that over 160 drowned in Hungnam. There are said to have been many casualties in Kaechon, South Pyongan Province as well.

Some 60 Workers’ Party officials heading for Mt. Baekdu on an inspection tour were stranded on their train as part of the railroad was washed away in Unhung, Yanggang Province, said a source in the province. All markets were closed due to destroyed roads and railroads, further aggravating the suffering of the locals.

North Korea’s official media detailed some of the damage from the rainstorms. North Korea Central TV on July 28 showed damage inflicted in July in the unusual format of a reporter discussing it with an official from the Ministry of Land Environment Protection, but they said nothing about casualties.

Read the full story here:
‘Hundreds of N.Koreans Killed in Floods’
Choson Ilbo
8/4/2010

Posted in Agriculture, Food | 1 Comment »

North Korea expanding farming areas

Friday, July 30th, 2010

Institute for Far Eastern Studies (IFES)
NK Brief No.10-07-30-1
7/30/2010

North Korean media outlets are reporting large-scale development of tidelands as part of ongoing economic projects. There have been reports on a land reclamation project in the tideland area of Daekye-do, in North Pyongan Province, that was completed on June 30. The Korea Central News Agency (KCNA) and the Workers’ Party newspaper Rodong Sinmun both ran stories on July 1 stating that the Central Committee of the Workers Party sent a letter of congratulations to the construction workers and supporters of the project, calling it, “A massive project of reclaiming Mother Nature, no less significant than the construction of the West Sea Flood Gates.”

The project, completed at the end of last month, reclaimed tideland in North Pyongan Province from Dasa-do, off the coast of Yeomju and Cholsan villages, to Kacha-do, Soyondong-do, Daekye-do, Tokye-do, and the Cholsan peninsula. It comprises 13.7 km of shoreline and more than 87 million square meters of land.

On July 22, the Choson Sinbo reported that North Korea planned to reclaim more than 59.9 million square meters or farm land by the end of 2012. The story also noted that the second phase of the land reclamation project in North Pyongan Province was in full swing, and that the first phase of a second project around Ryongmae-do, South Hwanghae Province, was scheduled to be completed by 2012.

The massive Daekye-do project completed at the end of June would be more than 10 times the size of Seoul’s Yeoui-do area, with more than two thirds of the area being reclaimed land. As background for the article, the newspaper explained, “As one way to expand crop production in [North Korea], the focus is being placed on the expansion of farmland through tideland reclamation.”

Related to this, the KCNA reported on July 15 that Kim Jong Il had visited the Daekye-do project, and said, “Land reclamation is an important project in the nation’s rich and powerful development.” Such a statement is tantamount to ordering the expansion of reclamation activities. Kim Jong Il also called for focusing national interest on difficult and massive reclamation projects to be carried out in the future, demanding that “policies necessary to support these projects must be thoroughly implemented.”

It was reported that Kim expressed ‘extreme satisfaction’ over the successfully completed Daekye-do project. After inspecting the area, he stated that the reclaimed farm land needed to be used “to full effect,” while at the same time more land reclamation projects should be carried out in order to completely resolve the North’s food shortage. North Korean media reported that Kim Jong said, “What is important here is to continue strongly extending the land reclamation project.” The KCNA also reported that North Korean state authorities, Party and Cabinet ministers, and supervisors from central government agencies accompanied Kim Jong Il on his tour of the Daekye-do land reclamation site.

On July 4, Korea Central Television (KCTV) reported, “Power plants throughout the country produced 1.2 times more electricity in the first half of this year than they did last year,” and the KCNA emphasized increased production in a number of factories, stating that compared to production plans, “In the Bakchon Silk Factory, rug production was 101%, regular cloth production was 107%, and ramie cloth liner production was 130%” of production quotas. In addition, “Along with the Pyongyang Daily Goods Factory production increase of 120%, the Nampo Glorious Soldier Shoe Factory, Hyeechon Silk Factory, Pyongyang Textile Factory and others are all meeting production goals.”

Posted in Agriculture, Energy, Institute for Far Eastern Studies | Comments Closed

Hikes in prices and exchange rates again shake DPRK markets

Tuesday, July 27th, 2010

Institute for Far Eastern Studies (IFES)
NK Brief No.10-07-19-4
7/19/2010

Market prices in North Korea, which had been falling since March, have again begun to grow since the second week of July. This year’s prices have not followed the trends normally seen in the North; usually, prices fluctuate around the April~May lean crop season. According to a Daily NK source within North Korea, rice cost 450-500 won/Kg at the Hyeryeong Market, in North Hamgyeong Province, up until the end of June. However, prices had shot up to 750 won/Kg by July 13. Corn had also risen to more than 400 won/Kg. Along with the rise in prices, the exchange rate for won-to-yuan rose to 150:1, indicating that the value of the North Korean won had plummeted to a very low level.

Since the mid-2000s, as market economics expanded in the North, food prices tended to shoot up during the lean season of April~May every year. After potato and barley harvests in late June, prices again rise until September, when food prices tend to drop in anticipation of fall grain harvests. Because of this trend, most market traders spend November and December concentrating on buying up food stocks, and they then actively sell their food stores after April. Government authorities have also been known to stockpile food at the end of a year in order to resell after April at considerably higher prices. This regular fluctuation of prices also leads most North Koreans to stockpile all the food they can in December and January.

However, with the currency reform efforts enacted last November 30, North Korea’s food prices set off on a very different trend. Because the North Korean authorities closed markets after last year’s currency reform, January rice prices soared to sixty times as much as before the reform measure. Markets were allowed to reopen after February 5, but food prices remained unstable through mid-March. As the food stockpiling that North Koreans needed to do in December was delayed until March, spring sales were driven more by demand than by supply.

At the beginning of April, Pyongyang authorized the distribution of a small amount of food. Residents of the capital city received enough corn to get through May and June, and these rations, along with rumors of food imports following Kim Jong Il’s trip to China, helped stabilize prices. However, this stability faltered after less than two months. Anticipated Chinese food imports never materialized, and authorities discussed food shortages. In May, North Ham Province party officials released an order titled ‘Each unit is to resolve the food problems in the latter half of the year’. The lack of food and confidence circulating even at government levels again undermined market stability.

A continually soaring exchange rate also drove up prices. The won-to-yuan rate had climbed to 110:1 by June, and in late July has risen to 150:1. North Korean prices rise with the exchange rate, so without food price stabilization measures from the government, food costs will likely continue to grow.

Traders in Hyesan, Yanggang Province have more freedom to trade than most in North Korea, and are permitted to cross over into China once every two weeks in order to purchase goods to sell in North Korean markets. However, prices in the region continue to grow as demand cannot be met, due in part to the rising exchange rate that makes it increasingly expensive to import Chinese goods.

In the aftermath of the currency reform, North Korean authorities have released some food originally slated for military use and enacted measures to force down prices in an attempt to sooth the public. But, these attempts provided only temporary stability, and cracks are again appearing under the weight of rising exchange rates.

North Korea is planning to hold the first meeting of Party leaders in 44 years, and the state media has been emphasizing the economic successes of Kim Jong Eun in order to shore up support for him. Despite the press, however, average citizens in the North only see rising prices. Recently, due to the harvest season, Hyesan markets have been open only between 3:00 and 7:00 in the afternoon. Despite the limited hours, when doors open there is no apparent crackdown on prices or on the use of foreign currency, and markets are operating freely. However, since increasing numbers of North Koreans find themselves broke after the currency reform, sales are still slow.

The North’s economic situation is likely to get worse. Flooding during the July-August rainy season could have a detrimental impact of fall harvests. Farms already suffered from frosts in the spring, raising expectations that this year’s harvests will be lean. If fall harvests are light, concerns over food could grow, further destabilizing the food markets. Food prices are expected to continue to rise, and if this inflation impacts other goods, as well, disturbances such as those seen in January are likely to occur.

Posted in Agriculture, General markets (FMR: Farmers Market), Price liberalization | Comments Closed

Rice price climbing

Tuesday, July 20th, 2010

According to the Daily NK:

The price of rice has exceeded 1,000 won in border areas of North Korea, according to sources.

A source from North Hamkyung Province reported to The Daily NK on Sunday that the rice price had reached 1,050 won in Hoiryeong, 1,000 won in Hyesan and 950 won in Shinuiju.

Another source from Hoiryeong reported on Monday morning, “Rice prices have been going up since July, and they continue to rise steeply. Once rice prices go up, other prices follow suit. It is worrisome.”

The pace of the rises is dramatic. On the 1st of this month, the price hit 500 won, on around the 11th, 750 won, and on the 18th, 1,000 won. In just two weeks, then, it has doubled. If it keeps rising at this speed, it will rise to more than 1,200 won, a price which was also recorded in February this year.

Indeed, one South Korean NGO, People for Successful Corean Reunification (PSCORE), said today that the rice price in Musan, North Hamkyung Province has already hit 1,200 won.

Sources unanimously agree that the cause of the rises is the rising value of the Chinese Yuan.

The North Hamkyung Province source said, “In one week, one Yuan grew to be worth 220 won (from 150 won). That is exactly double the value of the won late last month.” It is also exactly the same rate of increase as rice is experiencing.

The source predicted that, “In short order, one Yuan may be worth 300 won.”

“People are suffering from increasing food prices. Even corn is now 500 won (per kilogram),” he added.

Even though the authorities hope to trumpet economic achievements in the September Delegates’ Conference in order to publicize Kim Jong Eun’s succession, it seems that complaints against the third generation succession as well as rising food prices are increasing.

Sources are watching with keen interest whether the authorities are planning to try and ameliorate the skyrocketing prices.

Read the full story below:
Rice Prices Break Through 1,000 Won
Daily NK
Yoo Gwan Hee
7/19/2010

Posted in Agriculture, Food, General markets (FMR: Farmers Market), Price liberalization | Comments Closed

Food price update

Wednesday, July 14th, 2010

According to the Daily NK:

As previously reported, the price of rice in North Korea, which declined in March, has started soaring again. But this rice price fluctuation looks different from those of previous years.

According to a source from North Hamkyung Province, rice in Hoiryeong market was between 450 and 500 won per kilogram until late June, but on July 13th it hit 750 won. Corn rice is also more than 400 won now.

At the same time, one Yuan is now worth 150 won.

Since the mid-2000s when the market economy started to spread, rice prices have risen during the spring poverty season in April and May. And then, in around late June, when potatoes and barley are harvested, prices stabilize, and then, in September, they decline in expectation of the harvest.

Therefore, traders in the jangmadang generally buy rice and other grains in November and December and then sell them in the jangmadang during April. Cadres also use that regular cycle of food price rises and falls to profit by buying rice late in the year and releasing it for a higher prices during the next spring. Therefore, poorer people also try to get rice and grain in winter time.

However, since the currency redenomination, the fluctuations have changed.

Immediately after the redenomination, the authorities released a measure shutting down the markets, so in January rice prices rose by around 60 times compared with before the redenomination. The markets have been open once again since February 5th, but food prices remained unstable through mid-March. That was because people did not buy grains until March, at which time demand promptly far outstripped supply.

In April this year, there was a limited amount of food distribution and some residents in some districts of Pyongyang received corn, which they were supposed to receive in May and June, in advance. Additionally, as a result of Kim Jong Il’s visit to China, rumor had it that a large amount of food would be delivered, so rice prices were relatively flat.

However, when the rumor turned out to be empty, a decree was handed down to lower units in May ordering food self-reliance at the local level. This only intensified anxiety about the food situation.

More serious problems may come in July and August, monsoon season. If the weather affects farming, anxiety about food for the last half of the year will grow. Make things worse, there was cold-weather damage to farming early this year, so a lost harvest is clearly going to be on people’s minds.

On this, one source said, “Food wholesalers predict that prices will go on rising until the harvest in August. And when rising food prices influence general products, big troubles can come, like they did in January of this year.”

Click image to see Hoeryong market prices.

Read the full story here:
Food Price Cycle Twisting in the Wind
Daily NK
Yoo Gwan Hee
7/13/2010

Posted in Agriculture, Food, General markets (FMR: Farmers Market), Price liberalization | Comments Closed

The All-North Korean Pig Farming Sector

Saturday, July 10th, 2010

Accroding to the Daily NK:

The 8th issue of Rimjingang, the periodical written by North Korean underground journalists, sheds light on North Korea’s private livestock industry.

One article, “Livestock Industry Developing from Private Means of Living into Private Enterprise,” describes how pig farming has developed during and since the famine period. It explains how, under the functioning planned economy, the “livestock industry” amounted to each household unit raising pigs to sell on the side, but now the planned economy is little more than a distant memory and the livestock sector has been specialized and systematized into sectors; breeding, butchery, distribution and sale.

That is why in North Korean markets 90% of goods are Chinese, but 100% of pigs and pork is North Korean.

Under the planned economy, roughly 20% of people in rural areas privately raised pigs and sold them to state meat procurement stores for two kilograms of corn per kilo of meat, the report notes. But from the mid 1980s, procurement stores bought them for cash, so competition grew and eventually the stores had to close due to increasing prices and their own lack of ready cash. Since the 1990s, distribution has stopped and more than 50% of people have started raising pigs in more specialized ways, it adds.

The report goes on to explain that during the March of Tribulation people figured out that their salaries, even when received, represented a mere tiny fraction of the labor value they could realize by trading illegally in the jangmadang. Many were unwilling to put up with it.

“Going through the March of Tribulation, the profit motive through the market has opened the door to new food lives which the Leader cannot open with his slogan, ‘reform food lives with meat,’” the report asserts. “Now, since a powerful supply and demand system has been spontaneously established, anybody can afford to eat meat as long as they can earn money.”

“’Leave us alone!’ is the real voice of the people of Chosun,” the report concludes, adding that the phenomenon of the Chosun pig farming industry implies the clear potential to develop modern industry in North Korea.

The 8th edition of Rimjingang was published in Korean on June 30th.

Read the full story here:
The All-North Korean Pig Farming Sector
Daily NK
Yoo Gwan Hee
7/10/2010

Posted in Agriculture, Arduous March, Black markets, Food, General markets (FMR: Farmers Market), Rimjingang | Comments Closed

North Korean Economy Watch