![\"Women,](\"https:\/\/www.asiapress.org\/rimjin-gang\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/201310NK_01.jpg\")
<\/a>Women, selling rice from China, are eating noodles. Japanese brand \u201cAkita Komachi\u201d is found on a packing paper. Taken at a northern border town on October 2013. (ASIA PRESS)<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/p>\n
\u25c6 Specifics about research<\/h2>\n
ASIA PRESS has covered North Korea with the helps from reporting partners in the country for ten years.<\/p>\n
Even if North Hamkyung, Yanggang, North & South Pyongan, Kangwon Provinces and Pyongyang are coverable, frequent contacts are usually made with the ones in the northern part of North Korea. There are two ways of communication; either the cooperator or reporting partner comes out from North Korea to China for a business trip, or uses Chinese mobile phones provided by ASIA PRESS.<\/p>\n
As it is now known that the state ration system has been collapsed in North Korea, most of the people procure foods and everyday items from market with cash. Chinese RMB, USD, and EURO are used along with North Korean Won. Chinese RMB is a major foreign currency near Sino\u2013North Korea border area, while EURO and USD are commonly used in Pyongyang.<\/span><\/p>\n Exchange rate for foreign currency reflects actual rate. The value of North Korean Won is decided by not only the fluctuation of US Dollar but also by the fluctuation of Chinese RMB in the international currency market.<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n There has not been much difference among the regions on prices of basic daily items during the last several years. The industrial products are mostly imported from China. The cities close to China, like Shinuiju, Hyesan and Nasun, show cheaper prices compared to other regions. Similarly Chungjin, and Pyongsung, as distribution hubs, have cheaper price index as well. It is because the transportation cost rose and the middleman margin was added. The prices of staple food, such as rice and corn, show little difference.<\/p>\n In Japan, ASIA PRESS seems like the only news media who reports the trends of price indexes in North Korea regularly. Daily NK is listing the same data on their website in South Korea. Their data of price for rice differs from our data by 20%.<\/span><\/p>\n Concealment of the sanction by the authorities...<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n It seems that, the North Korean government did not explain to their people a new and more reinforced sanction has been imposed on their country by the international society, including China until mid May due to nuclear test and recent rocket launching. The official media and the speakers at a meeting for political study refer that American imperialist and its followers are blocking their country economically. However, \u201cNo explanation has been given for the detailed contents of the sanction, the subject goods or the reason,\u201d said the reporting partners. Thee North Korean government hid the truth on purpose.<\/span><\/p>\n The reporting partner in South Pyongan Province said, \u201cKaesong industrial complex was closed because the government pushed ahead nuclear test which no one wanted. I think that the people would turn their backs on Kim Jong-un regime if the economy fell into chaos by the sanction from China.\u201d ASIA PRESS asked him to investigate the customs office. The reporter reported that the officials from the customs office never admitted the effect of economic sanction although they had acknowledged the decrease of trade volume.<\/strong><\/p>\n Kim Jong-il regime suddenly executed a currency reform on November 2009. New currency was devalued to one hundredths from the old. It is a well known fact that big commotion occurred in the course of currency exchange as they imposed limits on amount and time span for exchange.<\/p>\n It was determined that the real price should be the same as the official one at the time. North Korean government released their policy that the official price should be based on the level that had been decided by \u2018July 1. measure of economy management improvement.\u2019 It seems that they gave a guiding price of 44 Won\/kg for rice at market; \u2018depending on region, price of 25 Won was determined,\u2019 said other sources. Official wages remained unchanged while they devalued the new currency by one hundredths.<\/span><\/p>\n The price of staple foods, \u2018rice,\u2019 and \u2018corn,\u2019 at the market became 15-40 Won in the new currency on December 2009, followed by the currency reform. The above table was drawn around that time. North Korea experienced hyper inflation for several years due to the currency reform. Price index showed more than 100 times hike. Exchange rate between North Korean Won and Chinese RMB went down continuously.<\/p>\n However, the hike has slowed down from the spring of 2013. From July 2014, at its peak, price started declining. Exchange rate between the two currencies was stabilized. The reason might be due to the inflow of foreign currency through increased export to China, but, too many unexplainable factors leave further research in other cover.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/strong><\/p>\n Chinese wine with a label, \u2018Insam Sambosul,\u2019 written in Korean along with Chinese noodle. At a border town on October 2013<\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n Following briefs are on the price trend of goods. There have been fluctuations in prices of goods; however, it is not certain whether it is due to other factors.<\/p>\n * Chinese RMB, which has been stable during several years, has gradually risen from early March when the sanction began. It was dropped again in mid March. The value fluctuation became wider.<\/p>\n * While the staple food, \u2018rice,\u2019 and \u2018corn,\u2019 have been stable for the last two years, the price of rice increased sharply from April by 20% compared to that of last year. On the opposite, corn price plummeted drastically since last year and shows severe fluctuation in May. The reason is not certain yet. As a result of price drop, farmers are greatly suffering.<\/p>\n * The price of gasoline and diesel is surely increasing, which pushed up the fare for commercial vehicle, called \u2018Servi Car,\u2019 and bus.<\/p>\n * The prices of shoes, clothes and boots from China have shown a sharp rise from early March. The price of a pair of shoes is said to have risen by 20-40 RMB, compared to that of last year. High quality clothes also show increase in price. There have been several cases of cornering Chinese products in Nasun market by wholesalers who expect price of goods to be risen in future.<\/p>\n *There is no report of limitation of daily goods from China at the border customs.<\/p>\n *There is no report that ordinary people feel any serious burden from the economic sanction on May 20 yet.<\/p>\n \u203b Major contents of Resolution 2270 to sanction North Korea<\/strong> The UN Security Council adopted \u2018Resolution 2270 (which sanctions North Korea)\u2019 on March 2, in regards to the nuclear te\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":3600,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0},"categories":[7,12],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.02.asiapress.org\/rimjin-gang\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2358"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.02.asiapress.org\/rimjin-gang\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.02.asiapress.org\/rimjin-gang\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.02.asiapress.org\/rimjin-gang\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.02.asiapress.org\/rimjin-gang\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2358"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.02.asiapress.org\/rimjin-gang\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2358\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.02.asiapress.org\/rimjin-gang\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3600"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.02.asiapress.org\/rimjin-gang\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2358"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.02.asiapress.org\/rimjin-gang\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2358"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.02.asiapress.org\/rimjin-gang\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2358"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/a><\/p>\n\u25c6 Concealment of the sanction by the authorities<\/h2>\n
\u25c6 Additional explanation about price index<\/h2>\n
<\/a>\u25c6 Economic sanction and the prices of goods<\/h2>\n
\n(1) Prohibition on exporting aviation fuel (including rocket fuel) to North Korea; exception allowed
\n(2) Prohibition on importing coal and iron ore from North Korea; exception allowed
\n(3) Requirement to inspect all North Korean cargo
\n(4) Denial of port access for North Korean cargo if there are reasonable grounds to suspect the violation of the Resolution
\n(5) Imposition of sweeping ban on North Korean banks
\n(6) Substantial expansion of the list of individuals and entities subject to the asset freeze and travel ban<\/p>\n<\/a>* Editor\u2019s notes on North Korean reporters<\/a>
\n<\/a><\/strong><\/span>ARCHIVE(pdf) >><\/a><\/span>
\n DPRK MAP >><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"