{"id":4482,"date":"2020-02-14T10:46:16","date_gmt":"2020-02-14T01:46:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.01.asiapress.org\/rimjin-gang\/?p=4482"},"modified":"2022-01-24T15:30:38","modified_gmt":"2022-01-24T06:30:38","slug":"husoku","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.02.asiapress.org\/rimjin-gang\/2020\/02\/recommendations\/husoku\/","title":{"rendered":"\uff1cInside N. Korea\uff1e Tension Mounts as Regime Regulates Markets, Confiscates Stocks, and Slanders Price Gouging Shopkeepers"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The entrance to Hyesan Market, where Chinese goods are said to be in short supply due to the border blockade. Photographed in July 2013 by ASIAPRESS<\/p><\/div>\n

To prevent the spread of novel coronavirus to North Korea, the Kim Jong-un regime has completely sealed the border with China since late January. In the aftermath, markets across various parts of the country have seen prices soar due to a shortage of Chinese goods. Now, with authorities responding with forced price cuts, tension is building rapidly. (Kang Ji-won)<\/p>\n

On February 7, ASIAPRESS spoke with a businesswoman in Hyesan, Ryanggang Province, the site of much trade with China\u2019s Jilin Province.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe number of traders has dropped by half. Industrially produced goods such as shoes, clothes, utensils, etc are not coming in from China, so there are no products to sell and prices are skyrocketing. The market is quiet because few customers come to buy anything other than groceries,\u201d the woman said.<\/p>\n

For markets in cities further away from the border, the situation is said to be even more severe.<\/p>\n

Merchants are in a very difficult position as the authorities, concerned about the soaring prices, have forced them to cut prices. The authorities have especially intervened in the rice market.<\/p>\n

Next page :According to another reporting partner...<\/strong><\/p>\n

According to another reporting partner in the northern part of the country, the authorities had set a price ceiling for white rice at 4.5 RMB per kilogram in early February but, on February 7, forced the price down even lower- to 3.6 RMB. (1 RMB is worth about 0.14 USD)<\/p>\n

\u201cAuthorities confiscated 4 tons of rice from a trader who had been selling it at a higher price than 3.6 yuan. I had that confirmed by someone who had just bought rice from that store. The rice they sell is not received from the state, so the traders are upset that the authorities are forcing them to cut prices,\u201d the reporting partner said.<\/p>\n

The authorities are not just intervening in the rice market but are also regulating the prices of medicine and cooking oil. The \u201cAnti-Socialist Censorship Group\u201d is going around drug stores and forcing them to set their prices at what they stood at before the border blockade began.<\/p>\n

If the traders reply that the \u201cproducts are sold out,\u201d the Anti-Socialist Censorship Group will later send someone pretending to be a customer to check the prices.<\/p>\n

\u203b The \u2018Anti-Socialist Censorship Group\u2019 is an official agency set up to clamp down on acts or behavior that threaten to \u201cdisrupt the socialist order.\u201d<\/p>\n

It has also been reported that authorities are strictly regulating prices in North Hamkyung Province. According to a reporting partner in Musan County, speaking with ASIAPRESS on February 6, an announcement was made through a propaganda channel installed in all houses, \"criticizing individual citizens by name for spreading false rumors and raising their prices at markets.\"<\/p>\n

The reporting partner added, \u201cWe were told at inminban (local political unit) meeting\u2019s to report any price-raising to the authorities.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u203b ASIAPRESS contacts reporting partners in North Korea through smuggled Chinese mobile phones.<\/p>\n

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