North Korean kids were forced to enter the battle of life since the ‘arduous march’ in the chaotic period of the 1990s. Being absent from school, a number of children supported their family by doing business in open markets. It is common to see the children still doing business even twenty years after that period.
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The video filmed by a reporting partner of ASIAPRESS confirms the fact that the North Korean kids are doing business near an open market just by themselves. A girl was selling pumpkins, saying “I couldn’t go to school because my mom is sick.”
The camera caught some boys who are bustling among adult traders selling water bottles. They skillfully compete with adults by offering to bring water at half price. The video shows the reality that North Korean kids are in the battle of life from such an early age, being unable to go to school.
The poverty, a structural problem of society, forces the kids to do business. But, the authority cracks down on kids’ business without considering the inherent problem.
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* Editor’s notes on North Korean reporters
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