{"id":4473,"date":"2020-02-12T10:42:56","date_gmt":"2020-02-12T01:42:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.01.asiapress.org\/rimjin-gang\/?p=4473"},"modified":"2022-05-16T18:01:10","modified_gmt":"2022-05-16T09:01:10","slug":"corona-prices","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.02.asiapress.org\/rimjin-gang\/2020\/02\/recommendations\/corona-prices\/","title":{"rendered":"\uff1cInside N. Korea\uff1e Regime Regulates Rice Prices as Pyongyang Residents Fear Inflation Rather Than Coronavirus"},"content":{"rendered":"
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(Photo) A market manager, wearing an armband, oversees merchants. Photographed at Hyesan Market in August, 2013 by \u2018Mindeulle\u2019 (ASIAPRESS)<\/p><\/div>\n

The Kim Jong-un regime\u2019s decision to block the Chinese border to prevent the spread of the coronavirus is having a widespread impact. As inflation has risen and hoarding ensued, the authorities have begun monitoring and even intervening at markets to regulate the price of rice. Fears of a goods shortage are also spreading in Pyongyang. (Kang Ji-won)<\/p>\n

In response to the rising prices of not only Chinese products but also rice due to the prolonged border blockade, a reporting partner in Hyesan, Ryanggang Province, gave the following comments on February 3.<\/p>\n

\u201cTraders are raising prices every day in anticipation of a prolonged border blockade. The price of rice, which stood at about 3.6 RMB per kilogram at the end of last year, has now risen to 4.5 RMB. Eventually, the \u2018Anti-Socialist Censorship Group\u2019 was mobilized to begin a crackdown by going around company warehouses (where rice is treated), state warehouses (where rice is brought for ration distributions), and market stalls (where rice is sold). The upper limit for rice prices has been set at 4.5 RMB and, if a vendor is found to be selling it at a higher price, they will have their supply confiscated.\u201d (1 RMB is equal to roughly 0.14 USD)<\/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

Residents describe the government\u2019s monitoring and regulation of rice prices as a hard-line stance, complaining \u201cIt should be up to us whether to sell or not because it\u2019s our property.\u201d Meanwhile, the poor are said to be welcoming the government\u2019s action.
\nNext page :Prices rise in Pyongyang...<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u25c6 Prices rise in Pyongyang<\/h2>\n

The situation seems to be better in Pyongyang, as Chinese products are still in stock. Though a reporting partner in Pyongyang said on February 4 that the price of rice had risen to 5 RMB and the price of soybean oil, which had stood at 35 RMB for 5 kilograms, had risen to 80 RMB. In Hyesan City, by the border, the price for soybean oil had risen to 65 RMB.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn Pyongyang as well, security agencies are monitoring and cracking down on rice prices. There is also a growing fear of a goods shortage among Pyongyang citizens,\u201d said the reporting partner.<\/p>\n

According to other reporting partners, as of February 4, the authorities had not taken steps to block the internal flow of vehicles and citizens coming south from the border regions. However, as Chinese goods imported before the shutdown of the border are now out of stock, trucks are no longer departing from Hyesan City anyway.<\/p>\n

\u201cFurther away from the border, there are growing fears, not of the virus, but of starving to death due to rising food prices. Although they cannot be confirmed, there are rumors spreading that cities on the border with China, such as Hoeryong, Musan, Hyesan, and Manpo, are being blocked off from the rest of the country. If that happens, it will be the end for those living inland,\u201d explained a reporting partner from Hyesan.<\/p>\n

\u25c6 Trade officials quarantined in hotels<\/h2>\n

In Hyesan City, the head of the regional trade bureau, as well as senior trade officials and civil servants who have been in contact with visiting Chinese citizens, are under long-term quarantine in various hotels. Apparently, since February 4, police officers, inspection teams, and members of the Youth Alliance and Women\u2019s Alliance have been placed at bridges and roads to crack down on passing citizens who are not wearing masks.<\/p>\n

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

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