North Koreans in mountainous parts of South Pyongan province are heading into the hills before dawn this autumn to gather acorns, and the 2026 acorn harvest has become a major source of seasonal income. Workplaces and organizations demand them as quotas, so people who gather intensively over a short period can earn a considerable amount of money.
Since mid-September, crowds of local people have been flocking to the mountains around Kaechon and Tokchon at first light, according to a source in South Pyongan province on Monday.
The area is dotted with coal mines and covered in relatively dense forest, including thick stands of oak trees. As a result, acorn gathering picks up there around this time every year.
After gathering the acorns, people blanch them, dry them and remove the shells before turning them into acorn liquor or acorn jelly, a savory dish eaten across the Korean Peninsula. Some of the acorns ending up as ingredients in traditional medicine as well.
“People in this region pick acorns every autumn,” the source said. “Organizations and work units often hand down acorn quotas, so it’s a familiar autumn job for people here.”
Acorn gathering has become such a fixture of the calendar that local schools set aside an “acorn vacation” each year.
North Korean authorities routinely order workers, students and neighborhood watch units to hand over set amounts of goods. These range from scrap metal to rabbit pelts, and many North Koreans see them as an unofficial tax on daily life.
Regional development push lifts value of the acorn harvest
Acorns have grown even more valuable as North Korea’s regional development policy puts new emphasis on local specialty products. Kim Jong Un launched the “20×10 regional development policy” in 2024 to raise living standards outside Pyongyang, aiming to build modern factories in 20 counties every year for a decade.
Food factories around Kaechon and Tokchon are now focusing on goods that showcase local specialties. Acorn liquor and other processed acorn foods have become their flagship items, according to the source.
“People used acorns a lot in the past too, but that demand has grown,” he said. “These days local factories face growing pressure to make their own specialty goods, so more places are looking for acorns.
“As acorn liquor has become the signature product of the region, the acorn quotas for local people have grown much larger,” the source added.
Most people gather acorns to hand over as quotas at work or to sell for cash, rather than to eat, and buyers include local food factories and state procurement centers that purchase raw goods from the public. As a result, many people in the area now see the acorn harvest as an autumn income source that rivals farming.
“Farming takes constant work from spring to autumn, but with acorns you only need to push hard for a few days,” the source said. “If you do it well, what you pick up then can equal a whole year of farming, almost like getting a harvest for free.
“Many people climb the mountains at dawn so they can be first to the acorns the wind knocked down overnight,” he continued, adding: “Some of them even walk in from places 10 kilometers or more away to get their share.”
Gathering acorns has long helped many North Koreans scrape by during lean times. The drive to develop local specialty products and expand processed food production has now made acorns far more valuable to the regional economy.
As demand keeps growing, however, the quotas imposed on individuals are likely to rise as well, which would add to the burden already weighing on ordinary people across the region.
About This Translation
This article was originally written in Korean and translated with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
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