After North Korea recently suspended under-the-table trade it had been organizing in Hyesan, Ryanggang province, prices of imported goods have been surging.
“The state-sponsored smuggling that was taking place around the border in Hyesan has been temporarily suspended since the end of last year. As a result, prices of various goods being imported from China are rising across the board,” a source in the province told Daily NK recently.
State-sponsored smuggling appears to have been halted temporarily as North Korea prepares new trading projects following its end-of-year trade review.
After the year-end assessment of trade figures, the North Korean government moves ahead with issuing new trade permits for the following year. But trading activities are temporarily halted because permits for 2026 have yet to be issued by the Ministry of External Economic Relations.
This is having a direct impact on market prices of imported goods.
Since the Hyesan border area is heavily dependent on imported goods, the interrupted import supply immediately led to surging prices. As stocks run low, smugglers and vendors have been hiking prices simultaneously.
“In Hyesan, prices have been rising not only for imported padded coats and sweaters but also for manufactured goods, car parts, and food products like cooking oil. So fewer customers are coming by, and more vendors are going the entire day without making a single sale,” the source said.
At one marketplace in Hyesan, imported children’s padded coats that sold for 300 Chinese yuan (roughly $41) in early December now cost 400 yuan ($55), while imported children’s shoes that were going for 200 yuan ($27) have gone up 30 yuan to 230 yuan ($32).
Imported sweaters, which had been selling for between 45 and 100 yuan ($6-$14) in early December, have risen in price by 5 to 10 yuan.
Chinese-made cooking oil has also gone up from 49,500 North Korean won per kilogram to 55,000 won at present.
Prices of imported motorcycles and vehicles have risen by 500 yuan ($69) and 1,000 yuan ($137), respectively, illustrating how prices of most goods imported from China are rising.
Superstition compounds spending reluctance
With imports costing more, customers are even less inclined to open their wallets.
“People here are always wary of spending money in January because of a superstitious belief that you’ll be plagued with expenses throughout the year if you spend a lot this month. With prices so high, people have just stopped buying stuff altogether,” the source said.
Even so, smugglers are reportedly raising their prices. Some smugglers are squabbling with wholesalers because they demand that shipments delivered on credit last month be paid at inflated prices.
Smugglers are hearing rumors that state-sponsored smuggling may resume in mid-January, but there have been no official announcements or guidelines.
Another possibility is that fees paid for trade licenses will be higher than last year, which would likely impact prices of imported goods as well.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: dailynk.com
