North Korea Survey Tracks 45 Price Categories in 4 Northern Areas
Updated
Updated · asiapress.org · Aug 21
North Korea Survey Tracks 45 Price Categories in 4 Northern Areas
1 articles · Updated · asiapress.org · Aug 21
Summary
May-to-mid-June fieldwork gathered prices, utility fees and wages across more than 45 categories in four locations in North Hamgyong and Ryanggang, offering a rare data set on North Korea’s economy.
Chinese trade data remain one of the few relatively reliable indicators, and official North Korean statistics are largely absent, prompting the survey to test broad claims that the economy is improving.
Reporting partners inside North Korea collected the information through research and interviews, communicating via Chinese smartphones smuggled into the country.
The survey was limited to ordinary residents in the northern region, with no reliable data from Pyongyang or other areas and no coverage of the wealthy class.
The report argues that any economic improvement may benefit the Kim Jong-un regime through trade, munitions and Pyongyang projects without necessarily lifting provincial industry or household livelihoods.
As North Korea's official economy reportedly grows, who is secretly paying the ultimate price in the shadows of the border provinces?
If smuggled smartphones reveal starving provinces amidst national economic growth, is the regime's control actually strengthening or quietly fracturing?