Vegetable prices in the border regions in North Korea, and to a lesser degree, further inland, have soared. This jump in prices is contributed to a number of factors: unseasonably cold weather, sanctions jitters and excessive mobilization for the upcoming Party Congress. However, some consider that it is only a temporary upswing, as rice prices and foreign exchange rates have remained stable.
“Back in February, cabbage was selling for around 2,500 KPW (per kilogram), but prices have suddenly jumped to 7,000 KPW. That’s more expensive than rice,” a Daily NK source in Ryanggang Province reported on April 25. “Now is usually the time when food supplies are short (because of the barley hump), but it looks like the hike was triggered by more people mixing in dried greens with their rice to conserve their rice supplies, in the belief that the food situation may worsen due to [implications stemming from] the sanctions.”
Radish prices in border regions have also surged from 1,200 KPW (per kilogram) in February to 3,100 KPW, leading to concerns that this year may become one of the toughest years in the recent memory.
“In some areas of Taehongdan County, people are eating so-called ‘radish noodles,’ which are made by coating radish leaves with potato starch,” the source explained.
According to another source in Pukchong County, South Hamgyong Province, the food situation has worsened to the extent that an increasing number of families in farming communities are eating "seaweed rice."
One key difference offering residents in interior regions (including the capital) some relief is their spinach harvest, which has not yet occurred in the border regions (due to cooler temperatures). Unfortunately, the interior regions have also seen cabbage prices climb, fetching around 4,800 KPW to 5,000 KPW per kilogram.
“Vegetables are not export items and therefore their prices are determined by domestic supply and demand,” the Pyongyang-based source noted. “However strong the sanctions may be, rice prices have nonetheless remained the same and, under these conditions, not many will choose to eat expensive cabbages over rice,” the source added, suggesting that prices are likely to return to normal as the markets readjust for supply and demand.
