Special pin badges featuring likenesses of both Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il were once symbols of power and prestige in North Korea; however, their value has reportedly declined so markedly that they can now be bought freely on the black market.
A source from North Hamkyung Province told Daily NK on the
14th, “In the past, top Party officials were commended with badges of Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il on Kim Il Sung’s birthday (April 15th). But now they are given to commend ordinary people as well, and this has undermined their value.”
“Recently, ceremonies for April 15th have seen model workers in factories get the twin badges for 100% attendance, and others have been given to model Women’s Union members. But the badges are then going straight onto the
black market and getting traded for necessities,” the source explained. “Don’t hungry
people need rice, not badges?”
According to the source, most of the badges go to middlemen for
80-90,000 North Korean Won – enough to purchase 20kg of rice. These middlemen then add a little to the price and resell them to donjuLiterally "masters of money," donju refers to people who hav... More [members of the new moneyed
class], who wear them just to “show off.”
“The badges used to be valuable as they were given to Party
officials only,” the source surmised, “but now that ordinary people have them their black
market value has dropped. If they were to make and distribute Kim Jong Eun badges then all the existing badges would have no value at all.”
