As we enter the spring season and the weather begins to heat
up, spring greens are starting to emerge in South Korea’s markets. I wonder if
the same is true for markets in North Korea. To find out more, we turn to
Special Economic Correspondent Kang Mi Jin.
In South Korea, people can eat spinach all year round, but
in North Korea, that’s not the case. It used to be very hard to find spinach
for sale in the middle of winter. Even in places with large greenhouses – like
Pyongyang, South Hamgyong’s Hamhung, and South Pyongan’s Pyongsong – it was
exceedingly rare to see people eating spinach in the winter.
During a morning telephone call with an inside source in
North Korea a few days ago, I became curious when the source said that she was
eating a bit of seasoned spinach. She said that North Korea’s greenhouses are
now producing spring greens in the winter and that spinach that was planted in
January is now available for sale. She also indicated that there would likely
be another harvest of the greenhouse spinach before people are able to plant
spinach outdoors.
Residents must be excited about this news, which essentially
means that they can eat spinach earlier than in years past.
Yes, it’s more expensive than rice because it’s
out-of-season produce, but there are still many residents purchasing it. In
particular, the families of women who are sick or pregnant are seeking out the
iron-rich veggie. Up until just a few years ago, the idea of eating spinach in
the winter was unthinkable. But the situation has changed dramatically ever
since the number of greenhouses began to increase.
North Korea’s average temperatures are quite different from
South Korea’s. Even in North Korea’s hottest provinces – South Hwanghae and
South Pyongan – it wasn’t possible to begin eating spinach until April. But
now, it is possible all year round. In Ryanggang Province, spinach didn’t come
around until the middle of May. But now it has become much more widely
available even in Ryanggang, one of the country’s northernmost regions. One of
our sources bought one kilogram of spinach as a birthday present for her
mother-in-law. She prepared the spinach in side dishes and set them on the
dinner table. The finished product made the whole family feel like it was
spring. Eating an out-of-season vegetable would come as a happy surprise for
most North Koreans.
Since the greenhouse spinach costs more than rice, isn’t it
financially burdensome for the residents?
I think that’s fair to say. In Ryanggang Province, Pochon
County, one kilogram of spinach costs 7,000 KPW. That is 2,000 KPW more than
the cost of rice. Although residents are certainly excited by the prospect of
being able to purchase spinach while there is still snow on the ground, it’s certainly
an expensive price. Despite this, we are receiving reports that it selling
well.
The out-of-season produce is a money-maker for the farms
because North Koreans are more able and likely to buy the product. For example,
parents are buying it for their children on their birthdays. This culminates in
a demand that has swept the markets – in Ryanggang Province’s Hyesan City,
out-of-season spinach regularly gets sold out as soon as it’s offered up for
sale.
For pregnant women, the spinach is especially popular, with
some saying, “Even if it costs 10,000 KPW, I would still buy it!” Pregnant
women need iron in their diets, and spinach is a good source of it.
I’m curious how dramatic price fluctuations are for
vegetables in North Korea.
Most North Koreans probably can’t afford out-of-season
spinach. Thankfully, due to the increased appearance of greenhouses, we are
seeing lots of out-of season produce, like cucumbers, tomato, and spinach,
becoming available in the winter. Producing these vegetables in bulk is
difficult because regular electricity shortages make it expensive to heat a
large space. That’s what explains the high price.
In-season spinach sells for about 1,500-2,000 KPW per
kilogram, so the current price is about 5,000 KPW more. Some areas have even
higher spinach prices than this.
So the farms are able to set the prices without
interference?
The North Korean authorities have not yet instituted any
sort of special controls over market prices. There have recently been notices
not to sell rice above a certain price point, but there have been no orders
regarding other products.
That means that merchants and producers are calculating cost
and profit margins when setting prices for their products. They do this through
independent evaluation. Everyone has their own style of calculation, resulting in
slight – but not dramatic – differences in product prices across different
regions.
 All prices shown in KPW and current as of March 9, 2017. |
