Jangmadang

Sinuiju railway station in North Korea
Sinuiju is a major hub for North Korean formal and informal economy due to its proximity to the Chinese border. The Sinuiju railway station is portrayed here.

Jangmadang (lit. 'market grounds'; Korean: 장마당; Hanja: 場마당) are North Korean local markets, farmers' markets, black markets and bazaars. Since the North Korean famine in the 1990s, they have formed a large informal economy, and the government has become more lenient towards them. However, merchants still face heavy regulations. A majority of North Koreans have become dependent on jangmadang for their survival.

The North Korean government has tried to regulate the growth of the market economy in North Korea using a variety of methods. Some of them, such as regulating the age of traders, has resulted in societal changes such as making women more responsible for earning money for their families. This has caused changes to gender roles in North Korean society.

There have been speculations on the possible role of black markets in reforming the North Korean government and its economy, as has happened in China.[1]

In 2019 The authorities moved to curb individual economic activity followed by greater crackdowns in 2021 forcing markets to decline.[2][3][4]

  1. ^ Jang, Jin-Sung (26 April 2013). "The Market Shall Set North Korea Free". Opinion. The New York Times. Retrieved 27 August 2018.
  2. ^ ASIAPress. "＜Inside N. Korea＞ Kim Regime's Crackdown on Individual Business Activities Begins: Ruthless Confiscation of Goods Forces Traders to Consider Defection". asiapress.org. rimjin-gang. Archived from the original on 20 September 2023. Retrieved 2 October 2024.
  3. ^ The Economist. "Kim Jong Un rediscovers his love of central planning". economist.com. Archived from the original on 9 July 2024. Retrieved 2 October 2024.
  4. ^ Myong-sung, Kim. "[Kim Myongsung's Inside North Korea] Pyongyang's Donju Collapse and Market Decline: Ethnic Chinese R". sand.or.kr (in Japanese). the SAND Institute. Archived from the original on 5 September 2024. Retrieved 5 September 2024.