From Daily NK, February 27:
North Korean authorities are still trying to control price gouging, but this remains difficult to monitor effectively, sources sayAlso at Daily NK:
North Korea has ordered major provincial organizations, military-run factories and other facilities to prepare a months’ worth of food, signalling that the state is unable to provide rations anymore, Daily NK has learned.
“The order was handed down by provincial party committees to local people’s committees, Ministry of State Security offices, police stations, military-run factories run by the Second Economic Committee [of the Workers’ Party of Korea], and even orphanages,” a North Hamgyong Province-based source told Daily NK on Feb. 26.
“This is the first time the party has handed down an order for these organizations to prepare a months’ worth of food. It’s particularly noteworthy because North Korea isn’t facing the threat of war,” the source continued.
“The central authorities are simply telling organizations and factories in the provinces to deal with the food situation themselves because they can’t help anymore,” he concluded.
PREPARING FOR THE WORST
North Korea’s ration system has drastically weakened due to the country’s economic troubles, but the country’s elite, military-run factories, and other key institutions have continued to receive supplies from the government up until this point.
Now, however, the shutdown of the Sino-North Korean border due to the COVID-19 outbreak along with the impact of international sanctions appear to have created difficulties for the central government to hand out rations to these organizations....MORE
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