North Korea: North Korea, a socialist economy that relies on rationing as the main means of goods distribution, is building a rare large-scale wholesale market in Pyongyang, according to state media.
According to Yonhap News Agency, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported that North Korea's Premier Pak Thae-song visited the construction site of a central wholesale exchange market being developed in Pyongyang's Hwasong district. This area, located in northern Pyongyang, is also witnessing the completion of a newly built residential town.
During his visit, Premier Pak was briefed by builders about the construction progress and future plans for completing the market. He also discussed necessary measures to ensure the project's success. The KCNA noted that this wholesale exchange market is intended to serve as a platform for direct transactions between producers and consumers.
The establishment of such a marketplace in the capital is considered unusual for North Korea, where rationing remains the official method for distributing goods. Pak's visit to the construction site suggests the regime's willingness to integrate the market into the official economy, possibly to increase tax revenues and exert more control over the underground economy, where similar markets have long existed unofficially.
Hong Min, a senior researcher at South Korea's Korea Institute for National Unification, stated that wholesale markets have been operational for decades in other major North Korean cities like Chongjin and Hamhung. However, the regime has approached them with caution due to their market-oriented characteristics. The construction of a central wholesale market in Pyongyang may indicate the regime's readiness to acknowledge these prevalent marketplaces to some degree and regulate them within legal and institutional frameworks.