N. Korea operates 404 official markets: report
2016/12/09 12:20
SEOUL, Dec. 9 (Yonhap) -- North Korea currently has 404 official markets which employ some 1.1 million people, a local think tank said Friday.
The Korea Institute for National Unification (KINU) came up with the figures based on an analysis of the North Korean markets using Google Earth and a survey of North Korean defectors. The total does not include unauthorized markets.
Google Earth is a Google application that lets the user look at any corner of the earth as if viewed from a satellite.
The average number of customers reaches 57,000 per market. Nine markets are larger than South Korea's famous 14,437-square-meter Dongdaemun Market in terms of their respective size, according to a KINU report.
The institute estimated North Korea collects US$13-17 million a day in usage fees from merchants selling goods at the markets. The communist state has received the fees since it gave an official permit to the markets in 2003, it said.
The communist state also has many temporary markets that have not gotten official authorization from the state, known as "Jangmadang." These markets are set up in vacant fields where local merchants gather to sell and trade goods.
This undated captured image from Yonhap News TV shows North Korean people in a market. (Yonhap)
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