The purpose of this study is to empirically investigate the trend of changes in the consumer goods market in Pyongyang during the Kim Jong-un era. Set in 2017 when the intensive UN Security Council Resolution 2397 was implemented as a timely standard,...
The purpose of this study is to empirically investigate the trend of changes in the consumer goods market in Pyongyang during the Kim Jong-un era. Set in 2017 when the intensive UN Security Council Resolution 2397 was implemented as a timely standard, the changes in terms of consumer goods products, consumption places, and consumption settlement methods are analyzed.
The research method used new media contents such as YouTube of foreigners who have stayed in North Korea as major analysis data to supplement the existing research based on the testimony of North Korean defectors. New media has the advantage of reducing errors occurring in 'natural changes' over time by allowing long-term data storage of phenomena.
As a result of the study, the consumer goods market in Pyongyang during the Kim Jong-un era shows three key changes as follows. First, it shows the luxury and diversification of consumer goods products. In 2017, despite the intense international sanctions against North Korea, North Korea intensively fostered the light industry under the self-reliance stance and introduced a quality certification system such as the 'Food Safety Management System Certification (ISO 22000)' for domestic products to improve the quality of domestic products. This is interpreted as reflecting the policy intention to satisfy the advanced consumption needs of purchasing power consumers.
Second, it promotes the modernization of the consumer goods distribution space. The Kim Jong-un regime has modernized general markets, department stores, and state-run (foreign currency) stores on a large scale, actively providing consumer convenience such as the introduction of a 'shopping' method in which consumers freely purchase products and '24-hour service'. In addition, it developed a marketing strategy to expand national fiscal income by providing 'supplementary services' in the state-run commercial network and inducing consumer spending by increasing the consumer's residence time.
Third, it is the introduction of digitalization of consumption payment methods. The North Korean authorities introduced an 'electronic payment system (card)' using IT technology into the state-run commercial network. This was found to reflect the policy intention to increase economic management efficiency by incorporating idle funds from the purchasing class into the official financial system and facilitating the authorities' control of the state-owned commercial network through digital transaction records. The state actively introduced electronic payment by introducing the 'QR code' not only in mobile stores but also in taxis.
These changes are the result of the Kim Jong-un regime's complex economic policies to maintain the socialist system using purchasing sentiment from purchasing consumers in the external environment of sanctions against North Korea in 2017, with the state managing the market, and expanding the national finances. In other words, it shows the results of the Kim Jong-un regime's economic management before and after sanctions against North Korea, where the state responded to the demand of consumers with purchasing power in response to the external constraints of sanctions against North Korea in 2017, the high-end and diversification of products, the modernization of distribution spaces, and the introduction of digital payment methods to go beyond simply improving the standard of living for North Koreans, securing national finances, and strengthening the legitimacy of the system as a socialist civilized country.
Ultimately, this study has academic significance that opens a new horizon in North Korea's consumer goods market research by identifying new research approaches that look inside North Korea through new media and consumer goods market trends before and after sanctions against North Korea in 2017.