Final hours! Save up to 55% OFF InvestingProCLAIM SALE

Printing coupons and eating swans: North Korea innovates amid food, economic woes

Published 10/29/2021, 02:01 AM
Updated 10/29/2021, 06:01 AM
© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: A North Korean flag flies on a mast at the Permanent Mission of North Korea in Geneva October 2, 2014. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse

By Josh Smith

SEOUL (Reuters) - From printing coupons as replacement cash to breeding ornamental black swans to eat, North Korea is being forced to innovate to handle economic woes and food shortages as anti-pandemic border lockdowns drag on, reports suggest.

With the harvest coming to an end, international observers say North Korea's food and economic situation is perilous, and there are signs that it is increasing trade and receiving large shipments of humanitarian aid via China.

South Korea’s intelligence agency told a closed-door parliamentary hearing on Thursday that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un had issued orders calling for every grain of rice to be secured and all-out efforts devoted to farming, according to lawmakers at the briefing.

Still, the spy agency assessed that this harvest may be better than last year's because of sunnier weather, and it said North Korea was taking steps to reopen its border with China and Russia in coming months, the lawmakers told reporters.

North Korea has long suffered from food insecurity, with observers saying that mismanagement of the economy is exacerbated by international sanctions over its nuclear weapons, natural disasters, and now the COVID-19 pandemic, which prompted unprecedented border lockdowns there.

Kim Jong Un has acknowledged a "tense" food situation and apologised for sacrifices citizens had to make to prevent a coronavirus outbreak.

But he also said the economy improved this year, and North Korea denied a report from U.N. investigators this month that said thousands of its most vulnerable people risked starvation.

North Korea has not officially reported a single coronavirus case. U.N. agencies said North Korea has recently begun to allow in shipments of aid, and numbers released by China show a slow increase in trade.

'DELICIOUS MEAT'

According to various media citing unidentified sources in North Korea, the central bank has been printing money coupons worth about $1 due to a shortage of North Korean won bills.

Rimjin-gang, a Japan-based website operated by North Korean defectors, reported the coupons had been circulating since at least August, in part because paper and ink for official currency were no longer coming in from China.

A shortage of won notes may also have been exacerbated by a government crackdown on the use of foreign currency, particularly U.S. dollars and Chinese renminbi that had been widely used before, said Seoul-based NK News, which said it had corroborated the reports.

Reuters was not able to independently confirm the use of the coupons.

This week North Korean state media promoted the consumption of black swan meat as a valuable food source, and said that newly developed industrial scale breeding would help improve people's lives.

"Black swan meat is delicious and has medicinal value," the ruling party newspaper Rodong Sinmun said on Monday.

© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: A North Korean flag flies on a mast at the Permanent Mission of North Korea in Geneva October 2, 2014. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse

Research into breeding the ornamental birds for food began in early 2019, and authorities have told schools, factories and businesses to grow food and raise fish and other animals to increase self-sufficiency, NK News reported.

"The solution is meant to address both the failure of large-scale farming to provide adequate food supplies to the whole country and more recent government COVID-19-related restrictions that have largely blocked food and other imports since early 2020," wrote Colin Zwirko, NK News senior analytic correspondent.

Latest comments

Risk Disclosure: Trading in financial instruments and/or cryptocurrencies involves high risks including the risk of losing some, or all, of your investment amount, and may not be suitable for all investors. Prices of cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile and may be affected by external factors such as financial, regulatory or political events. Trading on margin increases the financial risks.
Before deciding to trade in financial instrument or cryptocurrencies you should be fully informed of the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite, and seek professional advice where needed.
Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. The data and prices on the website are not necessarily provided by any market or exchange, but may be provided by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual price at any given market, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Fusion Media and any provider of the data contained in this website will not accept liability for any loss or damage as a result of your trading, or your reliance on the information contained within this website.
It is prohibited to use, store, reproduce, display, modify, transmit or distribute the data contained in this website without the explicit prior written permission of Fusion Media and/or the data provider. All intellectual property rights are reserved by the providers and/or the exchange providing the data contained in this website.
Fusion Media may be compensated by the advertisers that appear on the website, based on your interaction with the advertisements or advertisers.
© 2007-2024 - Fusion Media Limited. All Rights Reserved.