Interviews with Kim Seong Min

1997 was a turning point. At that time the farmers markets started to transform themselves into marketplaces, which are what the markets are called in North Korea today. At these marketplaces, North Korea started to trade basic necessities and light industrial products.

In 2002, the marketplace was officially legalized by the North Korean regime. Of course the regime always retained control, but the regime started to rent out sections and spaces within these marketplaces so people could engage in commerce.

For many decades, marketplaces were prohibited because they were regarded as remnants of capitalism. We now see that the North Korean regime had to open this market up due to the citizens’ strong dependence on them.

The government still has control of these markets, but when you look at what is traded, they are actually products from South Korea like instant ramen noodles, coffee, radios, recorders, and even television sets. You can really see that an element of culture is being traded through these markets. It is not just a place where you buy and sell products or basic necessities.

So it is a very important place where North Koreans can be exposed to the new world. I personally think that these markets will be further developed in the future. The marketplace is no longer a place where products are simply bought and sold. It is a place where North Koreans can realize new things. It is a place where they can become more rebellious towards the regime and become more independent.

Let’s say an elderly couple sells vegetables at the market. All that they can earn by doing this is just enough to provide them with a small bowl of porridge to get by. But if you go to another section of the market, you could find a Chinese-made jacket being sold at 7,000 Korean Won. The average salary of a North Korean laborer stands around 3,000 Won, so this gives you an idea of the value.

When North Koreans see this kind of disparity within the market, they come to realize what the income gap means for them. They also start to realize that the North Korean regime is not to be trusted. In the past, they used to depend on government rations and gave all their loyalty to the central regime.
Now, when they look at what is happening in the marketplace, they realize no matter how much loyalty is given to the regime, all that is received is a sum of money that’s insufficient for buying a small amount of rice.

Their perceptions and values start to change and they realize that if they are really serious about looking after their family, then the regime is no longer trustworthy and that something must be done. For these reasons, I believe the marketplace holds great hope for the future.

Kim Seong Min was born in 1962. He grew up and received his education in Pyongyang, North Korea. Kim is the son of a poet and was trained as a writer. After serving ten years in the military, he worked in one of the regime’s propaganda offices. Troubled by the society in which he lived, Kim escaped to China in 1997. He eventually arrived in Seoul, South Korea in 1999, and ever since has fought for the liberation and democratization of his homeland.

In 2004, Kim established Free North Korea Radio (FNKR) to broadcast messages about freedom to those being oppressed and exploited by the regime in Pyongyang. These tireless efforts have been recognized by several international awards, including the “Prize for Press Freedom” from Reporters Without Borders and the “Asia Democracy and Human Rights Award” from the Taiwan Foundation for Democracy. Recently, Kim was elected as a Representative of the Coalition to Promote the Democratization of North Korea, an alliance of North Korean defector organizations based in South Korea.

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North Korea (the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea) is a country of 23 million people in northeast Asia, ruled by Communist dictator Kim Jong-Un. His deceased predecessors—father, Kim Jong-Il, and grandfather, Kim Il-Sung – respectively retain the titles of “Eternal President” and “The Great Leader.”

The Korean War began in 1950, when Kim Il-Sung, backed by the Soviet Union and China, attacked South Korea. The conflict ended in a cease-fire rather than a peace treaty, and the border between the two Koreas remains tense and heavily militarized.

Kim Il-Sung employed harsh tactics to consolidate his power and propagated an extreme personality cult that has been continued by his successors. A blend of communist doctrine, state terror, xenophobia and hyper-nationalism has given North Korea its unique ideology. Despite some recent openings, North Korea remains largely isolated from the rest of the world.

With the end of Soviet communism and withdrawal of economic support, North Korea’s economy collapsed in the 1990s. A massive famine, aggravated by the regime’s indifference, killed as many as 2 million people between 1994 and 1998. While conditions have improved, even today, North Korea faces problems of malnutrition and insufficient access to food.

Tensions between North and South Korea remain high. In 2010, North Korea sank a South Korean naval vessel, killing 46 sailors and attacked a South Korean island, killing four civilians. North Korea has developed and tested nuclear weapons in contravention of several international agreements. The country withdrew from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty in 2003 in order to test ballistic missiles and eventually a nuclear device. Multilateral negotiations have so far failed to constrain North Korea’s arms buildup and nuclear program.

North Korea is among the world’s most repressive states, engaging in widespread and systematic human rights violations, including extrajudicial executions, torture, forced abortion, arbitrary detention, and denial of the rights of expression, association, assembly, and religion. The government pervasively regulates all aspects of the lives of its citizens, each of whom is categorized as “core,” “wavering,” or “hostile,” according to the history of his or her family’s relationship with the regime. Access to housing, employment, education, and other social and economic goods depend heavily on these security classifications. The government determines where each citizen will live, and travel within the country is strictly limited.

Emigration is prohibited. Refugees who have escaped to China have frequently been forcibly returned to North Korea where they are imprisoned, subjected to torture and other ill-treatment, and sometimes executed. The government operates a network of forced labor camps for an estimated 120,000 political prisoners. While persons convicted of ordinary crimes serve fixed sentences, those convicted of political crimes are confined indefinitely. Punishment is extended to three generations – the offender’s parents, siblings, and children are also incarcerated, as a way to pressure North Koreans to conform. Political offenders are often denied food, clothing, and medical care, and many die in prison.

Freedom House’s Freedom in the World report classifies North Korea as “not free” and as one of nine nations whose lack of political rights and civil liberties are considered the “worst of the worst.”