Women at work

North Korean women are fighting for their right to feed their family

May 29 (Bloomberg) — Video clips of a sprawling marketplace, smuggled out of North Korea by an undercover journalist, show women selling goods including garments with heart-shaped price tags. The most conspicuous man is a monitor who shoos away unauthorized merchants.

Women almost exclusively operate the private stalls in the jangmadang, government-managed markets that ruler Kim Jong Il allowed to spring up after famine contributed to the collapse of North Korea’s economy in the 1990s. Late last year Kim lost his tolerance for these pockets of free enterprise, ordering many women out of the private sector and back into government- run factories.

In a communist country where dissent is rare, Kim’s actions angered women, many of whom are finding ways around the directives and returning to the markets. Some are even fighting back with public protests, at least one of which reportedly resulted in a physical fight with the police.

In times of famine, these female merchants will be key to survival. Whether this means a further breakdown of state control remains to be seen.