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The North Korean Cabinet has endorsed moves to establish markets in every corner of the financially-strapped state and extend business hours late into the evening, according to an article published in Chunichi Shimbun on Saturday.
The article cites a restricted five-page document that was somehow obtained from the North regarding market management regulations, revealing how the cabinet's decision was greatly influenced by the order of Dear Leader Kim Jong-il. The clandestine report was issued May 5 last year and marked "Volume No. 27" and "Confidential".
The document records how Kim Jong-il ordered that markets be set up to facilitate the smooth running of the country's socialist economy. It stipulated that business hours should be adjusted to give laborers time to shop after work, and that agricultural products, food and other basic necessities that are not manufactured by the state can be put on sale.
It is also ordained that a price cap be applied, and that merchants pay rental fees based on the location and size of the market. Any violations of the legal code would result in penal and administrative responsibilities being meted out. t is said that there are about 40 of the markets in Pyongyang and a further 300 in provincial areas.
North Korea's state-run Korea Central News Agency (KCNA) released photographs of North Korean citizens enjoying slot machines at a shooting range in Pyongyang. Gambling on this minor scale has only recently been introduced to North Korea, but it is unclear whether the machines dish out financial winnings. A casino has also been built in the Najin-Sonbong Free Economic and Trade Zone, but it is only available to foreigners.
(khjung@chosun.com )
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