Editing Economy of North Korea (section)

===Retail===
[[File:Number One Department Store, Pyongyang.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Pyongyang Department Store No. 1|Number One Department Store]] in Pyongyang]]
Until the early 2000s the official retail sector was mainly state-controlled,<ref name=guardian-20160711>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/jul/11/north-korea-too-rich-fake-death-defector-story |title='I got too rich in North Korea and had to fake my own death' – a defector's story |author=Roman Super, Claire Bigg |newspaper=The Guardian |date=July 11, 2016 |access-date=April 12, 2017 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170413071710/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/jul/11/north-korea-too-rich-fake-death-defector-story |archive-date=April 13, 2017 }}</ref> under the direction of the People's Services Committee. Consumer goods were few and of poor quality, with most provided on a ration basis. There were state-run stores and direct factory outlets for the masses, and special shops with luxuries for the elite—as well as a chain of hard-currency stores (a joint venture with the association of pro-Pyongyang Korean residents in Japan, the [[Ch'ongryŏn]]), with branches in large cities.

In 2002 and in 2010, [[Jangmadang|private markets]] were progressively legalized, mostly for food sales.<ref name="atimes-20110923"/> As of 2013, urban and farmer markets were held every 10 days, and most urban residents lived within 2&nbsp;km of a market.<ref name="FAO-WFP-2013"/> Since the 2009 economic intervention, it is common for North Korean citizens to make purchases with [[Chinese yuan]] and [[United States dollar]]s.<ref name="currency">{{Cite web |url=https://apnews.com/article/north-korea-economy-dollar-currency-kim-251a6fee83845253da5b6e0309008a87 |language=en-US |date=2023-06-08 |accessdate=2023-06-09 |title='Dollarization' of North Korean economy, once vital, now potential threat to Kim's rule |last=Kim |first=Hyung-Jin |website=[[Associated Press News]] |archive-date=June 9, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230609072901/https://apnews.com/article/north-korea-economy-dollar-currency-kim-251a6fee83845253da5b6e0309008a87 |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 2012, the third large [[shopping mall]] in [[Pyongyang]], the Kwangbok Area Shopping Center, opened.<ref name=38north-20170406>{{cite news |url=http://38north.org/2017/04/rfrank040617/ |title=Consumerism in North Korea: The Kwangbok Area Shopping Center |first=Ruediger |last=Frank |publisher=U.S.–Korea Institute, Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies |work=[[38 North]] |date=April 6, 2017 |access-date=April 10, 2017 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170411055001/http://38north.org/2017/04/rfrank040617/ |archive-date=April 11, 2017 }}</ref><ref name=reuters-20150604>{{cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-northkorea-change-consumption-idUSKBN0OJ2UH20150604 |title=Pyongyang Bling: The rise of North Korea's consumer comrades |author=James Pearson, Ju-min Park |work=Reuters |date=June 4, 2015 |access-date=April 12, 2017 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170413072212/http://www.reuters.com/article/us-northkorea-change-consumption-idUSKBN0OJ2UH20150604 |archive-date=April 13, 2017 }}</ref> In 2014 the construction of another large shopping mall started.<ref name="nknews-20160811">{{cite news |url=https://www.nknews.org/2016/08/north-korea-building-large-shopping-complex-in-pyongyang/ |title=North Korea building large shopping complex in Pyongyang |author=Jh Ahn |work=[[NK News]] |date=August 11, 2016 |access-date=September 10, 2016 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160926234316/https://www.nknews.org/2016/08/north-korea-building-large-shopping-complex-in-pyongyang/ |archive-date=September 26, 2016 }}</ref> As of 2017, these malls sold competing brands of goods, for example at least ten different kinds of toothpaste were being sold.<ref name=38north-20170406/>

In 2017, the [[Korea Institute for National Unification]] estimated there were 440 government-approved markets employing about 1.1 million people.<ref name=nyt-20170430>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/30/world/asia/north-korea-economy-marketplace.html |title=As Economy Grows, North Korea's Grip on Society Is Tested |last=Sang-Hun |first=Choe |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date=April 30, 2017 |access-date=May 25, 2018 |archive-date=January 4, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200104075253/https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/30/world/asia/north-korea-economy-marketplace.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 2021, the authorities began major crackdowns aimed at reducing the role of the markets with the shift to a state-run monopoly on food sales and measures to ensure that food would pass through state-run shops, a network of which the government had been building since 2019.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Jiro |first1=ISHIMARU |title=What occurred behind the veil in N.Korea 2020-2023…A disaster unfolding due to shifts in the Kim Jong-un regime's policies…Part 3: Kim Jong-un's anti-market policies |url=https://www.asiapress.org/rimjin-gang/2024/01/politics/invisibility-3/ |access-date=5 September 2024 |agency=ASIAPRESS |publisher=RIMJIN-GANG |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240815115526/https://www.asiapress.org/rimjin-gang/2024/01/politics/invisibility-3/ |archive-date=15 August 2024}}</ref> These shops monopolized the sale and distribution of domestically produced goods and a great portion of newly imported goods.<ref>{{cite news |title=National Unified Price System' implemented on domestic products...Stores are given booklet showing prices in new system… Government aims to tighten control over economy |url=https://www.asiapress.org/rimjin-gang/2024/04/society-economy/national-price/ |access-date=5 September 2024 |agency=ASIAPRESS |publisher=RIMJIN-GANG |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240815135234/https://www.asiapress.org/rimjin-gang/2024/04/society-economy/national-price/ |archive-date=15 August 2024 |location=Japan}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=How is the country's fishing industry doing? |url=https://www.asiapress.org/rimjin-gang/2023/12/society-economy/fisheries-3/ |access-date=5 September 2024 |agency=ASIAPRESS |publisher=RIMJIN-GANG |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240224153337/https://www.asiapress.org/rimjin-gang/2023/12/society-economy/fisheries-3/ |archive-date=24 February 2024 |location=Japan}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=How is the country's fishing industry doing? Distribution of seafood faces challenges due to severe government restrictions |url=https://www.asiapress.org/rimjin-gang/2023/12/society-economy/fisheries-2/ |access-date=5 September 2024 |agency=ASIAPRESS |publisher=RIMJIN-GANG |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240822065358/https://www.asiapress.org/rimjin-gang/2023/12/society-economy/fisheries-2/ |archive-date=22 August 2024 |location=Japan}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=The state of North Korea's smuggling activities |url=https://www.asiapress.org/rimjin-gang/2024/06/society-economy/statesmuggling/ |access-date=5 September 2024 |agency=ASAIPRESS |publisher=RIMJIN-GANG |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240822065530/https://www.asiapress.org/rimjin-gang/2024/06/society-economy/statesmuggling/ |archive-date=22 August 2024 |location=Japan}}</ref><ref name="asiaPRESS"/>