Foraging competition intensifies across North Korea as spring foraging season gets underway. Workers from state-run food factories have joined the annual race for wild mountain vegetables. Their organized presence is intensifying competition with local communities. A Daily NK source in North Pyongan province reported the developments on Friday.
Factories have recently deployed workers en masse to foraging sites across Dongchang county, Taechon county, and Changsong county. Workers have set up temporary tent camps at the base of mountains. They are staying overnight to maximize their daily haul of wild greens. Workers head up the mountain as early as 5 a.m. and forage until dusk. They gather bracken fern, angelica tree shoots, and Korean mountain lettuce. Some factories have deployed on-site processing crews that sort, dry, and salt-preserve the gathered greens directly on the mountainside. The source described this practice as unprecedented.
The source linked the mobilization to pressure from the regime’s local development policy. Factories must secure locally sourced raw materials for regional specialty products. The party’s local development policy is a flagship initiative under Kim Jong Un. Moreover, each province and county must boost their economies through locally available resources. Wild vegetables have long supplemented sparse diets during the spring lean season. They also generate foreign currency through exports.
The consequences for ordinary North Korean people have been immediate. Factories deploy large organized teams that sweep entire mountain areas. The amount that can be gathered is limited, the source said. Factory workers are going up the mountain and taking everything, leaving less for local people. Families must now head up the mountain ahead of everyone else to secure any greens. This foraging competition intensifies the daily struggle for food.
Families are mobilizing every available household member. They head out earlier and venture deeper into remote areas. Therefore, the competition has become a grim running joke among locals: This year, not a single wild green will go to waste on the mountain. For many families, wild vegetables have been one of the few remaining buffers against food insecurity during the spring lean season. North Korea’s annual lean season typically arrives in April, though many households now run out of grain as early as February.
People have been getting by on what the mountains have to offer, the source said. Now even that is becoming harder. People are realizing for the first time just how large a part wild vegetable gathering has played in putting food on the table. Moreover, the government’s local development policy prioritizes commercial production over local subsistence. Factory mobilization may boost commercial output but hurts the most vulnerable families. Local communities will likely face even greater pressure in coming years as more factories join the race for wild greens.
