Vanguard of the Revolution: A Study of North Korean Traders at the PRC-DPRK Border

Dr Teo, Victor Ee Leong   (Principal Investigator (PI))

Dr Yoon Sung Won   (Co-Investigator)

42

2015-10-01

323275

Vanguard of the Revolution: A Study of North Korean Traders at the PRC-DPRK Border

North Korea, Small-Time Traders, Smuggling, Underground Economy

Area Studies (including Japanese Studies, China Studies, European Studies)

Humanities & Social Sciences (H)

17602615

General Research Fund (GRF)

2015

Completed

1) To identify, characterise and categorise the different type of cross border traders there are shuttling between China and North Korea. 2) To obtain an in-depth ethnographic description of the cross-border operations of these small time North Korea traders, and gain an appreciation of the motivations and difficulties they face and the strategies they employ to overcome these difficulties. 3) To understand and establish the prevalence of market activities as well as the practices and norms of marketisation widely practiced in the home towns of these traders. 4) To understand how marketisation have changed the traders' lives at critical junctures between the mid-1990s and now, and to contextualise these changes against the backdrop of larger social and political developments during the same period. 5) To understand the role they play in advancing marketisation in the DPRK, in particular how they negotiate with the institutions of the State on the daily basis with their activities. 6) To examine how these trading activities are perceived and mediated by the North Korean regime, by the local governments of Jilin, Liaoning Provinces and by the Central government in Beijing, and how these activities affects Sino-DPRK relations. 7) To establish if the marketisation efforts on the ground undercuts the effects of external sanctions and at the same time help mitigate the harsh environment imposed by the broken down economy on a daily basis.