When we talk about any particular society, we tend to pay attention to the average income of its people. How much does a skilled worker make? And what about a high-ranking official? A junior military officer?
Such questions are important, to be sure, but North Korea is a country where such simple questions are nearly impossible to answer with any precision.
The North Korean system of official salaries is a complete mess, and always has been. Admittedly things have become somewhat clearer in the last decade or so, but even now formal income (official and
When we talk about any particular society, we tend to pay attention to the average income of its people. How much does a skilled worker make? And what about a high-ranking official? A junior military officer?
Such questions are important, to be sure, but North Korea is a country where such simple questions are nearly impossible to answer with any precision.
Andrei Lankov is a Director at NK News and writes exclusively for the site as one of the world's leading authorities on North Korea. A graduate of Leningrad State University, he attended Pyongyang's Kim Il Sung University from 1984-5 - an experience you can read about here. In addition to his writing, he is also a Professor at Kookmin University.