In recent years, the role of markets in North Korea’s economy has been in flux, as the state rolls back tepid economic reforms and seeks to reassert control over the food distribution system. 

Yet while it’s possible that crackdowns will result in markets becoming somewhat less prominent, historical precedent strongly suggests that they are not going to disappear.

Back in late 1984, when I was an exchange student in Pyongyang, I came across a Japanese media report about how North Korean authorities would finally allow markets to open in the capital. The article explained that this was an important change