North Korea is a very unusual place to do business. Markets are legal, but private property is not. Individuals cannot own machinery, land, or industrial buildings. Actually, North Koreans do not even own their own houses – they just hold tenancy rights.

Yet, North Korea has a thriving private sector, and private entrepreneurs manage and finance much of what on paper are goods and services made by state-owned enterprises (SOEs).

Private entrepreneurs in North Korea are franchisees of SOEs and state institutions. They make deals with local government (people’s committees) to open restaurants, using the local government’s name