Soaring grain prices have left farm workers in North Korea’s North Hwanghae province facing a hungry winter in 2026. Many borrowed food and daily necessities on credit last spring and now owe those debts from their harvest share. With grain far pricier than when they borrowed, many expect to have almost nothing left after paying.
“As the autumn distribution nears, more merchants are turning up in Bongchon and Pyongsan counties to collect what they are owed,” a source in North Hwanghae province told Daily NK on Thursday. “Once farm workers repay their debts with this year’s grain, nothing will be left, so they worry about surviving the winter.”
North Hwanghae lies just south of Pyongyang and is one of the country’s main grain-producing regions. Pyongsan county also hosts a uranium concentration plant tied to Kim Jong Un’s nuclear weapons program.
Each fall, collective farms hand over the state’s share of the harvest and then divide the rest among farm households. This year-end payout, known as the harvest distribution, is the main food source for most rural families.
Families who run out of food during the spring lean season often borrow grain and repay it after the harvest. North Koreans call this stretch between the old harvest running out and new crops arriving the barley hump. Many families also buy basic necessities on credit and settle the bill in cash or grain each autumn.
This year, sharply higher grain prices have pitted indebted farm workers against their creditors, including merchants and donju. These “money masters” are wealthy private entrepreneurs who have long financed farming and trade across North Korea’s market economy.
Rice now sells for around 50,000 North Korean won per kilogram, roughly double the spring price of about 20,000 won. Corn has climbed even faster, tripling from around 5,000 won early this year to about 15,000 won. Grain prices have hit record highs throughout 2026 as the won has weakened, deepening the country’s food crisis.
Creditors demand grain or cash at today’s prices
Borrowers typically agree to repay 1.5 to 2 times the amount of grain they borrowed, the source said. Suppose a farm worker borrowed 1 kilogram of corn at 5,000 won and promised 2 kilograms in return. That debt was worth 10,000 won at the old price but is now worth 30,000 won.
Farm workers therefore want to settle in cash at pre-surge prices and keep as much of their grain as possible. Creditors, however, are demanding either the promised amount of grain or cash calculated at current market prices.
“Farm workers want to pay in cash to keep a bit more food for themselves,” the source said. “But the merchants insist on grain or cash at the new prices, so farm workers end up handing over all the grain they promised.”
Farm workers accept these lopsided terms because they fear losing access to credit altogether. They run short of food every spring, so they would rather absorb a loss now than anger their lenders.
“Farm workers have no other option, so they do whatever the people with money tell them,” the source said. “If they fall out with the merchants, they can’t even buy on credit and will starve next spring.”
Meanwhile, farm workers’ harvest shares have stayed flat or even shrunk each year as market prices keep climbing. Pyongyang amended its Labor Remuneration Law in 2025 to pay farm workers partly in cash. The falling value of the won, however, has made those wages worth little.
Some farm workers cannot clear their debts even after the distribution and carry the balance into the next year. Interest then piles onto the unpaid amount, eating into the following year’s harvest share as well. The result is a vicious cycle of debt that keeps rural poverty firmly entrenched.
“Even in the past, only a handful of rural households could afford white rice,” the source said. “Now it’s hard to see white rice even on holidays.”
“Rural people complain that they work like oxen all year, yet all they have left after the harvest is debt,” the source added.
The source also criticized the state for putting its procurement quota ahead of farm families’ survival. That quota is the fixed share of grain each farm must deliver to the state before workers receive anything.
“After repaying their debts, farm workers don’t have enough food left, so their lives never improve,” the source said. “The state doesn’t care how they survive the winter and only rushes to collect its planned share first.”
This article was originally written in Korean and translated with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
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November 9, 2026 at 10:53PM
by DailyNK(North Korean Media)