In Order to Live: A North Korean Girl’s Journey to Freedom

Jangmadang are state-managed marketplaces that were implemented by the North Korean government in the late 1990s to mitigate illegal black markets and control trade. This was a measure put in place after the economic collapse of the early 1990s forced North Korean citizens to start trading their possessions for food. It had the negative effect of creating competition for Park’s father, and for a time, it affected his ability to make profit.

These neighborhood “People’s Units” (21) host weekly meetings in which party members gather and engage in self-criticism. Monitored by the state, inminban are meant to reinforce socialist values sanctioned by the North Korean regime through mutual monitoring at the neighborhood level.

Songbun is the North Korean caste system dictated and enforced by the state. It separates people into three main categories. The highest level is the “core” class, comprising people trusted and valued by the North Korean government, such as revolutionaries and peasants. The second level is the “wavering” class, made of people who cannot be completely trusted to remain loyal to the state. This class includes intellectuals, former merchants, and people who once lived in South Korea. The lowest songbun is the “hostile” class, which includes anyone deemed to be dangerous for the state, including religious groups and capitalists.