N. Korea increasingly stages raids on donju-owned businesses
North Korean authorities are increasingly conducting raids on businesses run by donju as part of efforts to strengthen state control over the economy and acquire more foreign currency, Daily NK sources in South Pyongan Province reported on Apr. 1.
Raid teams, called “anti-socialist groups,” are cracking down on individual merchants or businesses that are suspected of failing to operate as registered or failing to pay taxes on their profits. The authorities are confiscating assets and even property when the rules are discovered to have been broken.
In late February, for example, a team raided a restaurant in Kaechon owned by a woman in her 40s, leading to the confiscation of her food products. She was accused by the authorities of acquiring profits that were based on her own interests, rather than state interests.
The restaurant owner reportedly protested against the confiscation of her restaurant by the authorities and was deemed a political criminal. ......
[Source: Daily NK]
