BRUSSELS -- In the middle of Pyongyang, a new building attracts attention and customers. The Tong Il market is thronged with thousands of North Koreans haggling and buying from an extensive array of products. Fresh meat and dried fish, Spanish oranges and North African dates, suits, skirts, shoes and a range of electrical goods from light bulbs to computer parts.
Famine in the late 1990s led to the deaths of one in eight (3 million) North Koreans. Branches of the People's Distribution Center, or PDC, could not provide the population's basic needs, particularly in the urban areas. The result was the emergence of farmers markets -- barely tolerated by the authorities and well off-limits to foreigners -- where food was traded for cash or kind.
Since then, the climate has transformed. North Korean leader Kim Jong Il toured China's economic miracle in May 2000 and January 2001. He has seen the future and how it works. This year's February 15 Speech, which marks the occasion of his birthday, saw Kim take over the ideological mantle from his father, "Eternal President" Kim Il Sung.