North Korea discovers the Refrigerator!

Well, hi there! How're you doing today? 'Anyung na shimnaka!' is Korean for 'Good Morning' but before we get to that...pour some java juice into your mug and stuff a virtual treat into your other mug, why don't'cha, eh? Now where was I? Oh yeah...Korea - the Hermit Kingdom...or used to be. Now North vs South Korea where the capitalist South does a kazillion times better than the starving, mule-like North. But at last there's something new in the North...the refrigerator.

The business website Quartz reported in June that a popular consumer item in North Korea's perhaps-improving economy is the refrigerator, made in China and increasingly available as a reward to stellar performers among civil servants and other elites. The appliances, however, cannot reliably store food because the country's electric grid is so frequently offline and are mostly just status symbols. One item Quartz says often gets displayed in the refrigerator: books.

Interesting, eh? A North Korean fridge that is 'Made in China'. What do you make of that? Hey, the electricity in Thailand goes out all the time but everyone there still has refrigerators...not to mention air-conditioners!  

Read this report (albeit a little biased) from Xinfei, a company that make refrigerators in the North. It is about their display at a 2010 fair in Pyongyang, the capital of DPRK:

The vice premier of North Korea and the Chinese Ambassador to North Korea also visited Xinfei’s booth. Their visit highlighted the influence of Xinfei in North Korea. Xinfei freezer accounts for 80% market share in the North Korean market...The refrigerator display area was the highlight of this exhibition and attracted lots of people. Xinfei received new orders for refrigerators after the exhibition. Freezers exhibited also received good results with positive feedback. Although the market demand for wine chiller and showcase was small, Xinfei exhibited them to highlight Xinfei’s ability to produce a wide range of cooling products. The selection of products was not to only focus on those that were currently being sold locally but to also promote and improve the brand image and to allow consumers to know that Xinfei is not only good at producing freezers, but also refrigerators and that Xinfei is a leader in cooling technology. 

The company hopes to do even better once North Korea learns how to keep the electricity on for more than 30 minutes at a time so that people can actually keep food in their fridges instead of books!

See ya, eh!

Bob