Skinny jeans, blue crabs and human excrement were among the most sought after items in North Korea, according to defectors from the communist country.
Kim Young-soo, a political science professor at Seoul's Sogang University, said that pig-intestine rolls and adult films were among items selling 'like hot cakes' in North Korea.
He interviewed 2,000 defectors as part of a research for the South Korean government and also found that popular goods included TV dramas and instant noodles known as 'ramen'.
Skinny jeans were so popular in the capital Pyongyang that people were mistaking residents for Chinese tourists wearing the fashionable clothes.
They also became a sought-after item when a ban on fashionable trousers was lifted by government officials.
Shops began selling human excrement as a way of dealing with acute shortages of fertiliser in the North, according to Yonhap news agency.
Professor Kim said: 'Skinny jeans are now popular and are changing the fashion style of women in Pyongyang.
'Each household used to use human excrement as fertiliser, but because it's hard to keep up with the amount, human manure showed up at markets.
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'These are signs that North Korea is easing its isolation.'
and
Weird. No other word for that country!!!
Kim Young-soo, a political science professor at Seoul's Sogang University, said that pig-intestine rolls and adult films were among items selling 'like hot cakes' in North Korea.
He interviewed 2,000 defectors as part of a research for the South Korean government and also found that popular goods included TV dramas and instant noodles known as 'ramen'.
Skinny jeans were so popular in the capital Pyongyang that people were mistaking residents for Chinese tourists wearing the fashionable clothes.
They also became a sought-after item when a ban on fashionable trousers was lifted by government officials.
Shops began selling human excrement as a way of dealing with acute shortages of fertiliser in the North, according to Yonhap news agency.
Professor Kim said: 'Skinny jeans are now popular and are changing the fashion style of women in Pyongyang.
'Each household used to use human excrement as fertiliser, but because it's hard to keep up with the amount, human manure showed up at markets.
=============
'These are signs that North Korea is easing its isolation.'
and
Weird. No other word for that country!!!
