China brings supermarket concept to North Korea:

Decidedly un-communist development in North Korea: A new culture of commerce is springing up, with China as its inspiration and source. The market-savvy Chinese are introducing the pleasures of the megamart to a small niche of North Koreans, and flooding the country’s border regions with cheap goods.

Outside Pyongyang, much of the country remains impoverished. Millions rely on state-provided food, but poor agricultural yields mean they’ll get only a fraction of what they need to survive, according to the World Food Program.

Still, there are signs that a new found consumer culture is taking hold both in Pyongyang and in the border towns where Chinese-made goods are bought and sold every day.

http://www.koreaherald.com/national/Detail.jsp?newsMLId=20120229000788