The taxi business in North Korea: Dueñas women, driver men

You can earn a dollar a day driving a taxi (minivan) owned by a woman rich in North Korea, a huge sum that has young men doing mass tail, hoping to be chosen for work, North Korean citizens said To Radio Free Asia, Rfa.

Although taxis are officially part of a government company, they are actually private property, and competition to be a driver is so fierce that drivers are hired only one day at the same time, residents said.

It is another example of the secondary works that are characteristic in the nascent market economy of North Korea: people cannot maintain the salaries of their works assigned by the Government, so most families have to find a way to undertake business for themselves.

Private taxis are mostly Chinese minivans bought by women, who then need to hire men to drive them, because women cannot obtain driving licenses in North Korea.

«These days, in Anju, if you conduct a minivan taxi for one day, the owner of the taxi will pay you 20,000 Wones (1 dollar),» said a resident of the province of Pyongan del Sur, north of the capital, Pyongyang, A RFA Korea on anonymity for security reasons.

The resident said that drivers used to receive only 10,000 wones ($ 0.50) a day, but prices doubled last month due to fluctuations in the exchange rate between the North Korean Won and foreign currencies such as the US dollar and The Chinese yuan, currencies that people prefer because they are more stable.

De facto privatization

Most companies in North Korea are state property and operated by the Government and, at least in theory, taxis companies are also.

But taxis companies do not have taxi fleets. Instead, these are individual property vehicles that owners must register with the company to legally operate. In this way, the owner is in charge of the cost of the vehicle and its maintenance.

The company obtains 30% of the profits and the owner 70%, said a second resident of the same province.

Finding drivers is never a problem, said the first resident.

«Every morning, these wealthy women hire taxi drivers on the wasteland near the Anju train station, there are always many young men queuing there,» he said. «If they can drive the taxi for two or three days, they can earn more money than a factory worker earns in a whole month.»

The second resident said that some drivers can earn even more, between 50,000 and 100,000 wones ($ 2.50), driving a long distance taxi that takes customers to places more than 100 kilometers away.

Excluded women

Although it is not legal for women to obtain driving licenses, it is not exactly easy for men. Only men who are in the army or work in a factory and are approved by the Government are eligible to receive training for drivers, which can take three to six months to complete.

After training, successful applicants receive a class 4. with more training license, they can level up to class 3, which allows them to drive trucks and buses, class 2 for any type of vehicle and class 1, which It is a designer or car manufacturer license.

Most taxi drivers point at least to class 3.

Although they are not legally driving taxis, being taxi owners is a way that women escape monotony of having to administer a family business, buying and selling goods and services in the markets, while their spouses are In his works assigned by the Government winning a misery, said the second resident.

«These women can save the money they earned in the market and buy a taxi,» he said. «They register it in the local government … and then they will hire a male driver.»

With the increase in drivers’ salaries, it has become an employer market due to all interested applicants, he explained.

«In the past, taxi drivers were hired after being presented through relatives or connections, but not anymore,» said the second resident. «This is because if you hire someone you know, it is difficult to reduce their daily salary in case of bad driving skills or an accident.»

(Translated by Claire S. Read and edited by Eugene Whong for RFA. Translated into Spanish by Martínoticias.)