Stricter border controls leave Hyesan foragers with nowhere to sell their harvest

Tightened border controls along North Korea’s frontier with China have effectively shut down the mushroom smuggling trade in Ryanggang province in 2026, cutting off a seasonal source of cash income that local people had relied on for years.

A source in Ryanggang province told Daily NK on Monday that in previous years, people would begin climbing the mountains from mid-June to gather mushrooms and pass them to China through middlemen, but this year the trade has come to a complete halt as border enforcement has intensified.

According to the source, people living in Hyesan and nearby border towns and counties had made it a yearly tradition to collect wild mushrooms each June and sell them to smugglers or middlemen connected to buyers on the Chinese side, converting the harvest into ready cash. That practice has effectively ceased this year. With border guards now deployed in far greater numbers and with stricter orders, those middlemen have no way to move the goods across, and have stopped purchasing altogether.

No buyers, no incentive to forage

In previous years, middlemen would actively seek out foragers and purchase their harvests directly. This year, with no viable route into China, there is no demand, and many local people have given up on mushroom gathering entirely. The source said the risk of being caught during the collection and transport process has grown considerably, making the effort feel futile.

“Last year you could easily see people heading into the mountains from early in the morning,” the source said. “This year, people aren’t going out because they know there’s nowhere to sell. Not many are willing to take on that risk.”

Some local people have tried selling their harvest at the jangmadang, North Korea’s network of semi-official markets, but prices there are too low to make the effort worthwhile. With cross-border exports cut off, the trade is now limited to what local consumers will absorb, and domestic demand alone cannot generate the returns that sellers used to earn from the China trade.

“Some people gather a little just for home use, but nobody is climbing the mountain to make money,” the source said. “That’s how little there is to earn.”

The loss is felt most acutely by farming households in rural communities, for whom mushroom season was one of the few reliable opportunities each year to accumulate cash beyond what their agricultural work provides. Those families used the income to buy food staples and daily necessities. This year, the source said, the mood in those communities is one of resignation.

The source said local people are expressing little hope that the situation will change anytime soon, noting that as long as the current level of border enforcement continues, a revival of the mushroom trade is unlikely. Many are holding out hope that controls might ease even briefly during the harvest season, allowing them to sell as they once did.

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