But life is not only about work and politics. People do rest, spending their free time with their friends and relatives.North Koreans like cinema, especially Soviet films, although films made in the DPRK have a reputation for being dull.Just like everywhere else in the world, North Koreans like visiting each other, dancing – often in the open air – and strolling. Few people walk at night as the country is chronically short of electricity and the streets are completely dark once the sun goes down. Young people sometimes take advantage of this for courtship.
Officially, all North Koreans receive wages for their labor, but the value of those wages is extremely low — often not enough to cover basic needs. As a result, most people rely on the informal market system, known as jangmadang, where goods and food are bought and sold outside the state economy. These markets, though technically illegal in the past, have become essential to survival and are now tolerated by the government.
