North Korean agriculture is not well-mechanized, and many farms and farmers rely on draft animals. As a result, the state long treated oxen as a valuable resource that is solely the property of the state. 

But a new law passed in 2021 and published by the South Korean National Intelligence Service late last year created a legal market for oxen for the first time, a move that could empower agricultural workers by giving them more autonomy over a significant production factor in a sector infamously mismanaged by the state.

An NK Pro analysis of the new