According to a new estimate the number of unofficial, makeshift markets in North Korea amounts to nearly 400.
 
Radio Free Asia (RFA) on Wednesday said Curtis Melvin, a researcher at the U.S.-Korea Institute at John Hopkins University's School of Advanced International Studies, analyzed Google satellite photos and estimated that there are currently 396 markets in the North, nearly double the number in 2010.
 
RFA said that 77 of the markets, or around 20 percent, were thought to be outdoor or street markets.
 
According to Melvin, markets continue to serve as the key means of making a living for North Koreans and are the center of economic activity in the communist state.