North Korea Today - Good Friends

North Korea Today No. 432 December 21, 2011

2012-01-24T14:26:00.000-08:00

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[Intro] Let us Begin a New Era of Cooperation
Kim Jung Un in Charge Since October 10
New Policies from Kim Jung Un's Political Team?
No Officials to Be Dispatched Overseas in January
Tracking Down Anti-government Organization Liasons
Crackdown on Domestic Liasons to Overseas Anti-NK Organizations
North Koreans Suffer from Starvation and Increased Restriction
Rice Price Now Over NKW 5,000 Per Kilogram
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[Intro] Let us Begin a New Era of Cooperation
North Korea's Korean Central News Agency (North Korea's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported that "The Chairman Kim passed away on December 17, 2011 at 8:30 a.m. due to accumulated physical and mental fatigue in the way while on the way to conduct a regional oversight guidancedue to accumulated physical and mental fatigue." On Dec. 20, the South Korean Government stated that "We offer our condolences to the people of North Korea regarding the passing of Chairman Kim Jong Il. We hope that the situation in North Korea will quickly stabilize so that there will be a South-North cooperation for the peace and prosperity of the peninsula." Despite the recent rumors of Chairman Kim's poor health, with his active involvement with local supervision guidance visits these days, his death came as a shock. We offer our deepest condolences for to the people of North Korea.

During Chairman Kim’s rule , there was a possibility for North-South reconciliation, but in the end, the confrontation between the two did not come to an end. Now, with his death, the era of confrontation must be put to an endconcluded, and a new era of mutual cooperation must begin. We shall not become uneasy aboutRather than becoming anxious over Chairman Kim's death; rather, we must create a new era of hope.

The world is currently being reorganized realigned into the G2 structure. To survive in this age of unlimited competition, South and North Korea must create a future of coexistence and prosperity. With an increased economic ties with South Korea, the North Korean economy can revive at a very fast rate. The South Korean economy will also benefit from the North Korean economic growth.

North Korean people are suffering from cold and starvation now. On top of it, t The mourning period for the death of Chairman Kim that put a stop to prohibited any market activities is aggravating , aggravating the suffering. The governments of North and South Korea must prioritize the alleviation of alleviating the suffering of 20 million people in North Korea.

The South Korean government must at once start humanitarian food aid to people in North Korea so that they can livesurvive. The North Korean government must protect the right to survival for its people and make progress in respecting human rights. Now the time has come to stop the long history of confrontation, mistrust, and hatred amongst the Korean people, and for South and North Korea to start cooperation for a future ofon the path of reconciliation reconciliation, coexistence, and prosperity. To do so is the only road way toward peace and reunification.

Kim Jung Un in Charge Since October 11
It is reported that the government has been operating under the leadership of Kim Jung Un since October 10. Chairman Kim Jung Il, because of health-related reasons, confined limited his attention to the himself into the task of maintaining the regime and overseeing party officials, and while Vice Chairman Kim Jung Un's political team exercised real power. However, Vice Chairman Kim stated that he "would not become the official national leader in Chairman Kim's lifetime."

The task of replacing the older generation of officials with new ones started in 2009, starting with from the Central Party's leadership; , and in 2010, it the changeover went through the local parties and legal institutions (the prosecution , and the court systems), and this year, there was a complete replacement of top officials and local party officials, who were already powerless by thenthis time. During this process, the people loyalmen of to Kim Jung Nam and Kim Jung Chul, as well as other people of influence that can could hinder the generational leadership change of the leadership, were eliminated purged from their positions. After this year's generational changethe wholesale changeover came to an end this year, Vice Chairman Kim Jung Un started being in charge of the government , only internally but, nevertheless, officially. This is was the time that Vice Chairman Kim's team came into life and started new national policies. However, because of Kim Jong Il's presence, they did not start policies that departed much from the existing ones.

New Policies from Kim Jung Un's Political Team?
The new political team of Kim Jung Un that came in life on October 10 of this year started new policies about general national management. The following few are examples of new policies that are already being implemented:

First, resolving the problem the electric shortage is the top priority.

Second, all the factories in the countries must be put into its full capacity and life essential goodss should be supplied normally at a normal rate in 2-3 years.

Third, next year's food supply must be ensured, prioritisingprioritizing Pyongyang, Hoeeoryong, officers in government institutions and local officialsgovernment officials, and all legal institutions and the army bases.

Fourth, all lawful institutions operating inside or outside of the country must concentrate their energy in the crackdown of anti-North Korea organizations overseas and those who have contacts with defectors. Border crossing must be eliminated by any means. All illegal cell phones must be confiscated and all cell phone users must be thoroughly investigated. Even those who were prosecuted before 2010 must be investigated again to eliminate all destabilizing factors in border areas.

Fifth, imports must be reduced, and foreign currency must be saved to be invested in important industries, including the defense industry, related to the goal of building a Strong and Prosperous Nation., including the defense industry.

Sixth, by 2013, the presence of foreign goods in the domestic market should be reduced into by half, and Chinese goods in particular should be limited. Gradually, foreign goods must be eliminated from the domestic market, and all markets other than the farmers' market should be reduced or eliminated by ensuring the satisfactory supply of goods domestically.

The political team of Kim Jung Un has implemented sub-policies to achieve these goals. In the case of electric power production, it ordered the ban of coal export, which is a main source of foreign currency. The coals that are exported to China are the ones that were sold obligated on prior contracts. From next January, all coal exports will be banned so that the coal will go to domestic power plants. The plan for increasing overseas workers for earning foreign currency is currently under consideration. Other "new" economic policies were mainly the ones that were attempted with the currency reform in 2009. With the failure of the currency reform, however, they were put into a halt; but, , and with the new political team of Kim Jung Un this time, the policies are being endorsed again, with the belief that "The only way out of long-term economic crisis is to develop the domestic economy despite the possible short term difficulties."

No Officials to Be Dispatched Overseas in January
Beginning in January 2012 for at least a month, officials will not be dispatched to their overseas offices in across all the government agencies, enterprises and trade companies. Those officials will not resume their work overseas until they study the detailed objectives and plans following the announcement of Joint New Year’s Editorial, observe birthday celebration of Vice Chairman of the National Defense Commission Kim Jong-un (January 8), Korean New Year and February 16 holiday (birthday of late Kim Jong-il), and finally attend the general briefing for overseas officials.

Tracking Down Anti-government Organization Liasons
Recently, the North Korean security authorities have watched carefully the political movesactivities of defector organizations and anti-North Korean organizations overseas. Ministry of External Communication, Ministry of External Intelligence, National Security Agency and Guard Command Headquarters are closely watching each organization’s activities and making all-out efforts to track down their domestic liaisons. The authorities obtained the information that those organizations in foreign countries set February 16, the birthday of late Kim Jong-il, as ‘North Korean Defectors’ Day’ and will hold a wider coalition meetingconference of like-minded groups on April 15th, the 100th anniversary of late Kim Il-sung’s birthday. Particularly, the North Korean authorities are putting utpmost efforts to find domestic and overseas liaisons and eradicate treason these “treasonous” groups in order to prevent simultaneous anti-government North Korea activities in both Koreas.

Currently, the North Korean security authorities are reported to have figured out the personal personally identifying information of the members, schedules and activities of anti-North Korea and defector organizations overseas, but they have not been successful with locatingpenetrating the organizing organization structure lines preparing to act on the home front. A few who were caught so far turned out to be single lines, lone wolves and the authorities are working hard to identify important liaisonsinsider connections. The North Korean authorities decided that, should an anti-North Korea convention be hold next year, they will consider it as an act of provocation. The authorities are preparing themselves for the a worst case scenario. “We can close our eyes to the anti-government radio broadcasting, but this (the convention) we will not condone. If South Korean government does not take any action to stop it, we will consider it as an act of provocation and respond accordingly. Seoul needs to recognize the severity of the situation and stop the irritatingon actions of the organizations. Only then the Republic (North Korea) will join the North-South talk,” one official warned sternly.

Crackdown on Domestic Liasons to Overseas Anti-NK Organizations
It is reported that the North Korean authorities believe that behind the anti-North Korea activities of defector organizations and overseas organizations is Lee Myung-bak administration. They think there is a Lee administration’s calculation to provoke local clash by manipulating those organizations to instigate North Korea. Thus, staff officers of Kim Jong-eun pointed out anti-North Korea organizations made up of defectors as a security threat and indicated that it is more urgent to catch a thief at home than spies overseas. Among outside forces, the United States, more than South Korea and Japan, is regarded as a big threat. According to one official, North Korean authorities predict that “The fastest way for the United States to turn around their economy is through arms sale and production. If they start a war in the Chosun (Korean) Peninsula, they can conquer Chosun (the peninsula) and keep China in check, while saving their own soil from the ravages of war. Hence, there is a high possibility of them to take risky actions” and prepare to have a talk with U.S.

North Koreans Suffer from Starvation and Increased Restriction
While As North Koreans face the immediate risk of starvation of such scale as rivaling that of mid or late 1990s, the officials at local levels are deeply frustrated in by their inability to deal with it. Food ration and other aid provided by government are made available only to all of party and government officials, and continue to remain out of reach of ordinary people. The sharp drop in temperatures worsened the suffering from food shortage, giving rise to death from cold and starvation. Both Kangwon province and South Hamgyong Province reportedly began to see starvation, and about 10 people have reportedly died of hunger and cold during December in Chungjin, North Hamgyong Province.

The Central Party, however, strengthened the security and tightened the restrictions on travelers in order to head off any hint of unrest. As part of its efforts to shut down communication between regions, (towns or areas?), the members of cell party members vowed not to reveal whatever happened in their own region s(towns or areas), and were reminded of punishment that would follow if they fail to keep to themselves whatever they knew about their region. Every day, all party cell agents members instruct Housewives ofhousewives belonging to Neighborhood Units, including the members of Democratic Women’s Union, not to communicate whatever happens in their own region to people of other regions, claiming that encouraging communication is part of plot by nation’s enemy. Harsh Stringent travel restriction is also in place.

Rice Price Now Over NKW 5,000 Per Kilogram
December has seen a drastic rise in food price. Till November, the rice price in major cities except for Pyong-yang ranged from 2,800 to 2,900 NKW/Kg. However, it went up by leaps and bounds beyond 5,000 NKW/Kg by the middle of December. In Pyong-yang where rice price had plunged to 3,300 NKW/Kg in November, it is now above 5,000 NKW/Kg. The pessimistic forecast that rice price would soar to 5,000 NKW/Kg by December without food import turneds out to be right. The exchange rate moved togetherin parallel to the rice prices. Black market dollar rate went up beyond 5,000 NKW.

Food price and dollar exchange rate in Pyongyang (November – December, 2011)
(Unit: NKW)

North Korea Today No. 432 December 7, 2011

2012-01-24T14:13:00.000-08:00

Crisis over Fuel Shortage Put on a Brake on Coal Export
North Korean government started to put on a brake on the coal export in those cases where it has handed over its coal mining concession and administrative development rights to China. For more foreign currency, it has been exporting domestic coal supplies, but recently an awareness over the crisis of speedy coal depletion has been raised. It reduced the export amount of coal recently, which goes much farther than its original plans to merely curtail the awarding of more mining rights. The reduction in export cannot be confirmed clearly as contracted export deliveries still continue, but it is expected that coal export will drop to one-tenth of the current amount. One official in the Central Party said, “We are not proposing a ban or limit on resource export. This doesn’t apply to those companies tha already has contracts or has already been awarded mining rights. We have decided that minerals such as iron ore, bronze and silver are still open to investment bids, but we won’t be granting operational rights to the mines. We will see how this goes. But if we block everything, the source of foreign currency will dry up, so we limit the export limit only to coal. He also added that there is no other alternative option other than mineral export in this time of economic hardships.

Will Reducing Coal Exports Relieve the Power Crisis?
According to Party officials, the recent policy of reducing coal exports is in response to the worsening power crisis. The power shortage in North Korea has been exacerbated by the export of coals normally used for domestic consumption. There is no alternative way to address this issue. Higher productivity of coals mines cannot expected without foreign investments, and most of coals that are currently produced are sold to China.

One of the Central Party officials said, “To ease the severity of the power shortage, workers in power plants are working hard. But the plants are not fully operational because supplies for the facilities are not guaranteed, especially coals. The Central Party has demanded workers in coal mining industry to increase coals output. We know it’s not a perfect condition to produce more coals, but, as the only solution, workers are requested to work diligently with a sense of responsibility to the power crisis, rather than just being idle until working conditions get better. The Party insists on the workers to be the driving force of the Revolution. After all, it lies upon the workers. Even though we said that the coals supply to thermal power plants should be guaranteed, nothing has been changed as a policy, but reducing the export of coals has been just announced. We said that this is the necessary measures to relieve the shortage of coals for domestic consumption and fast exhaustion of coal reserves. However, the main reason is more likely that there is no actual investment in North Korea. Chinese investments focus just on the border area. Companies are actively investing in the border area since roads and railroads are constructed and electricity is easily supplied by the Chinese government, but it’s very passive in the inside of North Korea. It’s difficult to produce more coals without foreign investments. I am lost where and how we should start first since we have to address so many challenges before we to the power crisis”. He sighed hopelessly.

Life of an Aged Coal Miner Couple
Workers at the coal mines work day and night under life threatening circumstances regardless of age or gender The coal mines which are referred to as People’s Mines are extracted using labor teams organized by neighborhoods or families, who dig using vertical shafts as a unit. The dug up coals are called ‘self-coals’ or ‘People’s coals.’ Hak Sung Song, who turned seventy this year, mines for a living at a coal mine in Saebyul District, North Hamgyong Province. He is sought out among the youths for his ability to build shores while digging. Song can also detect locations of coal seams like no other. This sustains him because the young workers share their coals with him in exchange for his skills. His wife earns money by waiting by the pit’s mouth and transporting the extracted coal on her back. On their days-off, the couple sells their coal for profit. The neighbors view the old couple approvingly, praising them for the diligence they show despite their age.

3000 Won for a Kilogram of Rice in Pyongyang
Price of rice in Pyongyang shows no sign of going down from the current 3000 won per kilogram. A kilogram of rice was traded for as much as 3,800 won in early November. Corn cost 2,300 won, equivalent to the cost of the rice in other regions. The price usually falls around this time of the year as food is brought in from Hwanghae and South Pyongan Provinces, but this year the food production has taken a nose dive in North Korea’s granaries. The price remains around 3,300 won although the harvest has ended and the food has been brought in. Corn price on the other hand, has dropped drastically from 2,300 won to 1,300 won because corn is released in the market more frequently than rice. In North Hamgyong Province, which suffered less damage from the heavy rain, the price of rice dropped from 3,600 won to 2,900 won in Chungjin, and 2,700 to 2,800 won in Hoeryong. Corn is sold for around 750 to 760. Other provincial cities share similar prices.

Comparison of Pyongyang food prices and dollar as of late November, 2011
1 dollar 3,450
rice (kg) 3,200
corn (kg) 1,700

North Korea Today No. 431 November 30, 2011

2012-01-20T15:15:00.000-08:00

North Korea Today No. 430 November 23, 2011

2012-01-20T13:13:00.000-08:00

Young Women Sport Bolder Hairstyles and Fashion
The recent strengthening of clothing regulation can also be attributed to increase in women’s desire for self-expression. The Station 3 and the neighborhood unit lectures also express frustration toward the women who adamantly refuse to obey the societal dress code. “We were lectured about not wearing exotic clothes yesterday. They started the lecture saying that ‘we shall discuss about the evil trend engulfing the women nowadays,’ so I thought it would be about something really serious. Then, they talked about a woman who was caught growing her hair to her waist and dying it brown. After the lecture, older women seemed astonished at the strange things done by the youth, but younger women were complaining about the ridiculousness of these regulations. The lecturer seemed so frustrated that women wouldn’t get rid of their exotic hairstyle and clothes,” said Han Mi-ok, a recent graduate of Pyongyang University of Foreign Studies.

Han says such lectures are counterproductive because they give young women ideas about the latest trends in fashion. Young women take note of the examples of dress code violations as a way to find out what is in trend these days, using them as fashion inspiration. They are also put at ease knowing that there are those who make more bolder fashion choices.

“We come across many strangely dressed women during crackdowns. Their numbers have gone up. I usually patrol the Botong-kang area, and once I caught a woman wearing skin tight pants and black rimmed glasses that weren’t made in our country. At first I thought she was a foreigner so I let her go. But I took a second look at her and found out that she was indeed Korean. Other officers were deceived by her appearance too. She told me she lived in Moranbong. I admonished her, asking her if she was out of her mind, but she showed no signs of remorse, claiming other women dress like her too,” said a police officer in Pyongyang. Joo Miyong, a resident of Seosung was also caught wearing tight pants and a shirt with English writing. She was harshly scolded for lying the police that she’s from the overseas. The police officers claim that they were almost tricked into believing her at first, because she spoke in a Japanese accent. Still in doubt, they continued to question her until she eventually told the truth. “She was released with only a warning, but she would have faced harsher penalty if she pretended to be from South Korea,” added the police, and said that South Korean accent is widely spread among the young women as well.

Popularity of European goods in the Upper Class
The recent trade inspects has had the effect of changing the variety of imported goods in the North Korean market. The difficulty importing Chinese goods from the trade inspections created market for goods from other countries. According to Jang Haksung (alias), a traveling salesman supplying imported goods to business in the Jung district, Pyongyang, the ratio of goods from Europe and Southeast Asia has gone up with the difficulty in importing Chinese goods. European goods are expensive, but their high quality attracts mid- and high-level officials in Pyongyang into purchasing them. Goods from Thailand used to be considered as the better ones among those imported from Southeastern Asian countries, but the damage from the recent flood in Thailand put a halt to the import, causing a shortage in Thai goods. Jang added that the lower middle class households are the main consumers of Chinese goods, which are cheap but of a poor quality. Some middle class families purchase goods from Southeast Asia, while upper class families purchase European goods, which are the most expensive. European goods, even a simple bucket, have a better design, quality, and durability. They are, however, far too expensive, and only a few can afford them. According to a law enforcement officer in the market, there had been no order to restrict the circulation of goods from Europe or Southeast Asia, meaning that they are freely traded in local markets. However, compared to Chinese goods, there are fewer imports from these regions, making them not easy to find in markets. Some government officials voice the idea that the Central Party might be trying to expand the number of countries from which North Korea imports goods, as a measure to prevent Chinese good overtaking the domestic market, and to reduce the North Korean dependence on China in general. The analysis on this rise of European and Southeast Asian goods is that they are filling the gap created by the complete ban of South Korean products and the import of Chinese goods limited by the active trade inspection these days.

North Korea Today No. 429 November 16, 2011

2012-01-18T12:20:00.000-08:00

Extreme Sea Border Control Against North Korean Refugees
After experiencing frequent occurrences of defection attempts on the sea this year, the North Korean government intensified its border control to maximum. The government delivered a strict order that any ship that attempts to go out to the sea without permission from the Security Department or the Guard Command must be seized, and people in the ship who do not obey the orders or try to flee can be executed on the spot. In addition to the sea border, the areas in vicinity to the land border are tightly controlled to allow no border crossing.

One of the officers in the central government said, “Border control centers were notified that if necessary, guards can execute people who try to cross the border on the spot and file an official report afterwards.” The reason behind the drastic measure is that the number of family-unit border crossers has been going up, and there is a concern that an even greater number of people will try to escape when the river freezes. The central government delivered orders to the local governments to devise strategies to prevent border crossing and make a weekly report on the progress.

The biggest victims of the stricter border control are smugglers, who used to cross the border relatively easily, with their connections with officers in the Security Department and the Guard Command. Choi Jungkeum (alias), who has traded South Korean movie DVDs illegally in Hyesan, Ryanggang province for a long time, said that the current border situation “gives [him] chills.”

Smugglers like Choi Jungkeum have struggled to build connections with new officers in the Security Department and the border patrol who came to replace the old ones after the round of inspections last August, and they find the new officers harsher and less flexible than the old ones in terms of organizational operation, regulations and human relationships. With their harsh and merciless approaches, people hardly dare think of crossing the border these days. Another smuggler, Cho Hyuk (alias) said that it is not an exaggeration to say that nine out of ten previous officers in the Security Department went to prison, and the rest were suspended or sent to remote areas. He also said that “The new officers are working so hard that smugglers like me, cell phone users, and border crossers – we are all paralyzed with fear.” Almost 3,000 people who used cell phones in North Hamkyong’s border areas were arrested and investigated. There are more than 10,000 people who were investigated for charges including corruption, smuggling, assistance in border crossing, contact with South Korean culture and people, and drug trafficking, and more than 3,000 were sent to re-education centers and disciplining centers. People found with major crimes charges in local security departments are handed over to the General Guard Headquarters for further in-depth investigations.

“Tight Control Was Foreseen after the Execution of Ryu Gyeong”
With intensifying government control in border areas, it seemed that some officers of the Central Party were disturbed by the extent of strictness in recent policies. They have expressed their concerns over the fact that the firm determination of the highest leadership to deter border crossing at any cost may overheat the competition between the newly appointed Safety Bureau officers to demonstrate their loyalty. They think that the reign of terror may be effective for a short while, but rampant firing of gun in a long run may provoke people to revolt. Some argue that the seed for a future revolt has already been planted with the secret execution of Ryu Gyeong, the former Vice Minister of the National Security Agency (Colonel General of North Korean People’s Army) in January, 2011, and the downfall of people in his inner circle. The execution of Ryu, also known as “The Ryu Gyeong Affair,” was not just about the execution of one high-ranking officer; rather, it symbolized the generational shift within the center of political power in North Korea. Ryu was the symbol of those who used to maintain and manage the state system on the front line, such as the officers of the People’s Safety Agency and the National Security Agency, who were swept away in a flash with his execution.
A Central Party officer said: “After the Ryu Gyeong Affair, the Security Department and Safety Bureaus nationwide were investigated thoroughly, and the party began a general purge, starting with high-rank regional officers. To prevent people from noticing what was going on and then running away to a foreign country, they suspended the targeted officers from their dutie and tightened the surveillance to make sure that they remained in their region. Their subordinates were transferred to other regions, so that they would not be there to cause trouble when their superiors were removed - nipping a potential rebellion in the bud. Charged with various offenses, those who had faithfully worked for 30 years under Ryu Gyeong’s administration in important positions were eliminated, and the officers in the Security who were thought to be affiliated with this faction were also discharged. By executing Ryu Gyeong, they discharged the old workers in Security Departments nationwide, and thus accomplished a fast generational shift. It seems like the newly ascended officers are eager to immediately surpass the accomplishments made during the days of Ryu Gyeong. Although it is tough work, investigation on North Korean defectors and mobile phone users is an area where one can achieve the most outstanding result if it is done properly. With the power of immediate punishment given to the new leadership, the world will be at their disposal.” He expected that the tightened control will continue for a while.

Capital Punishment Now Possible on Food Crimes
In addition to allowing on-the-spot execution for border crossing, the Central Party has also warned that food crimes can also result in capital punishment. Food crimes include theft and illegal transaction of agricultural crops. A Central Party official remarked that there is a nationwide inspection on ideological discipline, and out of one hundred offenses on the list, thirty of them are classified as political crime. Political crime includes corruption, border crossing, usage of cell phone, smuggling, long-term absenteeism, lack of participation in the labor force, circulating illegal DVDs including South Korean movies, circulating South Korean goods, and drug dealing. Among these crimes, usage of Chinese cell phones in particular is investigated by the Security Headquarters. “Permitting capital punishment for food crimes is the expression that they will now be considered as serious an offense as political crimes”, said the Central Party official. On the other hand, the Central Party has repeatedly ordered not to waste even one grain during threshing. The point that the government tries to make is that this is an important year for opening the doors for being a Strong and Prosperous nation, and in order to resolve the food crisis, threshing should be done has to be as quickly as possible, and not even a single grain should go to waste in the process.

Overcoming the World Food Crisis with Willpower?
North Korean government authorities have been emphasizing the importance of crop harvest and rice threshing, and they have tried to convince the public that the current food crisis is caused not just by domestic problems, but by the world food crisis. Associating domestic food crisis with world food crisis has been going on for several years now, but Central Party officials say that the association is particularly emphasized this year. On government official said, “It means that the food shortage this year is that bad. But it’s been several years since we started blaming external conditions for the domestic food crisis, and now people are fed up with it, making the state’s promotional work difficult.” A government official who just gave a lecture on the topic at a cooperative farm in Sariwon, North Hwanghae Province, said that people don’t even listen to a word he says these days. The public sentiment seems to be that they are fed up with such lectures, especially with their very livelihood at risk at this point. Although people do accept the idea the current food crisis is related to the world food crisis to some degrees, the reaction from the public is cold when comes to the exertion that they must persist and finish threshing successfully by using sheer mental force. “Maybe it’s just the way I feel about the audience reaction, but in any case, I don’t want to continue this kind of lecture anymore,” he complained.

Following is an excerpt from his lecture:
“The current food crisis that has been affecting the whole world is very serious. Even countries that normally export grains control the distribution of grains and limit the export. The current reality proves to us that we have to be self-sustainable in terms of food with strong agriculture on our land. We cannot emphasize the importance of the thresh process enough in this time of a worldwide crisis. To ensure a timely completion of threshing, we must make sure that the threshing machines run well. Work shifts should be arranged thoroughly to prevent any misalignment. It is also important to prevent the loss of electricity by with regular examination and maintenance. All these projects should be led by the strong willpower of the people.
Many collective farms, including Dongbong Cooperative in Ham South Hamkyung’s Hamju country, are continuing to thresh in the face of fuel shortage by burning woods and using the gas from it to run the threshing machine. These collective farms in various places have been fully exerting the revolutionary spirit of self-sustenance in the midst of difficulties. We have to learn from these cooperatives, and do out absolute best on every threshing floor. The only way to solve the food crisis for our people will be to strengthen our farming and fill up the grain reserve of out fatherland.”

A Fierce Competition over Offices at the Ministry of Foreign Trade After the Inspection
With the generational change among high-ranking officials that followed the inspection at the Ministry of Foreign Trade now complete, the replacement of lower-ranking managers has begun. New faces have been appearing, with previous officials being discharged or relocated into less important offices. The competition for the position handling foreign currencies in particular is fierce. It is especially the case for trading companies located in Pyongyang, because it is easy to go overseas from these places. Many try to get a spot, even an entry-level position, in these companies, by utilizing personal connections and paying an enormous sum for bribes. Meanwhile, the new officials in important offices at the Ministry of Foreign Trade accept a bribe and try to fill lower-level manager positions with their own people. Although the old officials were discharged with the pretext of corruption charges, corruption is rampant in hiring new people. An official who was replaced during the inspection of the Ministry of Foreign Trade said, “This proves that new generation of officials with their passionate display of loyalty are in fact not that much different from us. It wasn’t about getting rid of corruption. It was about the generation replacement by their own people.”

North Korea Today No. 428 November 9, 2011

2012-01-18T12:09:00.000-08:00

Station 3 Focuses on the Issue of Threshing
With the harvest season coming to an end, the threshing process has started. Not only is the significant reduction in crop from the last year’s worrisome, but also posing a problem is the loss of grains in the period between harvest and threshing. Farm workers, regular citizens mobilized for agricultural production, soldiers – everyone in the sight is fighting tooth and nail to pilfer and smuggle as much rice as possible. To move sheaves of rice, cars are a necessity, and farms that cannot afford vehicles or shipping charges resort to using ox carts. Using an ox cart means rice sheaves are left in the field for days and stolen easily as a result. Even when there are guards on watch for the rice day and night, the rice gets stolen in any case by the guards themselves. When it rains, the situation is even worse, and it is not uncommon that rice gets wet from rain and goes bad.

The North Korean government has emphasized the importance of threshing via Station 3, and made pointed criticism toward specific cases, making a focused effort to warn people. Station 3 is the cable radio broadcast, which deals with internal propagandas with special importance, national issues that the government does not want to be revealed to the outside world, and foreign affairs explained to North Korean citizens. In contrast to the Korean Central Broadcasting Station (Station 1) and Radio Pyongyang (Station 2) directed mostly toward South Korean audience, Station 3 is only for the North Korean audience. The following is an excerpt from Station 3’s criticism on Dong-am Cooperative Farm in Sunchon, South Pyong-an Province, where sheaves of rice that did not get moved to the threshing floor got wet from rain, causing loss of grains:

“A few days ago, at Dong-am Collective Farm in Sunchon City, we were surprised to see the amount of crops harvested by the work unit 4. It had rained since the night before in the field, and we saw all rice paddies filled with water to ankle level. The rice plants, with or without supports, were flooded and destroyed from the wind and rain. The situation at the threshing floor was far worse. The threshing machines were outside under the rain, disabling threshing altogether despite the fact that electricity was available. The lack of a plan for preparation caused the rain to flood the rice plants. When we asked the managers of the threshing floor about where the workers were, they said that the workers were given a break since there was no work to be done because of the rain. The rain had already stopped at that point, and it was well after 3 p.m., but there were no workers on the site except for two security men. It was clear to us that at Unit 4, there was no one who cared about the fact that the rice sheaves were drowned in rice paddies, and the threshing machines and harvested rice were wet from rain.

We would like to question Lee Chansil, the head of the work unit 4 at Dong-am Collective Farm, for his actions. We citizens are harvesting with our minds set on the goal of making a strong and prosperous country; why aren’t those workers doing the same? Neither the lack of workers nor distance was a problem in this case.

We have inspected four work units at Dong-am Collective Farm in Sunchon city. At the nearby 6th Ryonpo Collective Farm, sheaves of rice were already moved to the side of the road to avoid getting wet from rain, and they were stacked up and covered. Also, they applied a double plastic thin film in order to keep the rain in the field of threshing. The different attitudes of Mr. Lee Chansil at Unit 4 at Dong-am Collective Farm in Sunchon, and Mr. Chun Sangbong at the Unit 6 at Ryonpo, make a striking contrast. It is not even the case that they are in different cities. They are located next to each other, but the difference is huge. The difference between the two work units shows that Mr. Lee and the workers at Unit 4 at Dong-am are working unwillingly not with a sense of ownership. This is the time when we need to put forth our best efforts, but some people regard their labor as a burden, and not with a revolutionary fervor, and thus they lost our hard-earned grains from rain without feeling any remorse.

In the end, the leader of the work unit, Mr. Lee, did not have any sense of ownership for the grains and the threshing floor, and thus had no interest in saving the grains from getting wet from rain and mud. On the other hand, we think the problem also lies in the management at Dong-am, including its head manager, Mr. Moon Hyangsik. If managers at each work unit could have been extremely careful and prepared for the rain, things would have been different. In particular, Unit 4 is very noticeable being located right beside the road, so it is obvious that workers did not even give it a glimpse at the field while it was raining heavily.

Workers at Dong-am collective farm at Sunchon city should renew their resolve. A powerful nation can be only achieved victoriously through the mind power and patriotic resolution from workers to be the owners of the country. Farm workers must consider themselves as problem solvers, so they need to do their best. We need to attain victory through grain production as one with high spirit and resolution.

Grain Losses While Threshing
Grain losses continue even after the sheaves are moved to the threshing floor from the field. Although farming villages are supposed to have priority in getting electricity during the threshing season, the lack of machines and poor supply of electricity slows down the threshing process. During the slow threshing process, there are many who steal rice by sheave. On Station 3, listeners were reminded of the importance of the threshing process with Anheung Farm and Daeyang Farm of Pyongyang’s Sunan district pointed out as bad examples.

“One way the lack of ownership manifests itself in Unit 3 of Anheung Farm is the rough treatment of rice sheaves during threshing. Because of negligence in picking out the ears of rice from straw stacks after threshing, 10 to 12 ears of rice gets left on average on a stack of straws. Despite such a big loss of grains, the workers in this unit, without any remorse, proceeded to use the straw stack with ears of rice still on it for other purposes, and piles it on top of manure for composting. In Daeyang Farm, the process of threshing was equally rough. Unit 2 at Daeyang also had more than ten ears of rice left on a stack of straws, which the unit nevertheless sent to the livestock and the vegetable farming unit.

This phenomenon at Anheung and Daeyang demonstrates how the members of these farms are not trying their hardest at filling up out nation’s rice reserve. Could you say that those workers at Anheung Farm, who do nothing about more than ten ears of rice being left on a straw stack, are working patriotically to ensure the supply of rice for our nation? There is no loss of grains more regrettable than to lose them from the negligence during harvest after long and hard spring and summer days of raising rice plants. However, at Anheung and Daeyang, such a loss does not seem to be minded, which casts doubt on the prospect of making this year’s harvest into a success. The failings at Anheung and Daeyang is partly to be blamed on the unit workers not fulfilling their duty, but a more fundamental problem lies in the shortcomings of the managers at the farm. If the managers made sure to take a proactive role for the harvest, and prepared the farm workers mentally with good planning and leadership, a disaster as such would not have happened. In other words, if the managers had set a good example, the harvest would not have been the way it is now (...)”

Despite Asking Farmers to have a sense of ownership…
The North Korean government is also having trouble with farmers who have no sense of ownership in its collective farms. Through Station 3, the government has fiercely criticized the farmers winding up their workday on their own before the end of a work shift at a collective farm in Rajinpo, Yonan County, South Hwanghae Province, in the peak of the threshing season. The government made a resentful statement: “How can all farmers possibly leave their working place before the end of their shift? What could they have possibly been thinking?” The government also stated with anger that the farmers should have stayed at work until the electricity was back, rather than just leaving, risking missing the chance of utilizing the threshing machine when the power comes back. The bottom line was that every worker should work with a sense of responsibility in collective farms. The government delivered a warning that the farmers will have to use a treadle thresher if they continue not to put in their best effort.

Whenever criticized as such by the government, workers express their agony. “We know that there is nothing wrong in what the government says, but with everyone suffering from hunger pangs, who is going to use all their energy up in collective farms instead of tending their own private plots? Even though the government promises a preferential supply of electricity to the threshing floors, we have more days without electricity than with electricity. Nobody knows when the electricity is going to come back. In such uncertain circumstances, who will just stay and wait for the electricity? Don’t you think that it makes sense that we work in our own private plots if there is no electricity instead of just waiting for it to come back?” The workers would give their best effort if they get to keep whatever they harvested themselves at collective farms, but the ration that they get usually isn’t even sufficient for half a year’s food, and using that to pay back the food debt incurred during the spring season, there is not much to be left. Naturally, people put most of their energy and time into cultivating their private plots. One collective farm worker says that the best that the government can do is to allow private plots for the farm members, and that no amount of criticism and disciplining through Station 3 would change anything. The following is quoted from Station 3:

“Those who threshed grain beforehand should have worked with a determination to keep threshing until the rotational shift arrives. Nevertheless, the farm members’ state of mind has been so lackadaisical to the point that the entire members of the threshing group just stopped their work and went home. Currently, every worker in the country is greatly helping and leading each other in order to fully open the gate of the strong and prosperous nation for those who come after them; in such a circumstance, how can Rajinpo Collective Farm in Yonan County show such a pathetic attitude with their terrible teamwork, and by going home carelessly even though the next shift did not come and not coming to work on time for their shift? Furthermore, even though we are in a difficult situation with the power shortage, the state is trying to secure electricity in the farming areas by all means these days to ensure that this year’s crop will be harvested as soon as possible; under such circumstance, how can they do such a pathetic job on threshing floors? How can you act so nonchalantly about threshing, instead of trying to maximize the use of the limited time when electricity is available? Have you already forgotten about the times when we toiled using the treadle thresher during the Arduous March? Also, you can still using the treadle thresher while waiting for electricity, and try to make a more efficient use of time to get as much threshing done as you can.

Choi Youngbin, the Chief of the Management Committee at Gwanyoung Collective Farm in Songhwa County, and Oh Dongsik, the Chief of the Management Committee at Rajinpo Collective Farm in Yonan County, demonstrate poor ideological moral and bad work behavior. We must ask them whether they have any patriotic spirits at all to have a good harvest and resolve the food problem. We must ask whether the people like them who caused disruptions in the threshing work because they cannot even do a single organizational work are worthy to be managers. The reason that Choi Youngbin and Oh Dongsik failed in their leadership is simple. It is because they have a poor ideological moral; harvesting this year’s crop well is an important task in resolving this year’s food problem, but they did not take the matter as that of life and death in supporting the future of Socialsm; instead, they just saw it as routine farm work, and in the hope to do the least amount of work possible, did not even do the organizational work properly. We all must learn the important lesson from these bad examples. The quality of organization and leadership in harvest determines the crop yield. Those whose names were mentioned above must keep in mind that they are in charge of their respective farms and do their hardest to collect the crops into the nation’s grain storage without wasting a single grain, by scrupulous organizational work and a firm sense of ownership. Every worker in the agricultural sector of each region must put effort to improve the farm work organization so that they can contribute to resolving the nation’s food problem by reaping a splendid harvest this year.”

With Stricter Border Controls, Chinese Villages Lack Farmhands
The consequences of stricter border patrols have affected the Chinese farming villages along the border between North Korea and China. Every fall, North Koreans have traditionally sneaked across the border into China to earn wages. However, this year almost all border crossings into China have ended. During the harvest season Chinese farmers usually hired North Koreans to work as farmhands to compensate for the lack of Chinese labor. It is not that no one crossed the border this year, but there was a dramatic reduction in the number of people doing so, less than 20 percent of the previous years. Like China, North Korea is also mobilizing its farmers for border patrol, making the border security much stricter. The Chinese farmers have expressed regret about the lack of North Koreans coming in for work. Jo Jung-geum Jo (alias), an ethnic Korean with Chinese citizenship living in Changbai, said “After working them for a couple of days we paid them a few hundred yuan and they said ‘we’ll be back next year’ and they went back home happily. They were tremendously happy even if we gave them clothes that we no longer wear at home. They worked so enthusiastically that we almost wanted them to stay and continue working for us. This year it has been hard to find laborers to the end of the harvest season. Last year, they came in groups of two or three, or in larger groups of five or six, going from a house to another, working. But this year hardly anyone had North Koreans coming in at all. Many said that they had difficulty finding help for their farms. Choi Sunghee, an ethnic Korean woman who says that she has hired North Koreans many times, said that she had trouble finding them this year. She also said, “If we gave them old clothes, bean paste, red chili paste, or rice, they were so happy that their families would not have to starve, but I don’t know how they’re going to make it through this winter. We were more worried about how those people will survive than the work we have left to do at home. So we often find ourselves glancing over the other side of the river. Over the years, we grew very fond of them. When we think of all the suffering they will have to go through just across the river, we feel sorry for them.”

Now that the harvest season is over, there has been a large decrease in workers. One person who has been helping the North Koreans for a long time said, “There have been more Kottjebis (street beggars from North Korea) this year. The kids cross the river looking like ghosts and their nutrition has gotten visibly worse. I think that these days there are more North Koreans who don’t plan on going back to North Korea after crossing the river. There is so much crackdown and hardship over there these days that no one wants to go back.”

Hard to Cross the Boarder with No Cellular Phones
According to one government official in Hyesan, Ryanggang Province, the main reason for the difficulty in crossing the border to China during the harvest season was due to a complete confiscation of cellular phones from security agents. A strict border security and new security agents who replaced the previous agents made it hard to cross the border, and moreover, seizing cellular phones from agents has eliminated the tool by which border security guards and defectors used to arrange safe times to cross the border, especially when coming back to North Korea. The official said, “Every year many people had gone to China to earn money during the planting season and the harvest season and then came back, but this fall, there weren’t many who did so. I heard from them that they earned 200 Yuan and were able to live through the winter on it. I am not sure how people will survive this winter since they couldn’t go.”

He also said, “The Chinese usually overlook North Koreans working illegally unless someone intentionally reports them to the authoritie so that they wouldn’t have to pay them, but, in most cases, they didn’t report them because they were in need of their labor. However, North Koreans didn’t even try to go to China this fall because of new border security agents and the prospect of severe punishment. I wanted to help them to cross the border, but it was impossible without a cellular phone to find out when the best time to let them cross the border was. People are very upset by the fact that they lost a valuable income source. ”

North Korea Today No. 427 November 2, 2011

2012-01-18T12:04:00.000-08:00

___________________________________________________________________

[Intro] There is a way to prevent loss of grains
A significant loss of grains in the process of threshing is said to be present. The effort to minimize grain loss has started in the context of reduced crop prospects due to the damages from the flood that hit rice producing areas. However, questions remain over how effective an effort that’s limited only to ideological disciplining of the workers could be. Station 3, which exposes in detail and sternly criticizes who did what wrong in which farm focuses on heightening the sense of ownership among farmers in order to halt the loss of grains. Farmers, in turn, ask the government why electricity is not provided. While criticizing workers for not demonstrating enough sense of ownership, the government is failing to fulfill its own responsibility. Working on their own private plots on a priority basis in order to avoid hunger is the reality faced by farm workers. If farming on private plots is banned, there will be more stealing and smuggling of grains from the threshing process. A fundamental solution for ensuring the supply of food is needed. There is a way: permitting private farming will do it. The South Korean government and the international community, seeing the willingness on the part of the North Korean government to resolve the food shortage, will provide agricultural supplies and technology. The food shortage in North Korea can only be resolved by a fundamental restructuring of the society aimed for an increased food production.

Station 3 Focuses on the Issue of Threshing
With the harvest season coming to an end, the threshing process has started. Not only is the significant reduction in crop from the last year’s worrisome, but also posing a problem is the loss of grains in the period between harvest and threshing. Farm workers, regular citizens mobilized for agricultural production, soldiers – everyone in the sight is fighting tooth and nail to pilfer and smuggle as much rice as possible. To move sheaves of rice, cars are a necessity, and farms that cannot afford vehicles or shipping charges resort to using ox carts. Using an ox cart means rice sheaves are left in the field for days and stolen easily as a result. Even when there are guards on watch for the rice day and night, the rice gets stolen in any case by the guards themselves. When it rains, the situation is even worse, and it is not uncommon that rice gets wet from rain and goes bad.

The North Korean government has emphasized the importance of threshing via Station 3, and made pointed criticism toward specific cases, making a focused effort to warn people. Station 3 is the cable radio broadcast, which deals with internal propagandas with special importance, national issues that the government does not want to be revealed to the outside world, and foreign affairs explained to North Korean citizens. In contrast to the Korean Central Broadcasting Station (Station 1) and Radio Pyongyang (Station 2) directed mostly toward South Korean audience, Station 3 is only for the North Korean audience. The following is an excerpt from Station 3’s criticism on Dong-am Cooperative Farm in Sunchon, South Pyong-an Province, where sheaves of rice that did not get moved to the threshing floor got wet from rain, causing loss of grains:

“A few days ago, at Dong-am Collective Farm in Sunchon City, we were surprised to see the amount of crops harvested by the work unit 4. It had rained since the night before in the field, and we saw all rice paddies filled with water to ankle level. The rice plants, with or without supports, were flooded and destroyed from the wind and rain. The situation at the threshing floor was far worse. The threshing machines were outside under the rain, disabling threshing altogether despite the fact that electricity was available. The lack of a plan for preparation caused the rain to flood the rice plants. When we asked the managers of the threshing floor about where the workers were, they said that the workers were given a break since there was no work to be done because of the rain. The rain had already stopped at that point, and it was well after 3 p.m., but there were no workers on the site except for two security men. It was clear to us that at Unit 4, there was no one who cared about the fact that the rice sheaves were drowned in rice paddies, and the threshing machines and harvested rice were wet from rain.

We would like to question Lee Chansil, the head of the work unit 4 at Dong-am Collective Farm, for his actions. We citizens are harvesting with our minds set on the goal of making a strong and prosperous country; why aren’t those workers doing the same? Neither the lack of workers nor distance was a problem in this case.

We have inspected four work units at Dong-am Collective Farm in Sunchon city. At the nearby 6th Ryonpo Collective Farm, sheaves of rice were already moved to the side of the road to avoid getting wet from rain, and they were stacked up and covered. Also, they applied a double plastic thin film in order to keep the rain in the field of threshing. The different attitudes of Mr. Lee Chansil at Unit 4 at Dong-am Collective Farm in Sunchon, and Mr. Chun Sangbong at the Unit 6 at Ryonpo, make a striking contrast. It is not even the case that they are in different cities. They are located next to each other, but the difference is huge. The difference between the two work units shows that Mr. Lee and the workers at Unit 4 at Dong-am are working unwillingly not with a sense of ownership. This is the time when we need to put forth our best efforts, but some people regard their labor as a burden, and not with a revolutionary fervor, and thus they lost our hard-earned grains from rain without feeling any remorse.

In the end, the leader of the work unit, Mr. Lee, did not have any sense of ownership for the grains and the threshing floor, and thus had no interest in saving the grains from getting wet from rain and mud. On the other hand, we think the problem also lies in the management at Dong-am, including its head manager, Mr. Moon Hyangsik. If managers at each work unit could have been extremely careful and prepared for the rain, things would have been different. In particular, Unit 4 is very noticeable being located right beside the road, so it is obvious that workers did not even give it a glimpse at the field while it was raining heavily.

Workers at Dong-am collective farm at Sunchon city should renew their resolve. A powerful nation can be only achieved victoriously through the mind power and patriotic resolution from workers to be the owners of the country. Farm workers must consider themselves as problem solvers, so they need to do their best. We need to attain victory through grain production as one with high spirit and resolution.

Grain Losses While Threshing
Grain losses continue even after the sheaves are moved to the threshing floor from the field. Although farming villages are supposed to have priority in getting electricity during the threshing season, the lack of machines and poor supply of electricity slows down the threshing process. During the slow threshing process, there are many who steal rice by sheave. On Station 3, listeners were reminded of the importance of the threshing process with Anheung Farm and Daeyang Farm of Pyongyang’s Sunan district pointed out as bad examples.

“One way the lack of ownership manifests itself in Unit 3 of Anheung Farm is the rough treatment of rice sheaves during threshing. Because of negligence in picking out the ears of rice from straw stacks after threshing, 10 to 12 ears of rice gets left on average on a stack of straws. Despite such a big loss of grains, the workers in this unit, without any remorse, proceeded to use the straw stack with ears of rice still on it for other purposes, and piles it on top of manure for composting. In Daeyang Farm, the process of threshing was equally rough. Unit 2 at Daeyang also had more than ten ears of rice left on a stack of straws, which the unit nevertheless sent to the livestock and the vegetable farming unit.

This phenomenon at Anheung and Daeyang demonstrates how the members of these farms are not trying their hardest at filling up out nation’s rice reserve. Could you say that those workers at Anheung Farm, who do nothing about more than ten ears of rice being left on a straw stack, are working patriotically to ensure the supply of rice for our nation? There is no loss of grains more regrettable than to lose them from the negligence during harvest after long and hard spring and summer days of raising rice plants. However, at Anheung and Daeyang, such a loss does not seem to be minded, which casts doubt on the prospect of making this year’s harvest into a success. The failings at Anheung and Daeyang is partly to be blamed on the unit workers not fulfilling their duty, but a more fundamental problem lies in the shortcomings of the managers at the farm. If the managers made sure to take a proactive role for the harvest, and prepared the farm workers mentally with good planning and leadership, a disaster as such would not have happened. In other words, if the managers had set a good example, the harvest would not have been the way it is now (...)”

Despite Asking Farmers to have a sense of ownership…
The North Korean government is also having trouble with farmers who have no sense of ownership in its collective farms. Through Station 3, the government has fiercely criticized the farmers winding up their workday on their own before the end of a work shift at a collective farm in Rajinpo, Yonan County, South Hwanghae Province, in the peak of the threshing season. The government made a resentful statement: “How can all farmers possibly leave their working place before the end of their shift? What could they have possibly been thinking?” The government also stated with anger that the farmers should have stayed at work until the electricity was back, rather than just leaving, risking missing the chance of utilizing the threshing machine when the power comes back. The bottom line was that every worker should work with a sense of responsibility in collective farms. The government delivered a warning that the farmers will have to use a treadle thresher if they continue not to put in their best effort.

Whenever criticized as such by the government, workers express their agony. “We know that there is nothing wrong in what the government says, but with everyone suffering from hunger pangs, who is going to use all their energy up in collective farms instead of tending their own private plots? Even though the government promises a preferential supply of electricity to the threshing floors, we have more days without electricity than with electricity. Nobody knows when the electricity is going to come back. In such uncertain circumstances, who will just stay and wait for the electricity? Don’t you think that it makes sense that we work in our own private plots if there is no electricity instead of just waiting for it to come back?” The workers would give their best effort if they get to keep whatever they harvested themselves at collective farms, but the ration that they get usually isn’t even sufficient for half a year’s food, and using that to pay back the food debt incurred during the spring season, there is not much to be left. Naturally, people put most of their energy and time into cultivating their private plots. One collective farm worker says that the best that the government can do is to allow private plots for the farm members, and that no amount of criticism and disciplining through Station 3 would change anything. The following is quoted from Station 3:

“Those who threshed grain beforehand should have worked with a determination to keep threshing until the rotational shift arrives. Nevertheless, the farm members’ state of mind has been so lackadaisical to the point that the entire members of the threshing group just stopped their work and went home. Currently, every worker in the country is greatly helping and leading each other in order to fully open the gate of the strong and prosperous nation for those who come after them; in such a circumstance, how can Rajinpo Collective Farm in Yonan County show such a pathetic attitude with their terrible teamwork, and by going home carelessly even though the next shift did not come and not coming to work on time for their shift? Furthermore, even though we are in a difficult situation with the power shortage, the state is trying to secure electricity in the farming areas by all means these days to ensure that this year’s crop will be harvested as soon as possible; under such circumstance, how can they do such a pathetic job on threshing floors? How can you act so nonchalantly about threshing, instead of trying to maximize the use of the limited time when electricity is available? Have you already forgotten about the times when we toiled using the treadle thresher during the Arduous March? Also, you can still using the treadle thresher while waiting for electricity, and try to make a more efficient use of time to get as much threshing done as you can.

Choi Youngbin, the Chief of the Management Committee at Gwanyoung Collective Farm in Songhwa County, and Oh Dongsik, the Chief of the Management Committee at Rajinpo Collective Farm in Yonan County, demonstrate poor ideological moral and bad work behavior. We must ask them whether they have any patriotic spirits at all to have a good harvest and resolve the food problem. We must ask whether the people like them who caused disruptions in the threshing work because they cannot even do a single organizational work are worthy to be managers. The reason that Choi Youngbin and Oh Dongsik failed in their leadership is simple. It is because they have a poor ideological moral; harvesting this year’s crop well is an important task in resolving this year’s food problem, but they did not take the matter as that of life and death in supporting the future of Socialsm; instead, they just saw it as routine farm work, and in the hope to do the least amount of work possible, did not even do the organizational work properly. We all must learn the important lesson from these bad examples. The quality of organization and leadership in harvest determines the crop yield. Those whose names were mentioned above must keep in mind that they are in charge of their respective farms and do their hardest to collect the crops into the nation’s grain storage without wasting a single grain, by scrupulous organizational work and a firm sense of ownership. Every worker in the agricultural sector of each region must put effort to improve the farm work organization so that they can contribute to resolving the nation’s food problem by reaping a splendid harvest this year.”

With Stricter Border Controls, Chinese Villages Lack Farmhands
The consequences of stricter border patrols have affected the Chinese farming villages along the border between North Korea and China. Every fall, North Koreans have traditionally sneaked across the border into China to earn wages. However, this year almost all border crossings into China have ended. During the harvest season Chinese farmers usually hired North Koreans to work as farmhands to compensate for the lack of Chinese labor. It is not that no one crossed the border this year, but there was a dramatic reduction in the number of people doing so, less than 20 percent of the previous years. Like China, North Korea is also mobilizing its farmers for border patrol, making the border security much stricter. The Chinese farmers have expressed regret about the lack of North Koreans coming in for work. Jo Jung-geum Jo (alias), an ethnic Korean with Chinese citizenship living in Changbai, said “After working them for a couple of days we paid them a few hundred yuan and they said ‘we’ll be back next year’ and they went back home happily. They were tremendously happy even if we gave them clothes that we no longer wear at home. They worked so enthusiastically that we almost wanted them to stay and continue working for us. This year it has been hard to find laborers to the end of the harvest season. Last year, they came in groups of two or three, or in larger groups of five or six, going from a house to another, working. But this year hardly anyone had North Koreans coming in at all. Many said that they had difficulty finding help for their farms. Choi Sunghee, an ethnic Korean woman who says that she has hired North Koreans many times, said that she had trouble finding them this year. She also said, “If we gave them old clothes, bean paste, red chili paste, or rice, they were so happy that their families would not have to starve, but I don’t know how they’re going to make it through this winter. We were more worried about how those people will survive than the work we have left to do at home. So we often find ourselves glancing over the other side of the river. Over the years, we grew very fond of them. When we think of all the suffering they will have to go through just across the river, we feel sorry for them.”

Now that the harvest season is over, there has been a large decrease in workers. One person who has been helping the North Koreans for a long time said, “There have been more Kottjebis (street beggars from North Korea) this year. The kids cross the river looking like ghosts and their nutrition has gotten visibly worse. I think that these days there are more North Koreans who don’t plan on going back to North Korea after crossing the river. There is so much crackdown and hardship over there these days that no one wants to go back.”

Hard to Cross the Boarder with No Cellular Phones
According to one government official in Hyesan, Ryanggang Province, the main reason for the difficulty in crossing the border to China during the harvest season was due to a complete confiscation of cellular phones from security agents. A strict border security and new security agents who replaced the previous agents made it hard to cross the border, and moreover, seizing cellular phones from agents has eliminated the tool by which border security guards and defectors used to arrange safe times to cross the border, especially when coming back to North Korea. The official said, “Every year many people had gone to China to earn money during the planting season and the harvest season and then came back, but this fall, there weren’t many who did so. I heard from them that they earned 200 Yuan and were able to live through the winter on it. I am not sure how people will survive this winter since they couldn’t go.”

He also said, “The Chinese usually overlook North Koreans working illegally unless someone intentionally reports them to the authoritie so that they wouldn’t have to pay them, but, in most cases, they didn’t report them because they were in need of their labor. However, North Koreans didn’t even try to go to China this fall because of new border security agents and the prospect of severe punishment. I wanted to help them to cross the border, but it was impossible without a cellular phone to find out when the best time to let them cross the border was. People are very upset by the fact that they lost a valuable income source. ”

North Korea Today No. 426 October 26, 2011

2011-11-10T13:49:00.000-08:00

North Korea Today No. 425 October 19, 2011

2011-11-07T15:33:00.000-08:00

Refugees Expected This Winter
The Central Party has ordered strengthening border control for the possibility that people would try to cross the border over the frozen Tumen River. A Party official said that the Party was concerned about a massive exodus of refugees. These refugees will be different from those crossing the border to China simply to get some help from their relatives with some secondhand clothes or to buy things to sell in North Korea. The concern is that the Party will lose control over those who are risking their lives and leaving the country with thoughts of never coming back.

One Pyongyang security officer who made an inspection in the border area said, “The residents were barely surviving. Pyongyang officials need to witness the tragic lives of these people firsthand. Telling these people to stay and endure this pain is the same as telling them to die. If there is any chance for a survival, anyone would try to cross the border and never give up.”

An official from the Central Party said, “There is no question about the direness of the situation when even a security officer is concerned about the lives of the people. The potential sudden influx of refugees into China might not be as large as the one during the Arduous March, but a great number of people are likely to make a life or death decision this winter. China should protect them, or at least provide shelters for the refugee children. There number of refugees will increase in the near future, and I hope concerned people overseas will show some interest and support.” He also expressed his concern that even if they successfully crossed the border, they would need the help of the international community in order to survive in China.

Fees for Border Crossing Skyrocket as Surveillance Increases
As the surveillance on border crossing and cell-phone usages in the border area strengthens, border crossing fee is increasing as well. Professional brokers also say that it has gotten much harder to get a contact in North Korean and Chinese Border Security units. A soldier of the Chinese border security unit said that there was a sudden increase in requests by Korean-Chinese in China to help the border crossing of their relatives living in North Korea. Many requests are still coming from professional brokers to bring over young women from North Korea, but an increasing number of Korean-Chinese people, who can no longer stand aside and watch their relatives dying of hunger, are asking for help. An official who had inspected the border area returned to Pyongyang and said, "The purpose of punishing those who had crossed the border, the military personnel who helped them cross, and the cell phone users was to prevent a larger scale exodus by blocking the route. However, according to the officials in the border area, this policy only helps the brokers because the brokers now charge higher fees for the increased risk. Many local officials tent to be cautious in fear of the punishment when caught receiving bribes from the brokers. However, others seem to be bold enough to help border crossings in order to make a huge sum of money at once. Unless the current food shortage is addressed, there is no way we can prevent illegal border crossings, no matter how hard we try."

In the meantime, the search for cell phone users in the border area is continuing. In places like Hoeryung, Onsung, and Musan, cell phone users are getting arrested and sent to the Provincial Safety Bureau. Those who are arrested this time are said to be undergoing a thorough investigation for border crossing and smuggling charges, and their deeds in the last 10 years at the very least will be examined.

Border-crossing Families Increase due to Food Crisis
The phenomenon of family disintegration began to appear across the nation was at peak during last spring’s food shortage, and it has come again this fall. Food shortage is in the core reason for the disintegration, causing families to fight over food, parents to go separate ways with different children in order to keep the hungry children alive or sell everything including the house to pay for food and then get divorced as a result. Many families are disintegrating, and this phenomenon is most prevalent among the poorest. Scattered family members become kkotjebi, wandering around as beggars. When the local party workers find these wanderers, they arrest them and try to send them back to where they came from. As the majority of the kkotjebis come from other cities or villages, it is not an easy task to send them back. If the wanderers are from the area they are found in, the neighborhood unit is to take care of them. The chief of the neighborhood unit is responsible for a couple of these families, and there are usually two to three wandering families within a neighborhood unit.

Recently, the number of families fleeing from North Korea has been increasing. The rationale of such families is that they would rather die together than be broken up as Kkotjebi (Homeless). Since the border security measures in the area of Heoryong and Onsung in North Hamgyong Province are very strict, defectors try to find new escape routes. Kim Young-Cheol (Alias), interviewed in the border area before fleeing over to China, said, “I don’t see how we are going to survive. I am doing this for my children. Although we have a new leader, nothing has changed, except for the increase in government control and oppression. How am I going to live without food rations when even Chinese imports are banned? I have been forced to go to work every day for a despicable wage and no food ration. My small farming lot failed this year because I had no money to buy fertilizers. My corn harvest was only about 50 kilograms. Some of them were stolen, and some were spent for a loan payback. My family cannot survive this winter with the corn we have left. We will die from starvation if I don’t take any action. Either way we will die, so I decided to cross the border. I will ask my distant aunt in Heilongjiang Province in China for help. If I stay here, my children will die before me.” Whether he has safely made into China is unknown, but the evidence that an increased number of families are crossing the border can also be found in a neighborhood unit’s lecture. Choi Soon-Nam (Alias) said that she felt more urge to cross the border with her family after attending neighborhood unit meetings every day to hear repeated criticisms against disappeared families. “I don’t pay attention to the Party’s criticism and punishment on the defectors. The only things that gets my attention is those families who succeeded in border crossing and the family living well with the money sent by their daughter who fled from North Korea. Frankly, I envy defectors for their ability to take action. If I ever decide to cross the border, I need to take my whole family with me because family members left behind will be severely punished”, she said.

Security Agents and Police Officers are responsible for the security enforcement in the border areas. When more than three defectors are caught in their control area, the director of the security agency and the chief police officer get blamed and punished. When defectors flocked into Musan area due to the strict border control in Hoeryong and Onseong, the director of Musan security agency got blamed and fired by the Central Party. As a result, the security agents and police officers are strictly enforcing all the security measures, keeping tight surveillance and executing harsh punishment on defectors in order to avoid getting punished themselves by the Central Party.

No Means of Asking for Support from Daughter who Fled to South Korea
Jeongnim Kim (Alias) from Saebyul Gun, North Hamgyung Province, has managed to make ends meet thanks to her daughter, who fled to South Korea a couple of years ago. However, she recently lost everything as a result of the currency reform. She had saved most of the hard cash she received from her daughter, because she could not easily spend the money knowing what hardship her daughter had to go through in a foreign country to make the money. The savings were for her youngest daughter and son’s marriages in the future, so the loss was more painful to her. On top of this, the whole family recently got arrested and interrogated for 40 days about her defector daughter. They were able to get released only after offering some bribe, for which they had to sell all their household goods. Now she desperately needs her daughter’s help, but there is no way of contacting her. Due to the strict ban on cell phones since the end of last year, she was unable to find anyone with a cell phone. Therefore, she has not been able to keep in touch with her daughter for over a year. The broker who helped her daughter cross the border also fled to China, and there is no way of finding him either. Rumors suggest that he has gone to South Korea to avoid getting caught. Ms. Kim suffers knowing that with no help from her daughter soon, all three people in her family will die.

Some Increase in Crops in North Hamgyong Farms
In some farms in North Hamgyong, there are smiles on farmers’ faces with the increase in crops this year. An official from the North Hamgyong provincial party said that the farms that had enough fertilizer imported from China this year seem to have benefitted. The farms that had a sufficient supply of the fertilizer in fact had more crops than privately owned small plots. A worker at a farm in Hoeryong, North Hamgyong said, “This region with its mountainous terrain does not have much cultivatable land, but it still makes me incredibly happy, even in the middle of my sleep, to think about this year’s crops which we had waited for so long.” Farmers are also elated to see the result of their hard work on an empty stomach this year. However, Kim Pansok (alias), the manager at a cooperative farm in Hoeryong was worried despite the successful harvest of this year: “It is not entirely a good thing that we had a good year while the harvest in other major rice producing areas suffered from the flood this year. We haven’t even started threshing the crop, and there already are people coming in from everywhere to get their hands on it. I don’t know with all these people we’d have half a year’s supply of food left to us.” On the other hand, even in the same province, the farms that did not have enough supply of fertilizer did not have good yields. In Kyongsong county, there are a lot of farms that had a bad year with disease and insects as well as the drought, and farmers are dismayed by the lack of crops to be harvest. Still, North Hamgyong farms are having better harvests in comparison to those in other regions.

Lack of Salt Poses Challenge for Making Next Six Months’ Supply of Kimchi
In North and South Hamgyong Provinces, the lack of salt throughout the region imposes an emergency on making kimchi for the upcoming winter months. An official at South Hamgyong provincial party says, “We tried to import it through the North Hamgyong trade office, but it didn’t work out. Because of the food shortage, we are not permitted to import nothing but food, and it’s hard to get the approval for importing salt. We could only import about 200 tons so far.” The head and the deputy head of the provincial trade office went to China and made several attempts to import salt, but they have had a hard time with finding companies that accept deferred payment. On top of the salt shortage, the vegetable crops this year are bad, which means that it will be hard to have enough supplies to make kimchi for the upcoming winter months. Garlics and pepper powder by kilogram are more expensive than five kilograms of rice or eight kilograms of corn. The party officials are likely to have vegetables and supplies needed for making kimchi distributed to them in any case, but for most others, it will be hard to make kimchi for this winter.

North Korea Today No. 424 October 12, 2011

2011-10-27T14:39:00.000-07:00

North Korea Today No. 423 October 5, 2011

2011-10-27T14:36:00.000-07:00

North Korea Today No. 422 September 28, 2011

2011-10-27T14:32:00.000-07:00

North Korea Today No. 421 September 21, 2011

2011-10-10T22:42:00.000-07:00

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[Intro]
Intensive Inspection Nationwide at Full Force
Complaints Galore With Severity in Inspections
People Vanish After Charges of Espionage
Officials Shaken Up by the Political Purge
South Korean items found in customs Mean Handcuffs
“All families are now Isan Gajok” in North Korea
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[Intro]
The North Korean government is in midst of its effort for generational change of its officials. The reason behind it is to form a set of officials loyal to the head of the state, but the harshness of the process brings the worry that even those officials who are already loyal may turn their back from the current government. When it comes to building “a strong and prosperous nation,” support from its people is a must. The recent reshuffling of officials in a manner such hurried worries many people since it may lower the loyalty among the official instead of boosting it. The North Korean leadership needs to be more careful with its agenda, and it should put an end to making more scapegoats.

Intensive Inspection Nationwide at Full Force
An intensive inspection on the government officials has started nationwide since August 20. Although some departments such as the Ministry of Foreign trade were already under inspection beforehand, full-scale inspection began in the end of August for most places. Whereas previous inspections were focused on setting examples to others by punishing a few corrupt officials, a substantial number of current officials are dismissed or discharged and new officers are taking the place this time. As officials from the Central Party say, it seems that the purpose of the inspection is to pave a way toward a generational change among government officials. At least half, or perhaps all of the existing officials, are expected to be replaced. The Security Department, police stations, and the public prosecutors’ offices are no exceptions, and they are inspected by the Security Headquarters. Almost all high-ranking officers in the provinces are also on the inspection list. Officers who are not found to have any corruption charges upon scrutiny are either suspended from performing their duties or transferred to a higher government body. Once they are summoned to a higher government body, they are unable to do anything until the investigation is over, regardless of whether it would last a month or two. The officials are also sometimes instructed to stop from working their duties and stay in the designated area to the same effect. Any illegal activities and the alleged corruption of the individual are thoroughly investigated once they stop performing their duties. Officials who are suspended from work wait for the result of the investigation anxiously. “The inspection is in progress with determination to complete every inspection before the Party Foundation Day (on October 10), and to transform the group into one that is entirely and completely loyal to the Party and the leader,” says an official from the Central Party.

Complaints Galore With Severity in Inspections
Currently ongoing inspections of various kind has left the atmosphere among government officials tense. Many officials have been arrested unexpectedly, and those who have not been arrested fear that they will be. The government has seen an increasing number of complaints from family members regarding the harsh interrogation techniques used during prejudication procedures, which inflict severe pain or injury on the officials. For example, an official at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was arrested upon returning from his overseas work. After undergoing ten days of heavy interrogation, he lost so much weight that his family could hardly recognize him. The ten day detention left him completely exhausted. Upon arriving home, he fell into a deep, long sleep. His family was very concerned about him, because severe interrogation methods including torture reportedly killed some officials. The arbitrary prejudication procedure involving heavy interrogation faces backlash even from ordinary citizens who ordinarily have not been sympathetic to public officials. The citizens say, “Government does not only fail to feed its people, but also torture them to death. Given the way it treats public officials, it will treat ordinary citizens even worse.” In response to the backlash, the Central Party instructed security forces to refrain from harsh interrogation techniques including physical violence and torture.. This order reflection an attitude much more lenient than the prior order that encouraged security forces to root out any activities inconsistent with socialism.

People Vanish After Charges of Espionage
Border towns such as Shinuiju (North Pyongan province), Hyesan (Ryanggang province), and Musan, Hoeryong, Onsung (North Hamgyong province) have started cracking down cellular phone users, brokers who facilitate illicit border crossing, people who run errands from South Korea, and drug dealers. The crackdown on cellular phone users starting in Shinuiju scared many officials at the overseas reprentatives. They normally communicate with the headquarters and their family through the residents in Shinuiju about matters that were mostly personal. If people who facilitated the communication in the middle are interrogated, there is a risk that all personal matters related to the official may be revealed. According to a Central Party official, this ongoing investigation is mainly targeted to detect acts of espionage and no one will easily get away from this exercise. Those who had been interrogated and punished in last two years are also re-investigated. “This crackdown mainly targets government officials, politicians, and military officials, but civilians are also under scrutiny. Since the investigation is targeted toward almost anyone, the number of people found to have engaged in illegal activities is high. Since the government aims to identify people who have communicated with defectors and overseas espionage network through this exercise, if someone is caught with an unregistered phone, that person is doomed to be arrested for further investigation regardless of political background or status. The investigators initially scrutinize phone conversation record for the past ten days, and if doubts still remain, they go through several months of the record additionally,” he explained.

There is not much room for excuse for those overseas representative officials whose phone records are scrutinized. As a Central Party official says, “If the people above want to end their career, then it will be done.” Those who have protected overseas representatives so far such as public prosecutors and public safety officers are helpless while they are under inspection themselves by the General Guard Command. The bloodthirsty scrutiny is in progress, giving the impression that no matter how high the political status of the accused may be, he will vanish with charges of treason and no one will know whether he would be dead or alive. An official from Hyesan says, “With the current insepction, no one, whether officials or others, can’t even budge. Any phone users are charged with treason, and headquarters people who communicated with overseas staff for matters regarding trade are not exceptions. People from the Ministry of Foreign Trade are suspended or dismissed from their work at minimum even without serious questions about their loyalty, and more problematic cases are transferred to the General Guard Command by the inspections team. The General Guard Command is the most fearsome place. Once anyone goes in, no one comes out. Those who go in are thought to be executed or taken elsewhere with no trace.”

Officials Shaken Up by the Political Purge
Government officials, undergoing the current political purge, are totally speechless. So long as the Party decided to remove undesirable officials, nobody can possibly avoid this. Officials in Pyongyang describe this investigation by saying “The whole nation is like a bunch of thin, dry firewood. People are so fragile and thin that a only little bit of pressure breaks them. On the other hand, the entire nation would be on fire with if ignited somewhere.” Although it is uncertain what the fuse would be, things may head to an unexpected direction with the possibility of an uprising among those who are suppressed under the current political brutality.

One Pyongyang official said, “It reminds me of a purge during the Great Leader’s time. There was a time that so many people were either executed or simply disappeared in the effort to eliminate political enemies. I heard officials saying that they are scared and afraid of the future. If this is the way officials feel, can you image how horrifying it must be to civilians then? Although we are told this will go on only until October, we’ll never know how many people will be killed and tortured until the succession process is completely finished. I am terrified just thinking about it,” and he shook his head hopelessly. Even though the unrest and discontent among officials are growing, the Party believes that there is little possibility the disturbance among officials would cause an actual uprising, since no one wants to be on the front line. Therefore, the group uprising is not a possibility. Who would stand up for an uprising when they see people disappearing without trace? Party officials replaced into new positions are taking advantage of the fear in the air to maintain public stability.

South Korean Items Found in Customs Mean Handcuffs
Border customs have become busier than ever. The number of people who are summoned back into the country from overseas and those who are coming back voluntarily has increased sharply, crowding the customs. In the customs, 24 hour surveillance teams have been formed due to the concern that people will try to escape with their families. Many were arrested because South Korea drama and music CDs. Since a lot of them had been traveling overseas in a relatively unrestricted manner, they tend not to pay much attention to what they put into their bags. If the inspectors find CDs containing South Korean music or movies from their lugguage, the person is immediately handcuffed and arrested. Unlike the way it way in the past, the officials do not take bribes, and they confiscate even the smallest items such as nail clippers and pens in case they are from South Korea. Also, as censorship is getting stricter, the value of South Korean products is increasing. The merchants in China who deal with North Korean smugglers used to take off South Korean tags from the product they sell. However, now that items with South Korean tags sell for more, the merchants in North Korea now ask the smugglers to keep the tags on. The high profit promised in the case that smugglers are not caught with the items with South Korean tags make people to take risk.

“All families are now Isan Gajok*” in North Korea
(*Note from the translator: The Korean term Isan Gajok refers to families whose members were dispersed in North and South Korea after the Korean War, left without means of communication.)

With a variety of inspections and travel restrictions are in place in the entire country, there is a new saying that goes “All families are now Isan Gajok” in North Korea. Travelling to other places is now completely unimaginable to the most, and many do not even know what goes on in the county right next to theirs. The only available news are those circulated informally by officials who can travel. Unless they live within the same area, even parents and children, or sibling cannot see each other. One official working for the provincial party in North Hamgyong Province said, “The delayed restoration in the area where there is no transportation and communication services due to flood disaster is one reason for families having a difficult time seeing each other, but the main reason is the harsh travel restriction imposed as all kinds of national inspections were put in effect. People lived without seeing their family members each other during the Arduous March in the 1990s, and now the same thing is repeating itself.”

Another official of Central Party said, “With the rigor of the current inspection, even the Security Department officers or police officers cannot travel freely. Even in the instances of business trips, the destination and the identification of the traveller must be registered and approved multiple times. The vehicles or officials with a special pass are not harshly inspected, but the other officials are subject to a thorough inspection. When the inspection to law enforcement officials are this harsh, not much needs to be said about the situation for powerless civilians. Unless they have a special reason, it is not possible for people see each other. The more fortunate can telephone to their family to say hi, but it is still difficult to see them in person. The entire nation of North Korea indeed became one big Isan Gajok."

North Korea Today No. 420 September 14, 2011

2011-10-03T11:27:00.000-07:00

Punishment and Replacement Cannot Solve Everything
Chuseok (Korean Thanksgiving) to be Observed Frugally
Rice Price in Pyongyang Fluctuates Greatly with the News of Futile Visit to Russia
Ministry of Foreign Trade, Vice Minister and Councilor Arrested
Strict Inspection of Ministry of Foreign Trade
Disparity among Overseas Representative Offices
Officials of the Ministry of Foreign Trade Are All Being Replaced?
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Punishment and Replacement Cannot Solve Everything
The severe inspection on the Ministry of Foreign Trade seems to be climaxing towards the end. It is reported that the Vice Minister and Councilor of the Ministry were arrested for their poor handling of the food shortage issue, and most main cadres were dismissed from their positions.

Although the official reason for this change was the food shortage, everyone knows that the real motivation is to make way for the next generation elites who are coming into the position of power. As the saying “Put new wine into new bottles” suggests, it is natural that new people should be in charge of the work for the new era. However, a new age does not come just by appointing members of a new power group for influential positions.

A leader needs to have insight and wisdom to benefit from appointment of those with experience and knowledge in their field. There is an old saying that says that it is the appreciation the king has for his men that makes the men impressive or merely common. A bell cannot ring by itself – someone must strike it. Jeongjo, one of the greatest kings of Chosun Dynasty, selected people based on their merit and the need of the country rather than giving weight to their personal and political background, even to those who had ideas different from his own. His example demonstrates the importance of the role of leadership.

Chuseok (Korean Thanksgiving) to be Observed Frugally
The authorities in North Korea ordered in response to the unresolved food crisis that its citizens are to observe Chuseok (Korean Thanksgiving) frugally this year. A neighborhood unit lecture announced: “Chuseok has to be observed as simply as possible, because food production has decreased due to the natural disasters. Also, civilians shall not brew alcoholic beverages. We must overcome this year’s food crisis so that we would be able to welcome the New Year as a Strong and Prosperous Nation.” Many expressed their apathy toward this order, seeing how there was no choice but to have a frugal Chuseok. In Pyongsung Market, people complained that they could hardly afford food for their ancestors. “How can we buy food for the ancestral rites when one kilogram of rice costs more than my husband’s salary? As much as I feel bad for my parents who have passed away, I have a family to feed; we are probably going to skip Chuseok this year,” said Park Aekyong (alias). Choi Youngran (alias), a clothing merchant, described the current economic hardship in North Korea: “Where would we get money to buy food for our ancestors when we can’t even pay contributions for the funeral of a neighbor? Nowadays, putting up a picture of the ancestors and drinking to them should suffice.”

For people whose family graves are located in other regions, restricted mobility is a source of discontent. After the national restrictions on travelers were strengthened, it has gotten more difficult to visit the graves because the travel certificates are difficulty to come by. Many people come to district offices and express sentiments such as: “We may be poor, but we still have obligation toward our parents to visit their graves and mow the grass. I never served them a nice, warm meal while they were alive; I can’t neglect them even in their death. Please issue me a traveler’s certificate.” Some residents however, show indifference, cynically saying “Restrict all you want. We can simply put up a picture and pray to it in our own home.”

Rice Price in Pyongyang Fluctuates Greatly with the News of Futile Visit to Russia
On August 15th, the city of Pyongyang resumed food rations that stopped since January in celebration of the Independence Day. Rations were provided to all citizens as well as party and political officials. However, officials were given all rations including the ones that were overdue, but other citizens only had a partial supply which caused the burst of compliant -- "The party officials are the only ones that count, and we aren't?" -- from the general citizenry. In any case, with the circulation of rationed food, the price of food stabilized to a certain degree, but with uncertainty for the prospect of future supplies, it is nevertheless still unstable.

On August 27, Kim Jong Il, Chairman of the National Defense Commission, came back from Russia. The news that he did not accomplish much from his visit added instability to the price of rice. Initially, North Korea asked much from Russia including 50,000 tons of flours, but rather than having its demands met, it was instead asked to pay off its loans from Russia soon, which is in billions of dollars, the rumor said. With this rumor, the price of rice started to fluctuate greatly. The price of rice, which came down to 2,500 won per kilogram, reached 3,000 won at a point. After the initial circulation of the rumor in September, this time with the increase of people who sold the rice rationed for Chuseok to get corn instead, the price of rice dropped again to the 2,200 won range. One retail merchant from Pyongyang said: "The fluctuation between 2,200 won to 3,000 won in one or two weeks time means that there is a difficulty with food procurement. It is likely that the food crisis will not be resolved in the second half of the year either, seeing the way how the price jumps up and down with the slightest rumor of inflow of food from abroad, or the lack thereof."

The import of more than 50,000 tons of corn by the 54th division of the Kangsung Trading Company, which is a military procurement company, greatly aided the food rations for the military and civilians of the greater Pyongyang are. However, in other regions, there is no available source of food. The regions try to rely on the harvest of corn and potato, but it does not help resolving the problem of food crisis much with the damages from this year's severe flood. The flood worsened the food crises by also damaging small plots. There are many people who say that they are worried about the lack of food in wintertime even after the harvest, as well as the problem getting enough food now. In the first week of September, in major cities nationwide, rice is sold in the range of 2,700 - 2,800 won range per kilogram.

Ministry of Foreign Trade, Vice Minister and Councilor Arrested
Vice Minister and Councilor of the Ministry of Foreign Trade who had visited China in order to solve food problem were immediately arrested. They tried to get food supply for two months but nowhere in China accepted their deferred payment contract, the rumor said. As they hardly made any accomplishment, the Central Party called them in to arrest and investigate them for negligence of duty and incomplete task. Regarding these two officials’ fate, one Central Party official said, “About 90% of the officials in the Ministry of Foreign Trade are currently being replaced. It is possible that these two will be discharged earlier than Ri Ryongnam, the Minister of Foreign Trade, to set an example to others.”

Strict Inspection of Ministry of Foreign Trade
The deadline for completing food supply task assigned to the overseas representatives has been extended to the end of September. Some officials said that ten months of extension would still not be enough to complete the task. If the assignment is not met, repatriation will be forced starting from people who did not fulfill the task for the last two years. Some officials already have headed back to the country.

In response to the strict inspection of the Ministry, overseas trade officials have put much effort to complete the assignment. However, trade officials say in chorus that the assignment was almost impossible to finish from the start. By the end of August, most officials barely achieved one to two tons except some outliers who obtained one to two hundred tons. In August, Ministry of Foreign Trade Ri Ryongnam visited Beijing along with Vice Minister and Councilor but returned without any success, and the latter two are now in prison. The Central Party warned Minister Ri of a similar consequence. However, as foreign media reported that the inspection was aimed at the Minister, no specific action is being taken yet. Some in the Central Party expect that the massive replacement of the officials in the Ministry of Foreign Trade would end around October with the dismissal of the minister.

Disparity among Overseas Representative Offices
There is a significant disparity among overseas representatives under Ministry of Foreign Trade when it comes to fulfilling the food supply assignments. The Minister urged all the officials in the Ministry to give their best effort, with slogans such as “Complete the assignment or die.” The Ministry reiterated the demand with an official order saying, “Offer money or return to North Korea.” The atmosphere is highly tense in the Ministry. Once the all-out effort was made, there was an obvious disparity in performances according to the nation and region where the representatives are based. Officials in wealthier countries were able to accomplish more, while those in developing countries made only a meager amount. Representatives based in Germany, the UK, and China sent two or three times to four or five times more amount than those based in East European countries. Within China, there was a significant difference between Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou and Northeastern tri-states. Among the three states, Shenyang and Darien are in a better position than Yanbian. Officials who cannot offer money begin to pack and return to North Korea voluntarily before being repatriated. Less well-off countries in Eastern Europe first saw some North Korean officials repatriating themselves and China has a good number of North Korean officials who have returned or expressed their intention to return.

Officials of the Ministry of Foreign Trade Are All Being Replaced?
The Ministry of Foreign Trade has been strictly monitored by the joint inspection team between the Cabinet Political Bureau’s Escort Command and the National Defense Committee. For example, overseas trade officials are called upon the tracing of trade expenditure and revenue investigations for missing items. These measures are intended to find out the amount of recently embezzled money, and bribes offered to the upper party members or cadres. Ministry of Foreign Trade officials assume that this investigation is ultimately targeted at the high level officials in the ministry, including the Minister Ri Ryongnam, and that it is not limited exclusively to detecting corruption on an individual level. The officials therefore are concerned that the Minster would not get away this time.

Seven officials at the general manager level have already been dismissed. The Ministry-affiliated organizations are filled with imprisoned employees and some overseas representative officials voluntarily returned to the country. However, people who could not complete their tasks for the past year or two were summoned being accused of “the lack of loyalty to the country with no contribution.” High rank cadres who have a close relationship with Minister Ri Ryongnam and those who have no apparent pretext to receive punishment have been ordered to return to the country with an offer of some position of general manger level in each department. “They want to punish us, but without an appropriate pretext, they want to bring us back to North Korea, keep us in some office for a couple of months and then push us away. I know their intentions; however, there is no way to decline such work. Once all of us have been demoted, the Minister will be removed, too. These days there are huge limitations on the actions of the Minister, and surveillance tightened,” said one official who was summoned.

Although the deadline of the food task was extended by one more month, not many officials will be able to complete the task by October. Many officials deplore the current situation, worrying about the vacuum in foreign trade in case everyone gets summoned. “How can these diplomatic novices who know next to nothing accomplish national plans? The only thing we can sell outside is coal, and only those who accumulated trust from merchant over time can sell the coal at a decent price. What on earth will they do when they have fired and summoned all officials so thoughtlessly?” lamented one official in the Ministry of Foreign Trade. Some people responded differently upon being summoned back to North Korea saying that “It is actually good for me. No matter hard I try, there’s no way I can complete the given tasks. I would rather spend time with my family than wrestle with all these tasks than be fired when I can’t complete them. I have no idea how they’ll manage to build a Strong and Prosperous Nation. I am concerned about the future of this country and I don’t see any kind of future for my children’s generation.”

North Korea Today No. 419 September 7, 2011

2011-09-24T15:19:00.000-07:00

North Korea Today No. 418 August 31, 2011

2011-09-23T18:24:00.000-07:00

[Editor's Note]
The news says there is no food in the market. The lack of food has been an issue for a while, but the situation seems to be getting worse with the distribution stopped even to the families of Central Party officials, who are given top priority when it comes to food distribution. They are the people who are usually sufficiently fed even in the times there is no food coming from overseas with domestic crops. It is shocking that even they are not receiving distribution. Although with the recent import of corn, it seems that they are given the overdue rations, the prospect for food distribution remains unclear. The situation is even more desperate outside of Pyongyang. Farmers, who could not even cultivate small plots of land, have been sustaining themselves with porridge made with wild grass, and they have started to beg. People crowd the houses of the families who are rumored to have relatives who have defected to China, asking desperately for help. No one can stop them, not even the police. The food crisis is worsening at almost all levels of the society. With the current situation, external aid from outside seems to be the only solution. We hope for humanitarian aid from the international society and South Korea.

No Rice in the Market
The price of rice is worrisome. Currently as of the end of August, 1 kilogram of rice is traded for 2,500-2,600 won in markets located at major cities nationwide. In Pyongyang, the price skyrocketed up to 2,700-2,800 won at one time. It used to be around 2,000 won in the beginning of August; compared to that, the price has gone up by a great deal. The merchants explain that it is because “there is no rice.” Even though the food is said to be imported from China, they are mostly corns, flours, and barley, etc. Rice which was brought into by trade officers is displayed only in upper-class areas such as the central district of Pyongyang from time to time. Even a selected class of people who used to be able to purchase rice from the regional cities cannot find rice.

In Rasun City of North Hamgyong Province these days, rice is sold out as soon as it comes into the market, so people who come to buy rice are returning empty-handed. The price of rice is all up to the seller as rice is becoming precious, so even the merchants are busy trying to obtain rice. Those who cannot buy rice even though they have money are mostly judicial officers in the local party or the families of mid-ranking government officers. As the censorship towards government officials intensifies these days, the wives who want to provide a warm meal to their husbands are expressing their big frustrations. Chung Hye-ran (alias), whose husband was arrested for alleged involvement with anti-socialist activities and came back a while ago, expressed her discomfort: “During the preliminary hearings, he was not fed properly, and was beaten so badly that there wasn’t a sound spot in his body. I was so upset that he lost his weight so much. I wanted to give him steamed rice at least, so I went around the market several times but could not find any rice at all. I had no option but to cook a steamed crushed corn meal, and I was distressed yet again when I saw how difficult it was for him to swallow the food. This is what they did to a person who has been so loyal, and there was no place to buy rice even if we were willing to pay for it with our own money. Is this how a country is supposed to work?” The class of government officials has been feeling uncomfortable already because of the censorship, and they are now even more outraged because they could not get rice.

No Food Ration Even to Government Officials and their Family in Pyongyang
As food supply is getting worse in Pyongyang, some government officials are also facing tough time. The food ration to lower-rank officials at District Party level or lower had stopped back in March and since May, ration was only provided to mid-rank officials themselves, excluding their family. In other words, even families of middle and low rank officials didn’t have rations until the ration resumed in mid-August. Recently, City of Pyongyang started to provide the overdue rations to all residents and officials for the occasion of Independence Day. Since there was not enough rice, the distributed rice was mostly mixed with corn or flour. This was made possible by the continued food inflow from overseas representatives. Probably due to the resumption of rations, the rice price dropped to 2,500 NKW from 2,800 NKW. It was fortunate for the people to receive the ration this time, but their future is still unclear. Officials have food saved to sustain for at least six months, but it’s a very unstable situation for them, too, if the ration isn’t distributed for a longer period. They would feel anxious once they cannot purchase rice in North Korea even if they have money. Some officials ask for help to relatives or friends who can visit overseas for business.

A Central Party official said, “People say there are more people going on an overseas business trip now, but the number is still a few. If one person goes overseas, ten people ask him favors, which is just overwhelming to him. Households that have a family member working aboard are indeed in a better situation. It seems that people working in foreign countries send home about 1-2 tons of food. I also receive couple of hundred kilograms of food from my brother who is working in China.” On the other hand, lower-level officials who don’t have a connection abroad survive on rice porridge or steamed crushed corn. These foods are not easy to digest for the officials, who were used to eating more rice than corn. Retired officials are undergoing an even worse situation. Since they are retired, their life is not much different from civilians unless there’s a person to take care of them. In August, some senior retirees who ran out of ration starved to death.

Farmers Beg for Food
The amount of begging done by farm workers instead of going to work at their farms in North Hamgyong Province has drastically increased since the end of August. Li Sook-yi (alias), who has worked for the Kyongsung Collective Farm for 8 consecutive years said that “the farm does not provide us with any food, but forces us to work every day. Thus, most workers complain about this situation and do not come to work. Less than half of the entire work force in my farm goes to work.” Farmers who used to pick greens in mountains during the spring now ask their relatives or some rich people in the town for food. When farm management officials visit absent workers, the farmers unusually lose their temper. Choi Woo-young (alias) who works for the Bangjin Collective Farm in Chungam District of Chungjin City said, “People can barely maintain basic life standards. Most of them cannot control their emotions easily because they lose their temper and cry bitterly immediately afterwards. When officials berated workers for their absence from work, workers complained and argued severely about their situation, or at other times, they beg the officials for food by paying even higher interest [on what? Loans]. Most people appear to lose their mind as they are going through a hard time.” When farmers begin to beg, kkotjebis seem to feel a sense of competition between themselves and the begging farm workers.

When asked why farmers are begging at North Hamgyong Province, which did not suffer severe flood damage this year, a farm official in Chungjin City said, “Although we do not have flood damage this year, we fall short of fertilizer, have crop damage from disease and insects, and are experiencing severe drought. We have therefore not made any success in this year’s crop cultivation. Farmers do not seem to have any food left because they consumed all of last year’s crops this spring. City dwellers can trade at the market in order to feed themselves, but farm workers do not have any such way to get food without relying on farming. The farmers who beg now did not achieve any success with growing this year’s crops because of the prolonged drought. Only a few farmers work hard to get some crops on their small patches of land.”

Flocking to the Families of Defectors: "I have to get help, no matter what"
With a few ways to get food on the table -- such as running a small business or cultivating small plots -- now all blocked, there have been more people who just visit relatives without a clear idea of what to do. The houses that are targeted are usually the ones that are rumored to have relatives in China or someone who has defected North Korea. The local security in Chungjin, North Hamkyong Province, is having a hard time dealing with people who are flocking to the city from the country side despite the heightened security measure. According to a security official, they are people who are completely cornered: "In the hope to receive something to eat, they never leave the house no matter how hard you try to chase them away -- people without any shame."

A little while ago, in Chumok-dong, Sunam district, the local security office went out to investigate the house that had a suspiciously large gathering of people. It was a family who had their second-born daughter that defected and went over to China. The relatives from the countryside, faced with extreme hardship, flocked over to the house with vague hope that the family might have something to offer. The surprised head of the family tried to explain that they have never received any news from her, let alone any help, but no one went back home. Rather, with the rumor spreading, they had even more visitors.

After hearing the news that many people are flocking there, a police officer went to the house in person. There were a total of 13 adults and children together, excluding the house owner’s family, in that house. The police officer explained the scene by saying that “all of them stared at me with deep-set eyes, worrying about whether I would kick them out or not. They were all so emaciated that they looked like skeletons, and I was very shocked.” The house owner told him, “It has been five years since my daughter disappeared. There is no way of knowing whether she is alive or not now. My relatives are gathering to see whether my daughter comes with any food aid from China; although I beg them to go out, they are so stubborn that they keep on staying. Although my family doesn’t have anything to eat, other dependents are added to the extent that we all have already had to make thin gruel for every meal for a few days now. The relatives believe that I am lying. What am I supposed to do?"

Recognizing that the house owner is in a difficult situation, the police officer told other relatives, "After the daughter of this house owner has gone to China, I too observed carefully to see whether or not they were receiving any economic benefits from the daughter. However, the house members at best eat steamed corn meals by selling products from small land patch farming. I am certain that there is no connection between the daughter and the house members after she has gone to China. If you keep staying in this house, the house members will too become kkotjebi (homeless) in due course. Please do not stay in this house but go out and find your own way to live."

After several attempts at persuasion failed, the police office started to threaten the people by screaming aloud. However, even the police officer's wrath could not evacuate the people out of the house. In the end, the police officer told the house owner "I feel pity for you but I am also worried that those people could be dead from hunger if they go out of this house." The house owner cried out: "how are we supposed to live then?" But the police officer left without saying a word, only shaking his head.

“Defectors Feed North Hamkyong Province”
One official in the People’s Council of North Hamkyong Province asserted that North Korean defectors support the whole province through bribes and brokerage fees.

“My province has the most defectors since the Arduous March,” stated the official. “My province has been run by the money and materials sent by those who defected from this country at that time. In spite of the fact that my province rarely produces necessities by itself, people in my province seem to eat and wear better than anyone else who lives near Pyongyang. This is all due to the money North Korean defectors have sent. Otherwise, I suspect that not even half of the current residents in the province would have been able to survive.”

It is the same reason that relatives in rural areas come to a house in which families of North Korean defectors reside, with no advance notice as shown in the case of Chumok-dong in Chungjin City. It is said that families of defectors live well off, other than ethnic Chinese people and wealthy families, in the national border areas. People say that the ethnic Chinese and men of wealth also benefit from North Korean defectors, since 20-30 percent of transferred money goes to these two groups as a brokerage fee. Additionally, the money spent by families of North Korean defectors also ends up flowing to ethnic Chinese or men of wealth because these two groups are dominating the local economy in general.

Families of North Korean defectors are also the main source of income for judiciary officials. The money and bribes they receive in return for conniving at the defection are substantial. One official of the People’s Council of Province confirmed that transfers from the defectors influence the economy of North Hamkyong Province immensely, although there are no exact figures available. However strictly the police strengthen the crackdown on defections, they cannot stop people from crossing the borders.

“At this time, crossing the border is the only way to feed ourselves and family members. Therefore, cracking down on defection is considered as a matter of life and death between the government and residents,” commented residents about the crackdown of government. Tens of missing people are reported daily to the Safety Bureau in North Hamkyong Province and Ryanggang Province. More than 20 people are repatriated a month from China.

Elderly Woman from Ryong-Jeong (Longjing) Visits North Korea to Save Sister
Jeong Geum-Rae, who we met at the Chung-Jin train station in North Hamgyong Province, was an elderly lady who was close to 70 years old. We asked her about her foreign looking clothes, and she said that she had come from Ryong-Jeong (Longjing), China. When we asked her why she had traveled such a long way when she seemed to have difficulty walking, tears welled up in her eyes. She said that her younger sister, with whom she had parted a long time ago, had contacted her several times saying that she was in desperate need of help, which compelled her to make the long trip. She was on the way back from visiting her sister in Gill-Ju with 200kg of rice and 3000 Chinese yuan. She said that tears came to her eyes when she thought of her sister.

This is her story:
“My sister has aged a great deal since the last time I saw her two years ago. She is 10 years younger than I am, but she looked as old as my mother before she died. I was surprised that even my sister’s children and their families had gathered to greet me at my sister’s house. My sister, after counting the money I had handed her, muttered to herself ‘we can live.’ When I asked her how long the money would last them, she said that after splitting the money with her three children, the remaining amount would last her about a month. I felt so sorry for my emaciated sister, who cried in my arms, that I wanted to take her back to China to take care of her and nourish her. In truth, my husband has passed away and my son is neither employed nor married, so I am not financially comfortable. I feel bad that I couldn’t help my sister more. In China even if you don’t have money you can still eat, but that’s not true for people in North Korea. Whenever I think of my sister I break down in tears and my body aches all over. Who will support my sister when I get older and I am unable to move… I am dragging my feet because it feels like this may be the last time I see her.”

North Korea Daily No. 417 August 24, 2011

2011-09-10T13:46:00.000-07:00

North Korea Today No. 416 August 17, 2011

2011-08-29T19:10:00.000-07:00

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[Editor’s Note] Sending Cookies and Instant Noodles for Flood Victims Regrettable
Nearly 135,000 Acres of Land Flooded by 5 Hours of Heavy Rain
Mounting Casualties from Flood, Victims Plead for Food Aid
Even Bureaucrats Are Stunned
Flood Damage Restoration Mobilization Interrupts Individual Businesses
Farmers Are the Hardest Hit by Flood
Grain Fields of Gangwon Province Also Turned into Wasteland in Split Second
[Editorial] Urgent Need for Emergency Food and Recovery Equipment
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[Editor’s Note] Sending Cookies and Instant Noodles for Flood Victims Regrettable
This summer South Korea suffered greatly from an unusually long raining season, severe torrential downpours, and a series of typhoons. Seoul was not an exception. Some areas of Gwanghwamun, Teheran-ro, and Gangnam were completely submerged under water and a landslide at Mt. Umyeon caused deaths of the residents and severe loss of the properties. The most urgently needed aid items for the flood victims were food, water, medications, disaster recovery equipments and manpower. Instead, suppose the government provided the victims with cookies, instant noodles, and snacks for young kids. How many of South Korean people would think an appropriate action was taken for them?

In response to the request of North Korea, South Korean government decided to support snacks for infants, instant noodles and biscuits. North Korean government has officially asked international community for help because they concluded that it was beyond their ability to deal with the damage caused by the flood. The South Korean government has no reason to hold off the aid since it maintained a policy that it can provide aid to North Korea when there is a request. The issue is what aid items to send for the victims. We urge the North and the South Korean governments work together and make concerted efforts to provide the most urgently needed aid items to the victims.

Nearly 135,000 Acres of Land Flooded by 5 Hours of Heavy Rain
Major farming areas in South Hwanghae Province have been flooded by a downpour of heavy rain that fell continuously for 2 days from July 30th to 31st. In particular, in Gangryeong, Baecheon, and Chungdan Counties, approximately 135,000 acres of land were flooded in only 5 hours. The disaster struck so suddenly that the farmers stood helpless, not able to do anything. The Chungdan County and Namchun-ri cooperative farms were instantly turned into unrecognizable fields as rice plants were pulled out by the roots due to the sudden downpours of rain. One farmer in Chungdan County described the damage, “No matter how much water we pump out, the fields are still under water. The affected farmland totals over 35,000 acres. We tried to dig the rice plants out and wash the mud off but they are already turning yellow and dying of disease.” In Gangryeong County the corn and rice fields that were flooded totaled close to 73500 acres. The crops are buried under huge piles of mud created by flood water and landslides so the farmers are not even attempting to dig them out. Because of the damages caused by the torrential rain the farmers will not have anything to harvest in the fall.

Mounting Casualties from Flood, Victims Plead for Food Aid
The casualties from the flood are quite serious as well. According to the report by the South Hwanghae Provincial party, the number of missing or dead residents in the province is more than 200 so far. In Kangryung, Chungdan, and Baechun counties, the number of completely destroyed houses already reached 2,000. The flood victims rushed off to take refuge in an annex of farm. In Baechun County, disaster recovery work is in much slower progress due to recovery efforts of the bodies found in mire. Many of the bodies are not yet identified and many of the missing people’s whereabouts are still unknown. In order to prevent fouling odor from the corpse and the spread of epidemics, sanitation agencies are spraying antiseptic solutions and quicklime to the residential areas.

In Kangreung County, school buildings were also severely damaged. Students and teachers had to stop classes to take refuge in farm buildings for four to five days because the roof and walls fell down or the classrooms became swamped by water and mud. Those schools damaged from the flood are temporarily using the meeting rooms which the Farm Management Council has provided for classes. Victims cry out that the hunger experienced during spring lean season was painful, but starving without a shelter is even worse. Moreover, there is a case of people dying after suffering from waterborne disease as their immune system weakens in the absence of shelter. Although the South Hwanghae Provincial party is struggling to mobilize measures to support the victims, they are still unable to provide food yet. Kim Panseok (alias) living in Chungdan County expressed his extreme despair by saying, "There is no support from the government. As such, people have to overcome the difficulties by themselves. This is the worst situation I have ever experienced and it is only getting worse."

Even Bureaucrats Are Stunned
The destruction of roads and railways all around South Hwanghae Province has led to large-scale disruptions in the area's transportation network including the train service. Approximately 1,000 meters of road stretching from Gangryeong County to Haeju City is impassable due to flooding, while a 20-meter high pile of rumble has covered a portion of the railway passing through the province. The blockage of roads and the downing of communication lines have made life difficult for investigators from the Central Party's Flood Damage Recovery Bureau. "Right now I am making decisions based on the reports I receive from cadres in the field. But it is hard for me to imagine the level of suffering people are experiencing now. The government ended up requesting help from the international community because we can't deal with all this damage by ourselves," said one Central Party cadre. Currently, provincial and municipal party cadres are heading out into the field to deal with farm damage and displaced citizens, while also spreading propaganda and leading recovery efforts to repair and rebuild destroyed homes.

The Central Party has been working to assist those displaced by the severe weather and encouraging flood recovery efforts. However, they are still unable to provide the resources needed for recovery effort such as food, construction material, and other supplies yet. "There is not enough building material like cement or wood to repair or build houses, so it’s a big problem. There is nothing to eat, and if there was equipment we could use to dig levees currently under water, we could get rid of all the flood water. However, none of these resources are available to help those who have lost their homes. There are no materials readily available to repair anything," a South Hwanghae provincial cadre said, speaking his mind on the difficulties in the recovery effort. Without assistance from the national government, the provincial party is left with their hands tied. "I think that the central government has finally realized that the flood damage is so bad they can't do anything about it. That's why they've requested international support. I hope that this time around the central party tells the world about what kind of damage has occurred so we can get help as soon as possible," he said, pinning his hopes on aid from the international community.

Flood Damage Restoration Mobilization Interrupts Individual Businesses
In Kangryeong, Baecheon, and Cheongdan Counties in South Hwanghae Province, all residents have been mobilized in an all-out effort for the flood damage restoration work. Housewives and students were put into reviving crops and factory workers were mobilized to restore broken bridges and train rails. As there is no equipment for restoration work, the work of filling the ground with soils has to rely solely on the labor of the women and children. Furthermore, the work of erecting and cleaning up rice crop requires manual work. Laborers have been pouring heavy rocks to the broken roads or train rails. Following the order from the Ministry of the People’s Armed Forces, military units under the 4th Corps have been mobilized in the restoration work. Soldiers have been put into the hardest work of digging the ground and carrying rocks. However, that is not an easy task even for soldiers since they are not sufficiently fed.

Residents complain, stating, “We need to eat to do the restoration work. How could we work without eating even corn meal?” Cho Soonsil (alias), residing in Cheongdan Town in Cheongdan County rap out her complaints about the lackadaisical of party cadres, saying “Party officials from the province and county visit the restoration work site in the name of giving instructions. However, they never touch the dirt with their hands. All they do is tallying the number of workers.” While residents had to stop their business for the restoration work, the party cadres who can afford more comfortable life never bother to assist the effort by joining the labor work. In case of Cheongdan County, residents could not do their business because the market was closed for the whole week after the flood. Since the starting of restoration work residents had to participate in the labor mobilization from early morning every day. As such, they can only go to market after 2 pm at best. Lee Keumsook (age 39, alias), who sells manufactured materials in the Bacheon Town of Baecheon County, expressed her concerns about the current situation, saying, “I have been going to market every day to sell clothes. However, I have not been able to sell a single piece. I have to pay for the spot every day even though I don’t even earn 100 NKW. I need at least 2,000 NKW a day to make ends meet. If the current situation continues, I would not be able to make a living. To make matters worse, I have to worry about the food price going up since the flood damage will impact this year’s harvest.”

Farmers Are the Hardest Hit by Flood
The hardest hit by the recent flood are farmers. Despite the flood, people in other occupations—such as merchants—are still able to make a living, however unskilled they are. Since farmers are unable to engage in trading, the only means of making a living is to rely on farming whether it is individual small land patch farming or working at collective farms, but everything was washed away by the flood. Jung Hee-chul (alias), who works at Shimpyong collective farm in Chungdan County expressed his deep concern saying, “My house collapsed and my plot of land was washed away in the heavy rainfall. We have thus far survived with only two meals of porridge per day. I don’t know how to endure life with no prospect for grain harvest this fall. I have moved to a mud hut for an emergency shelter. While it is barely livable during the summer, I have no idea of where to escape once the temperature begins to drop. I feel so hopeless.” Han, Keum-ok (alias) said, “ I go out to my small land patch farm every day, trying to lift up a few corn cane stems, but come back with nothing but tears in my eyes in despair—even the corn cane I dug out in a mudslide turns out to be inedible. Our agricultural technology officials are in despair, too. It is seriously doubtful that straightening up the rice stalks that were submerged in the flood will help produce any grain harvest. They are worried about the level of drop in harvest caused by the flood.”

Grain Fields of Gangwon Province Also Turned into Wasteland in Split Second
The localized torrential downpour of this summer hit Gangwon Province as well. Landslides occurred throughout Pyung-gang, Chulwon, and Echeon Counties on July 30th due to the downpour of more than 50 mm per hour. In Gaechun Town in Echeon County, 4,900 acres of cornfield were submerged under water and most patch-fields were turned to wasteland due to a landslide. Approximately 1,715 acres of cornfield were turned into ruins in Ryongjung Town. Unlike South Hwanghae Province, Gangwon Province mainly planted corn, sweet potatoes and beans because of its mountainous environment, and the crops have been severely damaged. The corns all died because the stalks were broken. The sweet potatoes and beans were buried under the soil and sand, and there is no trace of them.

Most residents of Pyung-gang, Chulwon, and Echeon Counties have lived by slash-and-burn farming on their small land patch farms. During June and July, the residents who barely survived with only newly planted potatoes, devoted all their energy and resources into the corn farm, which will be harvested starting in August. Nothing is left for them to rely on due to the flood damage, and they are at a loss worring about what to do next. A serious death toll also occurred in Chulwon County. A sudden torrent outburst from a mountain valley swept away approximately 70 households in a flash, with dead or missing persons continually being added to the count. People, who have lost their houses, instantly evacuated to huts and are now starving because there is no food. Children have given up going to school because they are starved and have no energy. Kindergarten and daycare facilities have been swept away as well; currently there is no proper place to take care of infants and toddlers. Kangwon Province Party has started restoration operation hurriedly, but they are also experiencing problems with securing food, restoration equipment and supplies.

[Editorial] Urgent Need for Emergency Food and Recovery Equipment
There is much suffering everywhere in North Korea because of the past month's flood. With the rainy season starting from June, and the Typhoon No. 5 "Meari" as well as the Typhoon No. 9 "Muifa," heavy rain poured down without ceasing. The North Korean government unprecedentedly reported the disaster situation quickly and asked for aid from the international community. The International Federation of the Red Cross (IFRC) decided to provide 3,000 emergency relief kits, and an additional delivery of other necessary materials. The South Korean government also offered to provide supplies and medicines worth 5 billion won to the North. It is an extremely positive development that the North Korean government asked for help, and the South Korean government responded quickly in turn. Now what matters is the mutual consultation on which supplies and materials need to be delivered and in what manner, and reaching an agreement quickly to deliver the goods as soon as possible.

What is most urgent for the victims is food and water. It has been an exceptionally difficult year with a severe food shortage during last spring. The first half of the year has been difficult for urban residents with the economic downturn continuing from the last year, and for people in rural areas, all they had to eat until potato harvest in June was porridge made with grass. All they looked forward to was to harvest corn in August, but the heavy downpour destroyed cornfields. There is no drinking water as the water supply system became contaminated with the muddy water. People whose bodies have grown extremely weak after the dire food shortage in August need food, clean water, and medicine. In particular, Hwanghae Province urgently needs ways to take care of children, with many of its day cares and kindergartens destroyed.

In addition, construction materials and restoration equipments must be supported along with others so the flooded houses and the public facilities such as roads, railroads and river banks can be repaired. On July 29 when the landslides on Mount Umyeon occurred, Seoul City was able to mobilize approximately 2,000 restoration equipments with the assistance of others such as the Ministry of National Defense. They were able to clean earth and sand, uprooted trees, and gravel in 4-5 days because they had various equipments other than excavators and large trucks, such as fire trucks and approximately 70 pumps and chain saws. Even with such heavy equipments, however, it was not an easy task to clean up large rocks and logs. It is difficult to find proper equipment at North Korea’s flood recovery sites. Everyone, regardless of whether they are adults, children, women or men, just take actions to repair with their bare hands, A-frame carriers, spades and pickaxes. The soldiers who came to assist the civilians are struggling as well since they cannot move heavy rocks with their starved stomachs. Excavators to dig up earth and sand, large trucks to transport the soil, water pumps to pump water from the fields as well as generators are desperately needed. Construction materials such as rebar and cements which are needed in repairing the houses are also needed.

One should put himself into other’s shoes. Let us think about the North Korean brethrens in relation to the current situation in which the flood victims of South Korea have suffered as a result of this flood. The loss and pain of those who suffered the flood can never be healed easily no matter how promptly they are supplied with the best restoration equipments, food and basic medicines. So, how would the North Korean people feel, when they have to confront the wasteland solely by themselves? The foremost formidable enemies for them are immediate hunger and contagious disease. Since they cannot expect any yield for this fall, it is even more desperate when thinking about how to take care of the livelihood in the future. They can take refuge in a temporary shelter or a vinyl hut at this time, but when the season changes, they will be in desperate need of a house which will protect them from cold wind.

The South Korean government is said to send snacks for small children, biscuits, Choco Pies and noodles upon the request of the North Korean government which requested goods and supplies such as food and cements. We should ponder whether we have offered to give them an ointment for minor cut on the finger while the other side was requesting equipment for heart surgery. What is needed to those left in the areas struck by the flood is compassion. Hopefully, the South Korean government and the international community would alleviate the pain of North Korean people as soon as possible by supporting food, drinking water, medicines, construction materials for repairing damages caused by the flood, and heavy equipments.

North Korea Today No. 415 August 10, 2011

2011-08-24T08:49:00.000-07:00

[“Good Friends” aims to help the North Korean people from a humanistic point of view and publishes “North Korea Today” describing the way the North Korean people live as accurately as possible. We at Good Friends also hope to be a bridge between the North Korean people and the world.]
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[Editor's Note]
Nothing to Be Expected from This Year’s Harvest
“Having worked so hard on fertilizer purchase, but…”
“They tell us to prepare for the rainy season but…”
Outcries of Desperation from Everywhere
Nothing But Despair for Small-Plot Farmers
Strong and Prosperous Nation with What?
[Editorial] Flood Damage Restoration Is Not Complete until Food Issues Are Resolved
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[Editor's Note]
Adding to the huge damage from the devastating flood last year, another flood this year severely affected North Korea again. The heavy rainfall aggravated the country’s already dire food situation, and the flood damage estimates are expected to rise. Pyongyang sent an unprecedentedly quick emergency request to the United Nations for food aid. In contrast to the international community’s concern about the food situation in North Korea this year and its response with food aid, the South Korean government has maintained a lukewarm attitude toward food aid to the North. This time, however, the South Korean government pledged to provide emergency relief supplies to the North for recovery from the floods, which North Korea accepted. The gravity and seriousness of the flood damage on top of the dire food situation of North Koreans is beyond our imagination. When can their suffering come to an end? Echoing the voices of North Koreans affected by the recent flood as well as the chronic food shortage, we hope to find ways to share their burdens and bring their sufferings to an end.

Nothing to Be Expected from This Year’s Harvest
North Korea has suffered a greater damage than last year from typhoon “Maeahri” in June which was followed by a series of heavy rains. North Korean government officially requested the United Nations for aid on July 25th. But they are having trouble grasping the scope of flood damage that hit them in late July, even before they could start recovering from previous damages. The farmlands in South Hwanghae Province and North Pyongan Province have been hit the hardest by the flood, making future harvest impossible. The two provinces, some of the most fertile regions in North Korea, have suffered the most damage two years in a row. “A lot of resources including fertilizers and insecticides were put into the Hwanghae Province this year, so the economic loss is a lot greater,” said a worker. The fields have been completely submerged under water with no visible trace of wheat, and countless fields now lay in ruins.

“I estimate the damage to be multiple times greater than what is being reported on Korean Central Television (KCTV) and Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). Great efforts and workforce were put into this year’s harvest because we predicted the food situation to worsen, but now we don’t know what to do,” said Choi Sung-Chul, a farmer and a resident of South Hwanghae Province, and gave a deep sigh of resignation.

“Having worked so hard on fertilizer purchase, but…”
Since last year, the Ministry of Agriculture and other governmental organizations have reported the dire domestic food situation to Central Party several times. Following a last year’s report that warned, “If the current situation continues, next year will see the worst (food situation) of all,” the Party issued an order stating, “Prepare all necessary materials for the next year’s good agricultural performance.” Accordingly, the Ministry of Foreign Trade has made every effort to purchase fertilizers and pesticides since early this year. An official at the Ministry of Foreign Trade said, “Trade officials have followed the order of the Organization and Guidance Department in the Central Party and worked very hard this year on importing fertilizers and agricultural chemicals instead of food with all the funds we had.” Since there was no food purchase assignment other than the army provisions, they did not purchase food.

However, as food sources got depleted and the reports of food crisis with deaths from starvation poured in from every part of the nation, the Central Party questioned the Ministry of Foreign Trade about the food import situation. The Organization and Guidance Department in the Central Party explained that it is true that they ordered to import fertilizers and agricultural chemicals for next year’s farming, but they have never ordered not to import food. A Foreign Trade Ministry official expressed his frustration over the unfairness, saying that the Organization and Guidance Department changed their own words and blamed the Ministry for food crisis. Now that the inspection on the Foreign Trade Ministry became extremely tightened, he could not say any more.

“They tell us to prepare for the rainy season but…”
Although the Ministry of Foreign Trade imported and generously distributed fertilizers and pesticides to major farming regions and great care was put into farming, all the efforts were in vain because of the disastrous flooding of farmland. Kim Nam-chul (pseudonym) said, “This year, since the time people were mobilized for farming, we have been working frantically. The Trade Office imported fertilizers and pesticides on a larger scale than any other year and generously distributed them to all the farming areas, so we were sure that we would be able to begin harvesting by the end of the rainy season. Current conditions are much worse than those during the Arduous March (the massive famine of the mid 1990's), but I had hoped that the food situation would get a little better this year. When will this life (with food shortage) end?” and hung his head in despair. Farmers in areas flooded by torrential rains should be digging all the fields in preparation for planting winter crops such as cabbages and radishes, but they are too devastated to work because of the heavy rains that have hit them again. Every year during the rainy season, the fields are flooded, and the government has been emphasizing the importance of flood prevention. However, because the country has a large deficit, they have not been able to construct any flood barriers, and their orders to prevent flooding sound hollow.

In Geumya, Jeongpyung and Yodeok Counties of South Hamgyong Province that have suffered damage from heavy rains, the cornfields and rice patties have either been completely flooded or destroyed. According to Moon Oh-Sik (Pseudonym, Age 52), a supervisor at eup Farm in Geumya County, “The Provincial Party and the Provincial Farming Management Commission have taken a special interest in contributing to building a stronger nation through better farming, as pointed out by this year’s New Year’s Day Joint Editorial. Because of the efforts of the farming mobilization and alleviation of the fertilizer shortage, the corn and rice crops were initially doing very well. However, half of the crops were previously damaged by heavy rain and the rest were then completely wiped out by the recent downpour. People are afraid that areas that have not yet been affected by the rain will also be washed away by a torrential downpour.”

Also people say, “Farming divisions are raising the river banks and repairing the waterways in preparation for flooding and torrential rains, as well as building embankments in valleys to prevent landslides. But, they can crumble easily if there is a heavy downpour.” However, there are many farming divisions that have yet to establish preventive measures against flooding. The officials from the Provincial Party and the Military Party Farming Management Commission are supervising the recovery effort in the affected areas, but they have not been able to do much.

Outcries of Desperation from Everywhere
A managerial official working at a collective farm in Yeonan County, South Hwanghae Province said, “A sudden heavy rainfall flooded our farmlands and disrupted grain harvest. I am afraid we can’t get anything from the farmland and all the work we did so far since the all-out mobilization of May went in vain. There have been repeated warnings from the Party and the government to prepare for floods and to launch a campaign of a forced mobilization for that. Easy to say than to get it done. There has been no action for lack of resources. As a result, we are as vulnerable as we have always been to floods. Every year our grain harvest suffers from the heavy rainfall.”

The situation is the same across the region. In Yeonan County and Baechun County, South Hwanghae Province, almost nothing is expected for harvest this fall. This region was flooded last fall as well, and farmers could not get enough food distribution. To make matters worse, most of what was left to farmers was taken to the People’s Army for the army provisions. Farmers in the region complain about the food shortage exacerbated by flood, saying, “Last year we had to live on a ration of a few months for a year. Running out of food early spring, we had to live on wild herbs to survive. And now, we cannot expect any food distribution again this fall.” They share with each other their complaints that they have to survive only on some early harvested potatoes grown in small plots just as they did last year.

Though living in a “food basket”, they have rarely had a chance to eat whole rice. When they get some rice distribution, they sell it to buy a larger amount of whole corn that can last longer. The rate of people getting sick is high especially among children aged 3-4 and elderly people who have difficulty in digesting corn meal.

Nothing But Despair for Small-Plot Farmers
Small-plot farmers are now worrying about how they will eat after the enormous damage done to their crops by the recent torrential rains. The government has no plan in place to help farmers who have suffered damage, reconstruction has not begun on roads and riverside levees destroyed by floods, and farmland covered in mudpiles are not being cleaned up. In Bongsan County and Seohong County in North Hwanghae Province, a large number of corn fields were swept away by landslides, turning the fields into wasteland. Sixty percent of residents in the two counties rely on small land patch farming to survive, but the landslides caused by this year’s rainy season have flooded their fields and left them with nothing to eat. At the beginning of the spring season, the lack of manure forced farmers to cultivate their fields with human waste in an unimaginably difficult effort to survive, but now there is nothing to harvest and many residents are worrying how they will be able to carry on their lives.

Lee Yongcheol (alias, 61), a farmer at the co-op farm in Seohong County, receives senior pension from the government. However, in order to earn a living as a small plot farmer, he tilled and cultivated 700 pyeong (approximately 0.57 ac or 0.23 ha) of land in a nearby mountain, planting soybeans and corn. The recent landslides, however, have swept away everything he created and now he says he is completely uncertain about the future. The other members of his family were only able to eat two meals a day, and they spent their time from seven in the morning until sunset tilling the fields and planting corn and soybeans. His family had taken all the money they had to buy manure and worked hard to produce a good harvest, but now he believes that all their hard work was for nothing.

“The government only distributed several months of food to us after the damage the weather made last year destroyed all of our crops,” he said. “Now we have to farm on small plots in order to eat. This year, however, all the small plots we had worked so hard to maintain were completely swept away. How are we expected to survive next year? It’s clear to me what will happen. Sinc my family can’t run our own businesses, what the government gave us and the farming we did was our only hope, but now we have nothing to look forward to,” he continued, trying to fight back tears. “There is no future, no hope…all day, everyday I keep on thinking that if I have to live this way I would rather die.”

Unfortunately, human waste cannot be used as manure for corn, so many farmers had sold their belongings in order to buy farming manure. The recent storms, however, rid farmers of any chance to harvest their crops, and there are many people who shed tears at the thought that selling their belongings for manure was, in the end, a wasted effort.

Farmers in this area have so little to eat that most people are eating two meals a day of potatoes or barley. The vast majority of people do not even have corn meals, so they are forced to survive on porridge.

Corn fields in South Pyeongan Province have also been severely damaged. Fields in the Mundeok County co-op farm have been completely covered by mud and sand and the rice paddies are almost all underwater, making them impossible to harvest. Flood damage last year also caused poor crop yields, and because the remaining grain was collected for the military there was nothing left for the farmers.

With nothing to eat, farmers are surviving precariously on potatoes and barley from this year’s harvest. “The food all ran out in April so we’ve been surviving by picking vegetables up in the mountains and eating potatoes,” said co-op farmer Lee Hyeongsuk (alias, 39). “We worked with anticipation for the fall season, but we ended up getting hit by the weather hard again this year. Every year it's the same situation, and with all the energy it saps up I don’t think I can do this anymore,” Lee lamented. While looking out over the water-covered fields, one farm official had this to say: “We had just been able to take a break after the end of the mass mobilization when we were hit again with floods. Just like last year, I don’t see us getting anything from the government.”

Strong and Prosperous Nation with What?
Now the spring lean season is over and early crop of potatoes are out. Nevertheless, domestically produced rice is not in sight in the markets of South Pyongan, North Hamgyong, and North Hamgyong Provinces. The food that is being sold or traded by food merchants is all imported rice from China, but even that is far from sufficient for consumers. The imported rice from China in the market has been stocked for several years so it is not fresh and lacking stickiness. However, since the amount of import is small the market merchants cannot afford to sell in large quantities. Up until May food ration has been given to officials of the Central Party and other government and Party agencies, but food distribution could not have been made since June. Therefore, the food condition has reached the worst level. The food shortage problem is so serious that food distribution could not be done even for the elites in Pyongyang. As such, the food situation for ordinary people needs no description. At this point people are feeling extremely insecure and already worried about how to survive in the following year as large areas of rice field in the granary have been damaged by flooding caused by heavy rains this year. The government has proclaimed around the country that it will open the door of Strong and Prosperous Nation in the year 2012. However, people are questioning and criticizing with what and on what economic basis they can bring about Strong and Prosperous Nation. Even officials are questioning how Strong and Prosperous Nation in the next year can be achieved when crop yields are at dismal level every year.

[Editorial] Flood Damage Restoration Is Not Complete until Food Issues Are Resolved
Seoul, South Korea, in late July 2011 was scorched by the heaviest rainfall in a century. Experiencing climate change, North Korea was not exceptional from massive rainfall damages. Continued on last year’s flood damages in the area of Hwanghae and Pyongan Provinces, North Korea has been again suffering from a flooding this year by typhoon and rain during the raining season in middle of June as well as heavy rainfall in July. This year damages were much severer than last year. The North Korean government quickly apprised United Nation (U.N.) of flood damages and asked for support on July 25, 2011. The damages in the area of Hwanghae, Pyongan, and Hamkyung Provinces were so bad. The farmland flooded and was buried, banks and levees were disrupted, residential houses flooded, and railroad and highway were washed away. Although the scope of damages hasn’t been accurately examined as yet, actual damages can be surmised from the flood damages in South Korea that it could be much severer than reports by Korean Central Television and Korean Central News Agency in North Korea.

Since last year, the North Korea government has been trying to address the food shortage, expecting that this year would see the worst food supply conditions. Nonetheless, the food shortage is reaching its worst point; many people have died from starvation since this spring and the food ration has completely stopped even to officials since June. The fact that North Korea immediately asked the international community for help and accepted the South Korea’s offer despite a political tension between the two indicates how serious the situation is that North Korea is undergoing now. As the flood damages exacerbated the already dire food shortages, North Korea is in a very difficult situation that can’t be possibly handled by North Korea alone.

The flood and landslide in Seoul's Gangnam with the heaviest rainfall in a hundred years was effectively dealt within a few days’ time with the availability of various equipments and heavy machinery. Still, more time was needed for those who were affected to resume their daily domestic lives with others' help. However, in North Korea, where there is a lack of equipment and machinery, manual work is the only reliable source of repairment. In the footage of flood repair released by North Korea's Korean Central TV, no heavy-duty machinary that is commonly seen in Gangnam's flood repair is seen. It is hard to predict how long the repair will take, when the long list of everything that needs to be done, such as taking care of the crops that had fallen, cleaning out the mud from the house and cleaning out household utensils, repairing the damaged rods and re-building is to be completed only by the human hand with lack of food.

Food can provide consolation and hope for North Koreans who are suffering from the flood and food shortage. With the shortage of food, it is difficult to get involved with repairing the damages from the flood. To provide the food, cement, and equipment requested by North Korea is to provide its people with a new hope in the face of such a disaster, and also to relieve them of hunger and to ensure them the basis for a new life to be rebuilt. The government must allow food aid to North Korea by private organizations, and also consider an additional provision of emergency foodstuff and materials and equipments for flood repair at the government level. The emergency necessities, such as blankets and clothes, as well as medicine, nutritional food, and instant noodles promised by the South Korean government would be of a great help to those in need. However, what must be done more urgently is to ask those who need help about what they think is the most necessary. It is unlikely that the damage from the flood will be repaired without an adequate supply of food. A more proactive and generous aid from the South Korean government is the way to help the North Korean in need as well as to facilitate a faster recovery from the damage. We hope that this event will prove to be an opportunity ease the hostility between the North and the South.

North Korea Today No. 414 August 3, 2011

2011-08-17T15:13:00.000-07:00

North Korea Today No. 413, July 27, 2011

2011-08-06T06:32:00.000-07:00

[“Good Friends” aims to help the North Korean people from a humanistic point of view and publishes “North Korea Today” describing the way the North Korean people live as accurately as possible. We at Good Friends also hope to be a bridge between the North Korean people and the world.]
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[Editor’s Note] Minister of Foreign Trade Ri Ryong-nam: The next Park Nam-gi?
Ministry of Foreign Trade Sitting in the Eye of a Storm - Bone-Chilling Inquisition Looming
Beleaguered Overseas Representative Offices Sigh
Overseas Representatives in China Burdened by Officials’ Visits from North Korea
Family and Relatives of Park Nam-gi Mostly Deceased
Housing Assignment to Single Women above 35
[Special Series] Conditions for the Strong and Prosperous Nation, 2012 (3)
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[Editor’s Note] Minister of Foreign Trade Ri Ryong-nam: The next Park Nam-gi?
The ministry of foreign trade is under inspection. All attention within the ministry is directed to the question of who the next target of the inspection would be. A popular rumor has it that in the end it will be Minister of Foreign Trade, Ri Ryong-nam. Although if it happens, the punishment will be accounted to his alleged lack of dedication about resolving the food shortage problem, the dominant view is that it'd be the case of Ri being a scapegoat in the effort for the generation transition to implement a smooth succession. That the story of ex-director of the Planning and Finance Department Park Nam-gi is brought up again is also because of this prediction that Ri would be a scapegoat. Thus it only makes sense that people who work for Ri are terrified. When the head goes, his team would also follow that footstep. There already are rumors about the next target, which is the reason why the general atmosphere at Ministry of Foreign Trade is tense. With this prelude to a massacre foretold, the efforts to survive are inevitably desperate. The Central Party has assigned the Ministry of Foreign Trade the food assignments ‘beyond their capability’. The persecution for Ministry of Trade employees is hence about to start.

Ministry of Foreign Trade Sitting in the Eye of a Storm - Bone-Chilling Inquisition Looming
In the Ministry of Foreign Trade (MoFT) located in the center of Pyongyang, one can feel highly-charged anxiety: a damaging, if not fatal reshuffling is expected following an investigation in various areas in the Ministry. “When the investigation starts, some of the officials will be inevitably banished from the Ministry,” one official from the ministry commented. Public Prosecutor’s Office and the National Defense Committee are jointly investigating Customs offices and trading companies including overseas representative offices of the MoFT. The official reason for the investigation is to crack down any government officials’ activities in espionage or bribery. The central government believes that, while officials are sent abroad to fulfill their duties for the country, they are in fact busy taking care of their personal interests.

Even though it is not spoken, the officials from the ministry must feel like walking on thin ice these days. They do not know who will be a scapegoat of this politically-driven exercise. Fear is mounting among the officials with the speculation that whoever is to be accused will face the same punishment as the former director of the Ministry of Planning and Finance Park Nam-gi and the former deputy director of the National Security Agency Ryu Kyong. “Overseas offices are blamed for not having been able to complete the military provision assignment. In the beginning, they tried to resolve the problems at the level where the outcome would please the higher officials. Eventually, the officials started complaining openly that they could not do it anymore. Due to severe complaints, the assignment was waived, but now the central government is taking the MoFT to be accountable for the military provision shortage and there are several names mentioned for the accusation,” mentioned one central government official. He also said that Ri Ryong-nam, the minister of the MoFT, seems to be the ultimate target for this investigation. Ri started his career in the ministry as an assistant to the minister, became a deputy minister in April 2011, and assumed the role of the minister in 2008.

The reason for the speculation about Ri is that he failed to accomplish the mission on army provision, and there’s a purely political reason as well. In the process of a power shift from the father to the son, the minister is one of the old guards to go. Regarding the military’s food shortage, the central government has grown doubtful about the minister’s loyalty to the authorities. MoFT’s used to outperform its duties on army provision—its overseas offices contributed twice as much of the required amount. However, since last January, the offices started complaining about this task and asked the central authorities to exempt the duty. The central authorities are questioning whether Ri has put enough efforts to calm his subordinates and suspecting that he actually encouraged the offices to rebel behind the scene.

The central authorities remain convinced that the MoFT did not do a good job in motivating its overseas offices for the army provision project. The central authorities believe this attitude clearly shows its lack of loyalty or commitment. With this reasoning, the central authorities blame the overseas offices for the food shortage in the military. They argue that if the offices had done their jobs dutifully, the situation would have been better. Such behavior in the overseas offices may set a bad example for loyalty to the new leadership. “The overseas offices only completed 60% of its assigned target on army provisions. This result can suggest that they do not take the assignment, and the new authorities, seriously. Heecheon Power Plant Project and Pyongyang Housing Project (building 100 thousands housing units for the residents of the city) have not made much progress due to a lack of funds. And it seems that the blame will also go to Ri,” commented an official. He also added that Mr. Ri’s frequent visits to China and his extraordinary effort to solve the food shortage problem all resulted from the fear that he may get banished otherwise.

Beleaguered Overseas Representative Offices Sigh
The mood of the trade offices is very tense. The first reason is that people were shocked that each office was ordered to send 5,000 tons of food to North Korea. The other reason is that they didn’t know how extensive the aftermath of the recent inspection of Department of Foreign Trade would be. This year, there was a massive replacement of high-ranked party, political, military officials with a younger generation. Therefore the department is expecting similar replacements. People feel that they should lay low in times like these. According to one Department of Trade official, “One wrong word could destroy a family for 3 generations. From the beginning of the audit they set out to prosecute people for even the slightest offense. People will get fired if the office doesn’t meet the food quota. Additionally, people will be harassed if the amount of money wired is less than expected. At times like these there’s no knowing who will be victimized so everyone keeps quiet despite being dissatisfied. But it’s not that they don’t have anything to say. Whenever political, party officials demand something from the comfort of the offices in North Korea we have to comply no matter how unreasonable. If we don’t give them what they want we are sent back to North Korea, so we have to spend part of the profits to give them what they want. If we fail to appease them we are subject to unreasonable tasks.” “The central party declared, ‘The reason for the investigation was that the trade offices were hurting the national finances by filling up their own pockets.’ Our country hasn’t done anything for us, we can’t even buy a bottle of liquor with our salaries. Things get out of hand when we have a large stream of visitors from North Korea like these days. It’s dumbfounding when we are accused of corruption and graft when the government hasn’t even given us salaries, let alone trade funds. I don’t know how we are accused of embezzling when we have been going through all kinds of trials and working ourselves to death to send food and construction funds to North Korea. Are we not even supposed to eat or drink?” asked a trade official despairingly.

Also, some overseas trade officials demur whether appropriating a little money for living expenses should be a crime. They claim that the officials who bring party funds overseas to purchase large quantities of goods and appropriate them are the ones to be investigated. An official lamented, “My second child has to go to college, but he cannot attend because we don’t have the money to pay the tuition.” “Being already depressed and anxious, trade officials are even more worried waiting to see who will be fired. Because there is talk of purging at a time when the party should encourage the loyalty of the officials, everyone is unstable and nervous. I don’t know what the central party hopes to gain by alienating the trade officials. The party’s current actions will only strengthen distrust of the trade officials who are likely to turn their backs on the party,” the official added.

Overseas Representatives in China Burdened by Officials’ Visits from North Korea
In addition to the assignment of obtaining 5,000 tons of food, overseas representatives in China have one more burden—dealing with North Korean officials visiting China to find Chinese investors. The majority of officials come visit China, without any specific business deals. It’s become too much work for the representatives to organize meetings with investors, as well as taking care of their accommodation and entertainment. Whether or not they accomplish business deals, the representatives are even required to prepare gifts for the officials to bring back to the homeland.

Overseas representatives commented, “The hospitality costs for visiting officials are more than the money that we send back to the government. They shouldn’t come here unless they have business deals.” A couple of months ago, the representatives pretended that they were out of office to avoid visiting officials, but now some are purposely ignoring them, saying “I don’t care. They are on their own.” One oversea representative, working in Shenyang, expressed his frustrations: “I deal with at least three to four groups per month. I spent 60,000-70,000 Yuan last month for their entertainments. Actually, this was less than the other times. It’s too hard for me financially to cover their hotel, meals, air tickets, train fares, and even gifts that they could bring back home. Officials who visit one month come again the next month. If it continues like this, I will be out homeless soon. I told the visiting officials last month that I will do it this time, but I can’t do it next time.”

Beside the expenditures, this creates a problem in relationships with Chinese businessmen. “I informed Chinese investors about the North Korean officials’ visit, and arranged meetings with them. But investors don’t like these invitations anymore, because they feel that they just spend money without any business deals accomplished. In the beginning, they treated the North Korean officials to dinner, but now they assert that they can’t do business with us unless there’s an actual business deal. After they spent money on North Korean officials, buying them gifts, entertaining them, and even giving them bribes with no gains, the investors complained what a nonsense it was. I was so embarrassed so many times. Some never come back to do business with us, and some don’t even pick up the phone or make up excuses saying they are too busy to meet with us. Now, I am pleading officials not to visit unless they have specific business deals. Every time they come, we have to come up with 1,000 Euro per person, which we work so hard to earn. They can’t waste our money like that. They probably have no idea how hard we work to earn that money,” vented one official at an oversea representatives office.

Another official, working in Dandong, also pointed out that it damages their actual workflow and business relationship with the Chinese. He stated, “I don’t want to pick up the phone anymore, because there are so many officials wanting to come just for tourism. Chinese investors that I’ve had relationship with don’t want to meet up with North Korean officials anymore. The entertainment cost is relatively high—200,000 Yuan—especially compared to the business deals they’ve gotten out of it. The relationships I’ve developed over years are now jeopardized.”

Family and Relatives of Park Nam-gi Mostly Deceased
Most of the family and relatives of the late Park Nam-gi are known to have died after being transferred to labor detention centers. The former director of the Planning and Finance Department was executed on charges of causing the national crisis by taking the leading role in introducing and implementing the currency revaluation measure. His family and relatives, who had enjoyed their well-off life in Pyongyang before the imprisonment, could not endure the appalling conditions at the detention centers and most of them died after suffering from illness or malnutrition. Thirty-eight people in total are known to be sent to the centers, and only two females survived among the late Park’s immediate family. These two women, known for their good looks, managed to maintain a good relationship with the officials in charge. Many of the others either committed a suicide after suffering from the harsh persecution or died from severe malnutrition and various kinds of illness.

People related to the other officials who were executed with Park are in the similar condition. Those deported to the labor detention center under the jurisdiction of Yoduk County Police Department in South Hamgyong Province and No. 22 Detention Center in Hoeryong City mostly deceased after suffering from severe malnutrition.

Upon hearing the news, Pyongyang officials were enraged. They are saying that how foolish it would be to remain loyal to the country when a person (referring to the late Park) who devoted himself to the affairs of the nation ends up being executed and their innocent family and relatives have to face the tragic ending.

Housing Assignment to Single Women above 35
There was an announcement that there will be housing assignments for single women above the age of 35 from this year on, and it will be also possible for them to be the head of one-person household. A party official said the decision was made because of the increase of unmarried women in Pyongyang, and expected that housing assignment for single women will be easier once the project for building apartments for 100,000 households is successfully completed. For reference, it is extremely difficult for people who are not married to be assigned housing. Sometimes single men are assigned housing after a long wait, but it used to be the case that single women were not eligible for housing assignment to begin with.

[Special Series] Conditions for the Strong and Prosperous Nation, 2012 (3)
Editor’s Note:
The D-day is April 15, 2012. Less than a year left. Can North Korea really open the grand door of the Strong and Prosperous Nation? More than any others, those responsible for it must be extremely anxious under the scrutiny of North Korea watchers. They soon have to come up with something tangible that signals the opening of the Strong and Prosperous Nation to their domestic and international audience. We have asked North Korean officials what are the conditions for the Strong and prosperous Nation. They mentioned three things in common: food, electricity, and the completion of the 100,000 housing unit construction in Pyongyang. These are the conditions directly linked to livelihoods and economic development. In principle, the Strong and Prosperous Nation is another name of a rich and solid nation based on the security of the current regime. We are launching a series of three editorials that examine the direction for the Strong and Prosperous Nation the North Korean leadership has set.

We have recently observed a very busy movement of the North’s leadership. It seems that a series of new policies are announced after many rounds of meetings. One can detect some sense of solemn determination in the new orders, but the reactions of the hands-on officers are not really enthusiastic. It might be that it is difficult to complete all the assignments only with the strong ‘protect the Great Leader with death’ spirit. The reign of terror has limitations. What kind of leadership will the North government take to open the door of the Strong and Prosperous Nation? Here, we try to analyze the challenges they are facing through their views. When understanding their contradictions and limitations clearly, we can better figure out our roles for unification.

1. We must solve the food problem.
2. Make every effort to supply electricity.
3. Dream of building 100,000 housing units in Pyongyang.

The Dream of Building 100,000 Housing Units in Pyongyang
Can North Korea achieve its dream of building 100,000 housing units in Pyongyang, another symbol of the Strong and Prosperous Nation? This spring, while everyone in the nation was mobilized to work in collective farms, residents in Pyongyang, including members of universities, factories, and other business organizations, were sent to the construction sites of 100,000 housing units. In this year’s New Year’s Day Joint Editorial, the government, emphasizing the importance of building 100,000 housing units in Pyongyang, stated, “With our everlasting deepest love for our country, we must guarantee the highest quality of the construction outcome” as it ordered to increase the production of construction materials. While only a fraction of the workforce from large factories and business organizations participated in the construction, all the university students were mobilized to the construction sites following the Party order that said the robust young soldiers, the columns of national protection and construction of socialism, “should be present in every site of nation building battles and exhibit the heroism of the people, wielding the flag of Kim Il-sung Socialist Youth Alliance.” Now, the question is this: Is the progress of the construction on track?

Each ministry responsible for the 100,000 housing construction
There was the news circulating recently that the goal of the construction was revised to 2-30,000 housing units due to the shortage of construction materials. When asked about this, an official of Central Party immediately denied it. He said, although foreign investment was desperately needed, he had never heard of any decision on reducing the number of housing units to be built. Rather, he said there was an order giving construction assignments to each ministry due on October 10th, the anniversary of the establishment of the Party. Currently, every work unit is assigned with certain number of housing units and responsible for providing financial resources for their construction. These assignments are given to all across the board, including the Ministry of Foreign Trade, the Ministry of People’s Security, the Ministry of Business, the Ministry of Electricity, Coal and Industry in the cabinet, and all the other organizations and units including the Department of National Security, the Public Prosecutors Office, universities, and hospitals. This means each organization and business unit has to mobilize construction laborers and the food for them as well as cement and other construction equipment. The original plan was to construct 35,000 housing units in Yongseong, Seopo, and Yeokpo Districts in Pyongyang by April 2012 and 30,000 housing units in Mangyoungdae District by this year and additional 35,000 by April next year. It was known that there was a decision at the Supreme People’s Convention on April 10th to increase the construction budget by 15% for Heecheon Power Plant and the 100,000 housing units construction out of this year’s total national budget of 5,700 million dollars. However, the current situation cannot be improved by such a small increase in the budget.

An instructor at Kim Il-sung University that was assigned with completion of one building in Mangyongdae District said, “We are ordered to finish the construction planned for this year by October at any cost, and we are working towards it day and night. The Party, without supplying any food and construction materials, puts all the responsibility on us to complete our assignment no matter how we do it, be it collecting money within the unit, borrowing or stealing from somewhere else. They just push us to complete our assignment, and there is no way the construction can be done properly.” Only the Ministry of Foreign Trade and the Ministry of People’s Security are providing food to their workforce and making some progress. People mobilized for the construction from other units are having hard times without any food supply. At the news of the order given to overseas representative offices to bring food in, the instructor expressed his frustration with sarcasm saying, “What a quick response! They should’ve done this long before. We cannot provide with money and equipment only with our enthusiasm and loyalty to the Party. It is so frustrating that the Party constantly pushes us to bring something out of nothing just with our loyalty. They should at least provide us with food. Now that I am so hungry, I cannot do anything with enthusiasm. It is not only me. This is the general sentiment of the people mobilized for the construction.”

The key is to attract foreign investment
After all, the key to all the solutions is to attract foreign investment. Solving the food and electric power problem and realizing the dream of 100,000 housing unit construction are only possible if North Korea can attract foreign investment. This is why it created the Joint Investment Committee. China being the only way out, it is obvious that North Korea’s dependency to China will seriously deepen. In trade, the general analysis is that North Korea – China trade is replacing North – South Korean economic cooperation. Although some people anticipated the North Korea – China trade would decrease after the May 24th measure, the actual North Korean export to China in 2010 was 1,190 million dollars with 49.9% increase compared to the last year; and the increase in export was exceptionally high in the second half of the year. The export of some items that used to be major exporting items to South Korea, such as clothes, seafood, and mineral resources (anthracite), greatly increased. The low-cost North Korean labor export is also getting prominent. It is known that the North is negotiating a deal with China to send laborers to the Chinese economic development zones in Tumen and Hunchun. This signals the possibility of weakening the position of Kaesung Industrial Complex with the establishment of the Special Economic Zone linked to the Chinese development plan of three Northeastern provinces.

Following the order early this year of launching full scale joint businesses with China, there is a clear trend of all domestic organizations and business units trying to do business with China. A permission to go to China is easily being issued not only to trade officers but also to ordinary workers of restaurants and shops, provided that they pay 1,000 euro per month regardless of their status and business title. That means literally anybody who can afford 1,000 euro can go to China. Now, more than 100 people are crossing the border through Dandong customs office a day. North Koreans are desperate in trying to reach Chinese businesses and just want to set their feet in China regardless of the result of their business trips. It is not an exaggeration to say the streets of Shenyang and Dandong in China are crowded with North Koreans. North Korea is letting its people out hoping that this can solve the food situation or bring the needed money for the construction of Heecheon Power Plant and the 100,000 housing units.

Building 100,000 housing units, whose dream is it?
Most of all, the perception of China and the reality of North Korea has changed aggressively among the members of cabinet including ministers. In the past, when someone who had been to China talks about its development, they would simply ignore it and say, “There is nothing to see and learn in China. Our country is the best.” After visiting China a few times accompanying Chairman of National Defense Committee Kim Jong-il, their attitudes have changed. Seeing and hearing a lot in China, they came to realize the necessity of economic development, which made them more vocal in meetings. Members generally kept silent during cabinet meetings in the past, but now they tend to eagerly express their analysis of the problems and opinions as to which direction the country should move to. “You can clearly see their eagerness when they speak,” it is said of the ministers. Cabinet members say in one voice, “We will not open our door. Reform is the only way for us to go.”

The Organization and Guidance Department of the Central Party anticipates that next year is the best time to strengthen the next generation of leadership in North Korea because the international tensions will be kept low while the leaderships change in China, Japan, the U.S., and South Korea all in next year. The department tries to convince party members, saying “Our ultimate goal is to make a stable social environment and a pure and clean (with no rebels) revolutionary army. Making our society strong and stable at the cost of our lives and opening the door of a new era is the responsibility of every member of the Party. Let’s continue our loyal support to General Kim Jong-eun as we have done to our Great General and be pioneers of the era of our nation that will be stronger than ever. Let’s open a new era of Chosun which no one can dare to touch and show a new strong nation to the world.”

How can this goal be reached? One of the officials who attended the meeting of the core members of the Party and the government said, “We should quickly build a stronger relationship and trust with China to keep our friendly and special relationship. With China’s trust in us, we should launch full scale joint businesses with it not only in economy but also in politics and military operations. It is true that one of the reasons we have given the Rajin-Seonbong Special Zone, Wihwa Island, and Hwangguempyong to China was to overcome the foreign currency crisis caused by the international sanction against us, but it was also to make a closer relationship with China so that they can see our business is directly linked to their profits.” This means that North Korea’s plan is to make a link with China to pursue two rabbits of regime security and economic development.

Based on the blood alliance with China, North Korea also has a strategy to bring Russia on board to form a triangular alliance against that of South Korea, the U.S. and Japan. While keeping the tight tension between the two alliances, it will seek to quickly build up its national economy and strengthen its national security. The plan is in next year, while major countries are busy with their domestic presidential elections, North Korea will proceed with its own power succession process smoothly and solidify the new power structure. That is why the housing unit construction project is regarded as so important. It is not just to solve the housing problem in Pyongyang. The completion of the project is a declaration to the world of a new leader opening a new era as well as a great opportunity to exhibit a great achievement of the new leader to his people. Then, the dream of building 100,000 housing units in Pyongyang clearly does not seem to be the one that the city’s residents are dreaming of.

North Korea Today No. 412, July 20, 2011

2011-07-30T05:50:00.000-07:00

[“Good Friends” aims to help the North Korean people from a humanistic point of view and publishes “North Korea Today” describing the way the North Korean people live as accurately as possible. We at Good Friends also hope to be a bridge between the North Korean people and the world.]
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[Editor’s Note] The Second Condition for the Strong and Prosperous Nation 2012
Preparation of Electing Representatives for Local People’s Assembly on July 24 in Full Swing
After-Election Singing Performance Rouses Displeasure
Reason Workers Can Get by without Rations in Sooncheon Cement Factory
Few Squids to Catch This Summer
Tyranny of Coastguard Adds to Difficulties [Special Series] Conditions for the Strong and Prosperous Nation, 2012 (2): Make Every Effort to Supply Electricity
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[Editor’s Note] The Second Condition for the Strong and Prosperous Nation 2012
As a continuation of the last week’s edition, we have examined the second requirement proposed by North Korean authorities to become the Strong and Prosperous Nation in the current edition. The high profile Heecheon Power Plant construction project suggests that sufficient resources for electricity be one of the requirements. Completion of the plant construction is a top priority for the government—electricity is the fuel for any industries; without it, nothing can even get started. The government has managed to complete the first phase of the Heecheon Power Plant project by injecting considerable non-tax contribution and government fund into the project. However, it has not been able to launch the second phase yet due to lack of financial resources. The government encouraged the unit responsible for the project to raise fund by itself but whether it will be successful remains in doubt. Now most of public attention goes to the fast approaching election for new representatives for the provincial, city, and county people’s assembly. It is expected that new blood will replace the old one in the local governments. Should we have some hope on the newly-elected?

Preparation of Electing Representatives for Local People’s Assembly on July 24 in Full Swing
On July 24, representatives for local People’s Assembly will be elected nationwide. Representatives from city, divisional, and district People’s Committee including cities under the direct control of the central government and provinces will be elected. This is the day to newly elect some members of the local assembly. The North Korean authorities are encouraging the participation in the election by saying, “any citizen who is older than 18 years old in each province and city must demonstrate one’s utmost loyalty and consciously participate, with no exceptions. The election on the day is scheduled to start at 6 o’clock in the morning and to finish at 9 o’clock in the evening. The residents must dress up neatly such as wearing a suit or Korean traditional clothes, and everyone must come out to vote. For the elderly and the infirm who cannot move, the election officials assigned in its division carry the ballot box and visit from door to door. The voting roll was announced on July 9, and election officials in charge of the division were selected to manage voting booth starting July 10.

In North Korea, an election is said to start from control and regulation, and the security authorities are also busy preparing for the election. Once the date of election is announced, they keep the trends of the residents under strict scrutiny and they also participate in the overall progress on the day of the election. A few years ago, there was a big disturbance as a fire broke out in the voting booth of Chungjin and Hoeryong and a poll book was torn apart. At that time, the matter was ended by dismissing all the officials in charge of the voting booth, the respective security agents and police officers, and after this incident, the security authorities have reinforced the vigilant surveillance on the day of the election. Restricting the movement of the residents is also in progress intensively. Tracking down border crossing and smuggling was reinforced in the National Border Area, and steps were taken so the residents from other regions cannot enter. Travel Certificates are not issued at all during the election period. Only the government officials who need to be on a business trip to handle the state affairs can travel by obtaining a ‘Moving Vote Certificate’. In South Korea, an absentee ballot is casted to a candidate of the region that the absentee originally resides; but in North Korea, a ballot is casted to a candidate on the site, and the voter receives a written confirmation that he voted.

On the other hand, there is a rumor going on among the residents in Chungjin City of North Hamgyong Province that on July 24, 5 days’ worth of food will be distributed in commemoration of the Election Day in which the representatives for local People’s Committee will be elected nationwide. “The Provincial Party and the City Party have a plan to distribute 5 days’ worth of food”, says an officer from the Provincial Party of North Hamgyong Province. It means that they will distribute a portion of the food imported by the trade companies to the people. However, whether they will be able to execute the distribution is uncertain because there is not much food imported. Other government organizations are also planning to distribute even a few days’ worth of food in commemoration of the Election Day, but they are also concerned over the similar issue.

After-Election Singing Performance Rouses Displeasure
North Koreans go into a celebratory mode after an election is over. The city and military party gather the members of the Democratic Women's Union and start preparing a singing performance starting July 15th. "We are so hungry, we hardly have any strength to sing. We wish they would leave us alone," said members of DWU, implying that their seemingly skillful singing and dancing are done only half heartedly.

Ilsoon Lee (alias), a resident of Pohang District in Chungjin City of North Hamgyong Province, expressed her displeasure saying "I'm struggling just to put food on the table; I'm not in the mood to sing, nor do I have strength. I'm just doing it to follow orders." "The business is poor already, and if I begin practicing on the 15th, I won't be able to make any money because I would have to put aside my business for at least eight or nine days. This election business is so irksome, I wish it was over," concurred Joo Miyoung (alias), a merchant who lives in the same district.

Meanwhile, middle school students will also begin practicing on July 15th for an event in which they would sing and walk in lines with flowers in their hands.

Reason Workers Can Get by without Rations in Sooncheon Cement Factory
The Soocheon Cement Factory in the southern Pyongan Province has been operating normally since March. The rations have stopped after workers received two weeks’ worth of food in March; however, workers are still receiving their monthly wages. The rate of absence has gone down dramatically. According to Choi Dong-gook (alias), a factory worker, “people come to work voluntarily because they are able to steal cement. The cement produced at our factory is of such good quality that it supplies hydraulic power plants, so it’s in high demand. On a good day I can take up to 100kgs, but on average I am able to smuggle out 30kgs. The 30 kgs gives me enough money to buy cornmeal for my family.” Choi said that this was the reason for the decrease in absences. However, it’s not a daily routine because they cannot evade surveillance and restrictions of the factory security every time. There are so many workers stealing cement that they do not receive severe punishment. They still take caution when stealing because they are subject to public humiliation during general meetings.

Lee Man-soo (alias), who was harassed by the guards when he was caught stealing last month, pointed out that the real thieves were the officials. “Laborers like us are petty thieves who sell the cements for food, while officials steal truckloads of cement to make large sums of money,” he complained and added, “They are left alone while we are reprimanded.” The factory has constructed guard towers to catch big thieves, but to little effect. It’s because in most large scale smugglings the robber corroborates with the guards.

Sometimes the factory supplies the workers with 100-200kgs of cement when there is a severe food shortage. They also distribute cement to encourage the workers who are working under difficult conditions. On such days the workers, in their work units, go out and treat themselves to drinks and tofu on their ways home. At times like these, workers say “We’re in a better situation.”

One official at the cement factory said that it reopened to supply building materials to Heechun Power Plant. “Heechun Power Plant is an important national project. Officials from the central government have come down to supervise the company in order to produce more cement. We told them that they need to alleviate the food shortage problem to work more effectively. The central government is telling the people to wait a little longer, and they promised to provide some rations in July. We don’t completely believe them, but they might give us some priority since our factory is special,” he said hopefully.

Few Squids to Catch This Summer
There has not been such a hard year as this year for fishermen in the East Coast. They should be happy with their fishing work at this time of the year, which is a time for catching squids, but they can hardly find any to catch. Moreover, as access to the sea became stricter, it gets even more difficult for them to operate fishing.

Mr. Go Chang-hyuk (alias) from Yeonjin-dong, Chungjin, North Hamgyong Province is an owner of two ships. He has been going fishing with 6 to 8 fishermen per one ship for the last several years. It is an extremely dangerous work, which is even quoted as “carrying the bottom lining board of a coffin on the back”, thus it is rare to find older people to go out for sailing. Ship owners let reliable fishermen sail out at around 2 pm, and they return at 9 am next day after fighting against the sea for approximately 20 hours. It is of certain the fishermen go exhausted after the squid fishing without sleeping. The owner and the laborers divide the squids by a ratio of 7 to 3 in general, but Mr. Ko treats them by 6 to 4 since they have been working together for more than 7 to 8 years. Among 10 squids they catch the ship owner has 6, and that was considered a proper amount.

Mr. Ko raised his share from 6/10 to 7/10 this year, and the fishermen accepted it without complaints. They know this year is the worst of the worst, and in fact, they would have to accept it even if they do not receive any share at all. They need to go further into the sea as they are not able to find any squid in the near sea, increasing the fuel cost to an unbearable amount. The entry to the sea is monitored strictly, and the cost of bribe is also on the rise. They need permission from police and security office, city and the armed force party for admission to the sea, and it is more than a couple governmental offices to go through. Mr. Ko already gave almost 100,000 won to officials including coast guards. He or his fishermen can be nitpicked at any time, and he will have to pay additional bribes. Mr. Ko is enduring all these difficulties since squid catching can be done only in summer and if the summer passes, they can fall into hunger throughout the year. Mr. Ko is considered as a bold guy, but he is disheartened these days to see fewer than 10 squids caught a day. When asked the reason of the situation, he said that the sea temperature is too low. Squids live in warm water at around 20 degrees Celsius (68 degrees Fahrenheit), but the water is abnormally cold this year so it became extremely difficult to find them. They are in a dilemma because if they travel further to search for the squid, it costs them more fuel.

Tyranny of Coastguard Adds to Difficulties Corrupt coastguard units are worsening the already difficult situation for many fishermen. “It will be difficult for owners of fishing boats to earn money if this severe crack-down continues this year,” said Kim Cheolnam (Alias), who has been fishing squid in Yeonjin-dong, Chungjin, for 15 years. Security agents investigate the identity of fishermen as part of their normal routine. They have been prohibiting siblings and other relatives from getting on board together in an effort to prevent fishermen from fleeing to South Korea. However, for the fishermen, this is the best case scenario. Sometimes the security agents allow fishing boats to go out to the sea and then, after they have returned, conduct a search of the boat and confiscate all the squids the fishermen have caught for the entire night. The fishermen suffer from disadvantages when their passes are not clearly presented. Some time ago, one of Mr. Kim's colleagues had a similar experience. “It is understandable that he would go crazy when the soldiers took all he had caught with less than one hour of sleep. He picked a fight with the soldiers and was beaten up so bad he is now in a hospital bed. The soldiers are said to be those of the Great General. However, what they are doing is no better than daylight robbery. This whole mess is a tragedy for his family because they completely depend on him. Would he say he felt like committing suicide if it weren’t that bad?” said Mr. Kim.

Coastguard officers also make outrageous efforts to steal what they can during the squid catching season. “It is better that they are taking squids, because it would be much worse if they deprived a fisherman of his boat. If fishermen catch enough squids, they can give some to the coastguard as a bribe. However, squids are difficult to catch these days. The fishermen do not have what it takes to bribe the authorities. Therefore, the fishermen lose their boats when they rub the soldiers wrong way,” said Cha Myeongcheol (alias). Fishermen fill up the fuel and replace the parts and fishing equipment on credit. When they lose their boat, they find themselves in a sea of debt.

Lee Sunghak (alias), who lives in Bangjin-dong, Chungam District, has been harvesting squids since May. He says that he has been unable to catch anything and, recently, has been caught in crackdowns more frequently. He has been working in the fishing industry for the last six years, and this year is the worst in terms of harvesting squids. He says that this year’s crackdown has been the most severe. “I was waiting for the squid harvesting season after I ran out of food to eat. However, I haven't been able to find any squid since the season has started. At the same time, the coastguard is becoming more vicious. The soldiers take what they please through a variety of pretexts. Not only boat owners, but also employed workers are complaining that they have no sources or means to get food and their life has become very difficult,” said Mr. Lee.

[Special Series] Conditions for the Strong and Prosperous Nation, 2012 (2)
Editor’s Note:
The D-day is April 15, 2012. Less than a year left. Can North Korea really open the grand door of the Strong and Prosperous Nation? More than any others, those responsible for it must be extremely anxious under the scrutiny of North Korea watchers. They soon have to come up with something tangible that signals the opening of the Strong and Prosperous Nation to their domestic and international audience. We have asked North Korean officials what are the conditions for the Strong and prosperous Nation. They mentioned three things in common: food, electricity, and the completion of the 100,000 housing construction in Pyongyang. These are the conditions directly linked to livelihoods and economic development. In principle, the Strong and Prosperous Nation is another name of a rich and solid nation based on the security of the current regime. We are launching a series of three editorials that examine the direction for the Strong and Prosperous Nation the North Korean leadership has set.

We have recently observed a very busy movement of the North’s leadership. It seems that a series of new policies are announced after many rounds of meetings. One can detect some sense of solemn determination in the new orders, but the reactions of the hands-on officers are not really enthusiastic. It might be that it is difficult to complete all the assignments only with the strong ‘protect the Great Leader with death’ spirit. The reign of terror has limitations. What kind of leadership will the North government take to open the door of the Strong and Prosperous Nation? Here, we try to analyze the challenges they are facing through their views. When understanding their contradictions and limitations clearly, we can better figure out our roles for unification.
1. We must solve the food problem.
2. Make every effort to supply electricity.
3. Dream of building 100,000 housing in Pyongyang.

Make Every Effort to Supply Electricity
The electric power shortage is another urgent issue as the food shortage. As the food shortage directly affects people, the power shortage directly affects the economic development because electricity is the basic element of production. That is why the government is fully supporting the construction of Heecheon Power Plant in Jagang Province. The Central Party emphasized the importance of electric power at the meeting of the Party and the government officials last June: “Until when do we have to rely on food and consumer goods imported from China? We need to make our own goods without being dependent on Chinese and other foreign resources. We need to complete the construction of Heecheon Power Plant and then construct three more hydropower plants of the same size of the plant. Only then can we meet the demand for electricity without any problem. Once we get there, we can open the door of the Strong and Prosperous Nation in 2012.” Following the meeting, an order was issued instructing to focus on the completion of Heecheon Power Plant construction. It stated to give a full support to the construction of the plant with needed materials and food for the workers.

Reality check: The second phase of Heechon Power Plant construction stalled
Then, what is the progress on the Heecheon Power Plant construction, a dream project of the North Korean government? The first phase of the construction is completed, and the second phase is stalled due to lack of funds. The government ordered each unit to contribute, but all the units feel it too much burdensome after paying their duties for the first phase of construction. Except for the Trade Department or the Security Department, all organizations and business units cannot afford any more duties. Finally, the government ordered the Heecheon Power Plant construction unit to raise funds on its own. While hardly any progress has been made in the fund-raising, the exterior construction is roughly finished, waiting for the equipment for the second phase construction. Nobody knows how long it would take to resume the construction.

“Didn’t they say they built hundreds of hydropower plants?”
Residents cannot really understand why they still have to suffer from power shortages. “There are supposed to be hundreds of hydropower plants recently built every corner of the nation. Why are we still suffering from power shortages?” They question where all the money went collected for the construction of so many small and medium sized power plants as well as the largest Heecheon Power Plant. Even when some of the power plants are completed, they supply power only to several special factories and armament factory complexes. The electricity produced from those plants is not enough to supply for agricultural purposes. Despite the reiterated emphasis on agriculture, all they can do is to re-channel the electric power supply from households to operate the water pumps in the field. Even that is not enough most times, and the water pumps are often left idle due to the lack of power. Farmers have to see their rice seedlings drying up without irrigated water. For residents whose scarce 2-3 hour-a-day electric power supply is taken away for agriculture, the saying “holidays are the days when you get the electric power in your house” certainly resonates with them. “When they collected non-tax duties for the construction of those power plants, they made a lot of empty promises that they would supply electric power right after the completion of the power plants. In reality, we are getting nothing. They just deceive us to take our hard earned money from us. I doubt if there is any country in the world that suffers from the power shortage as much as my country.” Is the North Korean government listening to the sigh of its people?

Electric power shortage undermines the prospects of attracting Chinese investment
The power shortage is one of the major hurdles in attracting investment from Chinese corporations. There is no power to operate factories, and the railways are too slow to accommodate large scale business transportation. That pushes away Chinese businessmen who visit North Korea in search of business opportunities. The poor infrastructure and frequent power shortages in North Korea are not unknown to them, but when it comes to investing their own money, they realize the overwhelming scale of problems. That is why they usually end up focusing on importing anthracite coal and iron ore from North Korea at the border areas.

An ethnic Korean Chinese running a trade company in Tumen in China expressed his frustration with the railway system in North Korea. “I got on the train in Pyongyang, and it took three days to get to Hamheung, South Hamgyong Province. We were stuck in a rural train station in nowhere for about 20 hours. I had no idea that the power shortage in North Korea was that serious. As soon as the train moved, it stopped again. It repeated moving and stopping so many times that people said a bicycle would get us faster to our destination. I heard people saying the railway condition is better between Sinuiju and Pyongyang, but it was awful in that part. Poor North Korean passengers ran out of food and had to starve. Half of them looked mindless, maybe because they were extremely hungry. This is the situation of passenger cars, and I doubt wagons are any different. Through this experience, I realized the situation of North Korea really went backward to the time of the Arduous March,” he reported. Usually the travel on the railway between Sariwon and Rajin-Sunbong takes about 27 hours, but these days it takes 56 hours or up to 4-5 days due to the power shortage. The humidity and high temperature of summer add more troubles in preparing food on the way. Some people with money carry the cooking equipment so that they can make a fire to cook rice whenever the train stops. Others with no money just have to starve.

Railways are the arteries of the national economy. Upon realizing such poor conditions of the railway system in North Korea, Chinese trade companies in need of large scale transportation and speed cannot make a decision for full investment. However, the story is different if the Chinese government gets involved. In December 2010, the Chinese government decided to invest a record scale of 2 billion dollars in Ra-Sun Special Economic Zone. Sang-ji Gwan-gun Investment Company (Shangdi Guanquan Investment Company) of China signed a memorandum of understanding with Choseon Investment Development Association of North Korea for 10 items of investment. The agreement is that the Chinese company will build roads, a petroleum refinery, an iron mill, and a thermal power plant to North Korea in return for the rights to mine mineral resources. In Jilin Province of China, two hydropower plants with a capacity of 314 Giga Watt per year is being built in the upper middle part of the Yalu River at Mangganglu and Munak in an agreement between China and North Korea to use them together. The inclusion of power plants construction in the investment agreements with China will ease North Korea’s energy shortage a little, but the grand year of opening the Strong and Prosperous Nation is just around the corner. The diagnosis is right that “the bright lights powered by electricity will signal the opening of the Strong and Prosperous Nation to people who live in a complete darkness at night. The key is to solve the power and food shortages at the same time.” However, it does not seem to be easy to materialize their vision. In the end, is showing the completion ceremony of Heecheon Power Plant the only way to prove their success? Supplying electric power smoothly seems to come only after that.

North Korea Today No. 411, July 13, 2011

2011-07-28T05:46:00.000-07:00

[“Good Friends” aims to help the North Korean people from a humanistic point of view and publishes “North Korea Today” describing the way the North Korean people live as accurately as possible. We at Good Friends also hope to be a bridge between the North Korean people and the world.]
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[Editor’s Note] Soldiers Are Also Human Beings like Us: If They Do Not Eat, They Die, Too.
Potatoes Stolen by Soldiers, Residents Frustrated
When Will Be the End of “Grass Meal Battle” for the Soldiers?
Hunger Main Cause of Ongoing Boot Camp Desertions
Potato Harvest Eases the Hunger
[Special Series] Conditions for the Strong and Prosperous Nation, 2012 (1)
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[Editor’s Note] Soldiers Are Also Human Beings like Us: If They Do Not Eat, They Die, Too.
It may sound a little dramatic, but the title suggests the undeniable reality that North Korean soldiers face in despair. It has become no news that, due to the severe shortage of the army provisions, soldiers rob farming families. Surviving from famine is becoming a real battle that ordinary soldiers and army officers have to go through every day, with the exception of armed guards and special military forces. In the spring, they battled it out by eating mixed grains with grass. In the summer time like now, they live on potato (5-6 tiny potatoes per meal).

When soldiers suffer from hunger, it is the famers and civilians who have to tolerate the consequences. Even though the government emphasizes the importance of a good relationship between civilians and soldiers, people in the army uniform have become a threat and enemy to the ordinary people. It is a sad reality that parents send off their loving children to the army and later find out that their proud sons turn into robbers stealing food from civilians (sometimes from their own neighbors) instead of protecting them.

Soldiers are also human beings that need to eat to live. It is a simple truth as it is. However, when it comes to the political arena in South Korea, it becomes a sensitive and controversial subject. But if humanism is truly believed and practiced in a society, “any hungry people need to be fed first no matter who they are.” Put aside the ideological differences and save the suffering people first.

This edition and the forthcoming two more editions will focus on the direction that the North Korean authorities have set forth to become the Strong and Prosperous Nation. We hope you find interest in this subject and get to learn more about it; especially what the conditions that North Korean authorities enforce are to become the Strong and Prosperous Nation.

Potatoes Stolen by Soldiers, Residents Frustrated
The season has finally come that people could harvest and eat potatoes. It is the time that cheers people who have survived only on grassroots. The season, however, returned with worry since the amount of potato produced this year was much less than expected. The food shortage in the early spring was so extreme that potatoes were not only cropped soon after they were planted but also stolen by soldiers. Such damage was especially severe in Uiju County, North Pyongan Province because the number of soldiers exceeds that of civilians in this area. The farms were dotted everywhere with traces that soldiers left digging out the ground to steal potatoes. To save crops from soldiers, some farms even harvested premature potatoes ahead of time.

The situation in small-plot farming was very much similar. Jang Jeonghwa (pseudonym) who lived in Sujin-ri, Uiju County grieved over her tough luck, “I farmed 150 pyong (0.1215 acre) land for potatoes like the apple of my eye only to get stolen by soldiers. I had to survive on the potatoes until corns ripe, but now I don’t know what I will do to support myself.” Soldiers also harvested potatoes in their own side-working fields. However, the amount of the potato yields is not as much as satisfactory.

In the extreme cases where soldiers suffer from malnutrition and have difficulty with military life, they are sent to their homes. The soldiers who have some energy to move around are the ones that steal potatoes from farms nearby. North Korean people are now waiting for barley to be fully ripe, but until the end of June, potatoes are what they rely on.

When Will Be the End of “Grass Meal Battle” for the Soldiers?
The soldiers who have been “battling” to supplement their meager meals have recently seen a small change, thanks to the early-crop potato. In the military base of the 5th Army Corps in Pyunggang County, Gangwon Province, the soldiers have eaten grass-meal all spring. The soldiers were sometimes given steamed cornmeal, but most days they ate grass-meal. Gathering seasonal sprouts in the mountains was also an important daily chore of the malnourished soldiers. “How can they expect us to fight when they only give us grass to eat? Although we may be prepared to fight to death and carry out suicide bombing missions, we still need food to have the energy to do so. If we were to go to war right now in this fragile state we wouldn’t even be able to mobilize.” These remarks are not exaggerated. This spring, in the military base of the 2nd Army Corps made the corn meals last longer by mixing in seasonal sprouts. The meals consisted of mostly grass with a little bit of corn meal mixed in. The 700g of daily ration per individual has been reduced to 300-400g, which is around the same amount as last year, but the meals have become more deficient. However, some naïve soldiers are optimistic that things will get better as the corn begins to ripen.

Lee Gook-cheol (pseudonym), a soldier who is in his 6th year of service in Pyung-gang, Gangwon Province says, “I thought I was going to starve to death last winter. In the middle of winter, the mountains were covered in snow, so we couldn’t find any seasonal sprouts or grass roots. We were saved from the brink of starvation when we got our food rations after the holidays. At least in the spring, the grass begins to grow and we can dig up seasonal sprouts, so we can fill up on grass meals. Things are even better now because we can mix in potatoes with the crushed corn in the grass-meal.” When asked whether the grass-meal “battle” would soon be over, Lee shakes his head. “We have survived eating food stolen from farms. However, the amount of harvest is very small and the potato crop is very poor this year. There is not much to steal from farmers, so the grass-meal battle is unlikely to end any time soon.”

Hunger Main Cause of Ongoing Boot Camp Desertions
The ration situation at the 4.25 training facility in Seoheung County, North Hwanghae Province, is not much different. When new recruits first enter the military most of them are 18-19 years old. The body size of the recruits is growing smaller considering that those 160 centimeters high fall into the high end. Since winter recruits have been eating grass porridge using grass roots and vegetables they have picked in the mountains. At a time in their lives where they need to eat a lot in order to grow, there are a rising number of cases where recruits have been unable to overcome their hunger and have fled back home. The authorities at boot camps for new recruits are putting greater emphasis on propaganda campaigns calling for recruits to ‘overcome and endure all difficulties (due to the food shortage).’

Deserters are given leeway if they decide to return to their base, but authorities have warned that those who decide not to return will face strict punishment; for example, being sent to the infamous coal mines. These threats, however, are paid little heed by the starving young recruits. There are some recruits who say that no matter what they do after they leave the army they may be sent to the mines or farms so it is best to run away now. There is little awaiting them once they desert, but many of them just want out.

Once they have made the decision to run, many deserters obtain their meals by invading farms they pass along the way. This, however, has led to unfortunate cases of robbery and murder. The middle of last June saw an incident where a deserter passing through Pyongsan-eup, Pyongsan County, North Hwanghae Province, scrounging for food at a farm. The owners of the farm were killed when they tried to stop him. In the end, their death was all because of a couple of potatoes.

While the issue of rising desertions is a problem in military boot camps, the issue of soldiers committing acts of robbery as seen in the aforementioned case is an even bigger issue. “(The recruits) cause such trouble with the local populations that if a person wearing a military uniform is seen loitering around the entrance of a village, the residents of that village immediately tell everyone around them to be on alert. They form groups that rotate to watch over the suspicious person.” Bearing the brunt of suspicion, however, soldiers are not silent. “What is the use of giving my life for this country? Soldiers are easy prey to disease because they can’t keep up their health and cursed with spending the rest of their life miserably. The really smart ones are those who steal to make sure they keep up their health.”

Troops of the howitzer regiment stationed at the 4.25 training camp at Bongsan County, North Hwanghae Province, have recently begun harvesting potatoes to use at mealtime. Early this year, the commander of the outfit ordered all units under his command to ‘plant a lot of food including potatoes as a part time job’. This essentially meant that each unit was told to solve their food problems by themselves. Troops are provided potatoes at mealtime, but the amount they are given is small. The corn meal they are provided for breakfast is usually less than 120 grams and mealtime potatoes usually number from five to six. This has of course led to complaints among the troops.

Some soldiers have said that their hunger prevents them from going to sleep so they commonly form into groups with other soldiers and head to nearby farms or private farming plots to steal food. Occasionally reports of robbery are reported by civilians or farmers, but the military only pays attention when there are cases where people have been hurt or the situation has become severe.

Park Myeongho (alias) weighed 60 kg when he first entered the military last year, but now his body weight has plummeted down to 40 kg. During this last spring, the military sent home around 20 soldiers who were suffering from severe malnutrition like Park. Unable to provide adequate medical care for such cases, the military simply sends them home before they die. The reaction of parents who see their sons come back from the military on the verge of death is no doubt disbelief. “I offered the son I bathed and fed since he was child as a gift to the state and this is what they do to him. I won’t be sending him (and my other sons) to the military again,” says Park’s mother.

One officer at the howitzer regiment related the following: “I understand what the parents are going through. There are officers whose families are unable to receive rations so they are living apart from each other. My wife is living (off) with her parents. Food rations are only provided by the Ministry of the People’s Armed Forces to the officers themselves, which forces their families to farm their own food. Some women newlywed to officers are now asking for a divorce (since the food situation has become so bad). Considering what the officers are going through, I have little doubt that the situation is worse for new and low-ranking infantrymen. Summer training starts in July, but because of the food situation I doubt anybody will have the energy to handle the howitzers. I really don't know if we will be able to do training properly this year.”

Potato Harvest Eases the Hunger
The residents of North Hamgyong Province were disappointed at the dismal amount of potato harvest, but were relieved to be able to ease their hunger. They welcomed the potato harvest especially after sustaining on wild greens and vegetable roots since March. Many farms have been depleted of their food supply because their share of the ration was so small. "My family and I have been living on grass porridge since March. Now we have potatoes we have dug up from our garden to eat, which is better," said Park Kuemhwa, a worker at a vegetable farm in Chungam District of North Hamgyong Province. Unlike city residents, farmers have farming as their only means of survival. Their harvest was diminished by the flood last summer, and they could not stock up food for the summer due to the unexpected collection of army provisions early this year. So they are barely sustaining themselves with grass porridge and potatoes. The farmers who had no choice but to diligently report for work during farming mobilization are beginning to be absent one by one. The farm officials are threatening that they will take account of the work points strictly for the fall distribution, but the farmers don't seem to care. This attitude stems from the notion that they will be better off farming privately than to count on food distribution. "We don't care if they say they will give us a gold mountain in the fall; we cannot stay idle or we will starve to death. What we need to do to survive is farming privately," said the farmers.

At the beginning of this year, Chungjin City Party apportioned a farming side-working field to public enterprises, which was prorated based on a number of laborers at each facility, and exhorted them to farm potatoes. Excluding special public enterprises like Gimchaek Still Mill, most public enterprises welcomed it. However, due to the shortage of budget, each enterprise collected money from their laborers to buy farming supplies such as seeds and fertilizers. Chungjin Bus Enterprise collected 2,000 won for seeds and 3,000 won for fertilizer from each worker. Factory workers farmed really hard, but in harvest they were given only 10 kilograms of potatoes per person. “The money that I paid for seeds and fertilizer, plus lunch that I brought every day, is as much as I could purchase one month ration of potatoes in the market. I’d better not do it next year unless we get better crop,” said workers. With the farming field in poor condition and the lack of farming supplies, it was inevitable to have poor harvest.

Initially, farm officials were discontented with the apportionment of farm land to public enterprises as there was not enough farm land to apportion even among them. Knowing this, public enterprises could not ask for farm land in a better condition. Although laborers were disappointed at the poor yield, the new crop of potatoes released in market is alleviating their hardship with food. Meanwhile, public enterprises have been preparing to plant cabbage and radish in farming land after potato harvest completes. They usually start planting them around July 20th each year.

Even Eunryul County in South Hwanghae Province, which is the granary area, is not an exception when it comes to food crisis. Starving local residents lived off on a grass root soup for the past four months and barely farmed during the spring lean season. Now they are happy that at least they have newly harvested potatoes. Kim, Young-hee (Alias), a resident in Eunryul-eup, said, “The new crop of potatoes helps a lot like a rain during a drought.” Factory workers are also relieved a bit after receiving 7 to 20 days worth of potato ration. In April, Eunryul County Party apportioned a farm land to factories and public enterprises and ordered them to farm potatoes. Some of them, where they managed to purvey fertilizers well, were able to provide 20 days worth of potato ration. However, majority of the factories and enterprises were not that successful. Eunryul County Urban Construction Enterprise, for example, could not give out any potato at all. An officer of County Party said, “The newly harvested potatoes help a lot. If we bear a bit longer, we will have barley harvest at the beginning of July. It will help reduce death starvation. Eunryul County residents are now surviving on potatoes mixed with wild grass.”

[Special Series] Conditions for the Strong and Prosperous Nation, 2012 (1)
Editor’s Note:
The D-day is April 15, 2012. Less than a year left. Can North Korea really open the grand door of the Strong and Prosperous Nation? More than any others, those responsible for it must be extremely anxious under the scrutiny of North Korea watchers. They soon have to come up with something tangible that signals the opening of the Strong and Prosperous Nation to their domestic and international audience. We have asked North Korean officials what the conditions for the Strong and Prosperous Nation are. They mentioned three things in common: food, electricity, and the completion of the 100,000 housing construction in Pyongyang. These are the conditions directly linked to livelihoods and economic development. In principle, the Strong and Prosperous Nation is another name of a rich and solid nation based on the security of the current regime. We are launching a series of three editorials that examine the direction for the Strong and Prosperous Nation the North Korean leadership has set.

We have recently observed a very busy movement of the North’s leadership. It seems that a series of new policies are announced after many rounds of meetings. One can detect some sense of solemn determination in the new orders, but the reactions of the hands-on officers are not really enthusiastic. It might be that it is difficult to complete all the assignments only with the strong ‘protect the Great Leader with death’ spirit. The reign of terror has limitations. What kind of leadership will the North government take to open the door of the Strong and Prosperous Nation? Here, we try to analyze the challenges they are facing from their perspectives. When understanding their contradictions and limitations clearly, we can better figure out our roles for unification.

1. We must solve the food problem.
2. Do every effort to supply electricity.
3. Dream of building 100,000 housing in Pyongyang.

We must solve the food problem.
“By next year, we must solve the food problem.” It is, again, the food. On April 15 next year, the North government is supposed to distribute food from huge grain storages full of rice. However, it is quite unlikely that this will actually happen; especially when less than a year is left ahead. There is the chronic lack of fertilizer and farming equipment, and the climate did not help either with the severe cold weather last winter, the draught of early summer, and the following rainstorms. How about human resources? Many residents, already suffering from the harsh hunger of the spring lean season, are collapsing due to malnutrition while working in farms. There are continuous hurdles on the way to the Strong and Prosperous Nation. Are there any solutions to the food problem?

How much food received from China? “Don’t ask. It’s complicated.”
Aiming the North’s recent busy movement with China, we have asked the Central Party officials how much food the North got from China after Kim Jong-il’s visit to China. Their immediate reaction was: “Don’t ask. It’s complicated.” Those who roughly estimated said it seemed less than 100,000 tons. Some said 50,000 tons were received, and others said 70,000-90,000 tons. All in all, they all agreed that it could not be more than 100,000 tons. This amount of food barely can feed Pyongyang citizens only. That food is now almost depleted, and the lack of food in Pyongyang is the most urgent emergency. The dream of the economic cooperation with China is grand, but the way towards it seems very long.

Overseas representative offices, the last resort?
Are overseas representative offices the only last resort? After consecutive meetings of the core officials of the Party and the government, the Central Party issued orders to all overseas representative offices with food assignment. Overseas representative offices, on the other hand, are in a complete shock by the size of the assignment. “Are they telling us to go to hell?,” some reacted vehemently. Others questioned the incoherent policies.

One official at an overseas representative office said this was so much out of the blue. The winter assignment for military food provisions was so hard to accomplish, and he had to give up at a certain point. And now, the amount of food assignment issued this time is not even comparable to the last assignment. It seems at least 40 times the last assignment, he said. When asked how much the assignment would be, he said, “it is not officially delivered yet, but each representative office must bring 5,000 tons.” “5,000 tons, not even 50 tons! I could not believe my ears and had to ask again”, he continued, saying that this was confirmed information although the official notice had not arrived yet. There are so many kinds of assignment to each official on top of all the work for the office itself, and how on earth one can draw that much money for food purchase, he sighed, saying that this is a mission impossible.

Some officials of overseas representative offices are reacting fiercely. Amidst of the rumor of the recent purge of trade department officials, some suspect this might be a part of conspiracy to fire all the hands-on officials of overseas representative offices. They are used to receiving orders to buy food every year during the spring hardship period. This year, however, since there have been no more orders since February, some overseas officials thought the food situation in North Korea was getting better only to be shocked now. Some say let’s wait and see because there has not been any official announcement from the government yet. They try to ease their anxiety in a disbelief that the government would not give such an outrageous amount of assignment the officials cannot fulfill.

Officials in the domestic departments express their frustration at the belated order of food assignments. “The government has been ignoring all the reports on the dire food situation. After series of reports of hunger deaths, only now are they issuing orders for food purchase. I don’t understand what they have been doing until now and making all this fuss. We might all die before reaching the door of the Strong and Prosperous Nation.” Those within the nation are naively expecting some solution from the officials overseas, and those abroad are vehemently resisting that this is an outrageous order.

Contacting international aid agencies getting easier?
On the other hand, there are movements to expand the amount of aid received from international aid agencies. In the past, some aid agencies upholding the principal of local distribution on the spot would take photos or make records on video tapes. After they left, the officials in charge of those projects used to get punished for that. As this kind of cases were repeated, contacting foreign aid agencies was regarded dangerous and risky, and the number of requests for food aid to foreign aid agencies decreased. There are people who would like to contact foreign aid agencies in secret but less people would deal with them officially. However, only when the security of the officers in charge is guaranteed can the contacts with foreign agencies and the possibility of getting aids increase. It seems that the new policy will take this into account. An official of the Central Party said there would be a division of work in the future: it is likely that the Ministry of National Security will investigate the officials who contact foreign aid agencies, and the Ministry of People’s Safety will monitor the overall aid process. Some say there will be new policies that incorporate the requests of foreign aid agencies. They cautiously interpret this might be a ground work for requesting foreign aids in a full scale in the near future.

Investing in agriculture is the only solution
It seems the Central Party is trying to find a fundamental solution for the food problem, while requesting foreign aids and urging overseas representative offices to import food for next year. The Party’s diagnose and conclusion is: “We have been suffering from food deficiency every year because of our mountainous geography, outdated technology, lack of fertilizer, and limited amount of arable land. Without a continuous flow of food aid from foreign countries, we are bound to suffer in the future as well. In the long run, we must invest in agriculture and resolve the food problem. We must first innovate agricultural technology, invest in equipment and facilities, and improve seeds and fertilizer. The key is electricity in agriculture as well. If we can modernize agriculture and solve the electricity problems, we can solve the problems of agriculture.” This means that they will focus on food import from overseas in the short term and investment in agriculture in the long term to resolve the food problem. The question here is practicality. Who can attract investment in agriculture and how is the key.

North Korea Today No. 410, July 6, 2011

2011-07-15T10:31:00.000-07:00

North Korea Today No.409, June 29,2011

2011-07-08T04:33:00.000-07:00

If life is good in their home land, then people don’t think of leaving for better lives in foreign countries. When people experience endless misery at home, it is natural for them to turn their eyes to the abroad. This is what is happening in North Korea. Even though unbearable living conditions force people to leave the country, they are often condemned for betraying their country and are labeled as traitors. Defectors who underwent hardships and were treated inhumanly back home remain bitter and resentful towards North Korea; the wounds are too deep to be healed. Nevertheless, ‘home is always home.’ It is normal that people develop emotional attachments to the land in which they were born and grew up. North Korean defectors dream of the day that the South and the North become reunified so that they can return to their homeland. Instead of emphasizing the political aspects of this issue, the North and South Korean governments should approach this matter with a humanitarian perspective. Six decades ago, a war separated families on the Korean peninsula, and now a wave of family separations is being created by the extreme harshness of life in the North. Defectors already suffer a great deal because of the separation from their homeland and families. Isn’t that punishing enough? Do they really deserve more criticism or mistreatment?

DPRK Government on Edge Following Defection of Family

The defection of a South Hwanghae province family to South Korea on June 15 by barge has led to the firing and investigation of two government officials charged with controlling the area. The defection has caused the government to order a strengthening of security around all shorelines in the country to prevent similar escapes. Only those who have gone through heightened security checks are allowed to access areas situated near the water. Operation of barges in the West Sea has been shut down because they provide an easy way to cross the military armistice line. The heightened security is now threatening the livelihoods of fishermen who fish in the area. The NSA (National Security Agency) has released an order 'for the nation-wide prevention of defection' to all cities and towns in the country, and security has been especially strengthened in the border areas with China. The government has also stopped issuing passes to enter the border region. Entry into the country from the border areas is still possible; however, it has become practically impossible to move from the interior to cities situated along the border with China.

The government is placing more importance on political lectures conducted locally by city and town people's committees and the NSA. However, most citizens are uninterested in the government's ceaseless propaganda campaigns. There is little chance that people struggling to survive on 'grass porridge' have any interest in political sermons. Haeju city, South Hwanghae province resident, Jeong Ilyeong (alias), has been unable to eat one plate of corn meal from April to mid-June of this year. He has only been able to eat grass porridge, which is made out of collected mountain herbs and mixed together with powdered corn. Adults are able to survive somehow, but they are forced to watch the plight of children only four or five years old suffering from malnutrition. "No matter how hard one works, it’s always the same…this same terrible situation. I think about escaping to the South at least 12 times a day. All those who actually have left for South are the smart ones," says Jeong. The gap between the government's propaganda against defection and the real feelings of everyday North Koreans is only growing larger day by day.

Innocent Citizens Oppressed by the Enforcement on North Korean Defectors

With regard to the increase in North Koreans defecting, the North Korean government has forced law enforcement agencies to turn their attentions even on innocent citizens. In addition to farming mobilization, the government made it obligatory that citizens attend the neighborhood unit political education sessions for ‘mental armament’ in the evenings. People complain of their exhaustion from having to make obligatory attendances to the lectures on top of their time spent seeking food and collecting grass roots in the wild. Most fall asleep during the lectures, although the officers aggressively shout phrases such as, “You will be punished if you try to defect.” It’s a worsening situation in areas bordering China. Law enforcement agents periodically ambush residential houses. If it is known there was a defector in a family, the rest of the innocent family members are relocated in an isolated area.

Lim, Song-Yi (Alias), living in Musan, North Hamkyong province, said that “It’s a natural phenomenon that people relocate to where food sources exist. The defectors are indeed the smarter ones who know how and what to do to survive. Plus, not everybody is capable of running away. What is the point of telling the remaining people, who have no means to defect, not to do it? By the time we finish the day, it’s usually midnight; we then go to farming mobilization sessions early in the morning, do a bit of selling in the evening and housework when we come home, prepare for next day, and take care of children, and so on. Between such heavy schedules, we have to attend the political education session and the neighborhood unit meeting, where higher-ups preach the message that defecting is like betraying the country. I gain nothing from the lecture. I just want to come home.”

Not only are women stressed by the warning of punishment for defectors, but laborers are as well. People are already tightly controlled, but if they absent themselves from work for a couple of days, they will get a visit of the agents right away. Households that tried previously to defect, or households in which one of the family members is a defector are subject to strict monitoring by government authorities. Those people are not allowed to go anywhere unless they report to the group which they belong to. These series of measures are, according to the National Security Agency’s directives, instructed in order to systematically tighten the monitoring and control of those with a record of border-crossing. Additionally, the city and county parties are also being submissive to NSA these days after the recent case of a high-profile family defecting in Hwanghae province. Police officers and security agents who used to overlook illegal border-crossings are also now sparing themselves for fear of getting fired.

“Illegal Border Crossers will be Considered as Traitors.”

Now, how does the North Korean authority convey its anti-border crossing message? It does so by stigmatizing the border crossers as “traitors of the people who conspire to bring down the Socialist system.” This statement is no less than a threat to one’s political life. A heavy penalty is levied on the border crossers following the order to “strengthen the punishment by giving a sentence of five years in jail to anyone who attempts crossing the National Border.” If one’s family member has been discovered or suspected to have fled from North Korea, the family will be forced to move to the inner rural area, regardless of whether they are likely to flee or not.

Before, one could avoid the punishment for border crossing by bribing the judiciary officials, or be released using sick bail. These days, however, even a large sum of money won’t convince the authorities, who have begun to fear severe consequences of receiving bribes and disobeying orders in the long run.

Re-education centers are becoming flooded with prisoners as the crackdown on border crossing grows more severe. Jeongurrie Re-education Center, which was relatively unoccupied after the act of amnesty last September, is once again filling to the brim as both the criminals who committed crimes to survive the economic difficulties and the border crossers are being caught.

As for Musan district in North Hamgyong province, the border crossers who have been caught since January 6th tally up to thirty, and more than 80 percent of them were sent to Jeongurrie Re-education Center. In June, three women from Chungjin city were caught in the midst of their escape led by a Musan resident, and they also will be sent to the center. As of June 20th, six people are waiting their sentences, and it is likely that they will end up in the center as well.

“Throw out your Illusions about China.”

The Democratic Women’s Union (DWU) Committee has been warning against its people’s crossing the borders. As the food situation gets worse in North Korea, increasing number of North Korean women are crossing the borders by marrying to men residing in China. The DWU says, “People should root out nonsense of crossing the borders. Throw out your illusions about China.”

Because of the heightened crackdown on defection, the absentees from farming mobilization get caught in the cross fire. In addition to being warned against the neglect of the duty, they are strictly interrogated whether they have an intention to go to China. Diverse reasons exist for not going to the farming mobilization. Some people go for small land patch farming; some people have to go to collect some edible grassroots; some people collapsed and do not recover; and some people have to do business to pay for medicine if there is anybody sick among their family members. People don’t show up at the mobilization struggling to survive but the DWU committee frequently drags out, humiliate and hurl abuses at the absentees at every meeting. The committee also calls them “traitors and betrayers,” which incites backlash from the women. People no longer believe the propaganda that says, “If people put up with the situation and do farming diligently, the doors for the Strong and Prosperous Nation will open.”

Eunduk county has indeed seen many female defectors. A police officer explains the situation as follows. Eunduk county produces the poorest crop in farming; it is densely populated by manual laborers who work at the military factories and mines; and it has poor transportation system since it is remote. Few people runs large business and poverty rate is high in the county. Families with a daughter who crossed the borders can eat steamed corn meal with help from the daughter. For these reasons, females who cross the borders have increased, and the DWU has intensified the political lectures to their members. Between January and June of this year, the number of people who crossed the borders comes up to 35 in the county.

26 year-old Shin Hye-rim (alias) is a laborer at Oh-bong mine. She had never thought of going to China before, however, this year she has changed her mind. She said, “I am willing to go to China through the arranged marriage since my family is so badly off. I would like to help my family and relieve my parents’ burden. I myself also want to live a better life.” Men hardly dare to cross the borders unless they have clever brothers or meet someone who experienced crossing borders. However, women are in many cases want to take the option of getting married to go to China. The security authorities are intensifying the control system for detecting and getting reports of suspicious activities of the local residents.

“Everyday Feels like a Traditional Holiday in Restaurants in China.”
People are told to rid themselves of their fantasies about China, but more and more North Koreans are embracing that fantasy. They are told by private travelers, as well as traders who visit China regularly, that China is a completely different world from North Korea. First time visitors say that they were dazed by China’s economic advancement. Even the frequent visitors say that the rapid speed of progress makes them dizzy.

Choi Jin-ryong (alias) of Musan, who said he visits China once or twice a year because of a relative in Helong laments, “China is virtually a paradise on earth. Every day feels like a traditional holiday in China. The restaurants serve dizzying amounts of food every day, while we can’t even eat to our stomachs’ content on steamed corn meal even on traditional holidays. Also electricity is so plentiful in China that it is as bright as day even during the night. However, it is so dark at night in North Korea that we can’t go anywhere after the sun has gone down. How can two places with just a river between them be so different? I am just so envious of the Chinese people.”

Ko Chang-woo (alias), a laborer from Pyongsung who visited Dandong via Sinuiju this year for the first time said, “I am 50 years old. I haven’t been able to use toilet paper since I got married. Instead, I have used newspaper or notebook paper that my kids have thrown away, and in the countryside even that is rare. I found out about shampoo for the first time looking over the items that flowed into the market from China. I saw so many goods there that I had never seen before. Some of the goods are obsolete items in China but they are things that I have never seen before in my life. The rate at which China is growing went beyond anything that I could have ever imagined. The Chinese people do not understand that a person can die of starvation. Aren’t we the only people who eat grass porridge, which even dogs won’t eat, to survive? I don’t understand how we are still living in a matriarchal clan community while other countries have made such great progress?”

When asked why he thinks that he is living in a matriarchal clan community in North Korea Ko answered, “Women are bringing in the bread, aren’t they?” Also, seeing none of the manufactured goods sold in the North Korean market have been produced in North Korea and most of them have been imported from China, Ko commented, “With an exception of a small percentage of its citizens, North Korea is like a country of beggars.

“Fed up with the Propaganda that we will Prosper”
Residents in Eunduk county, North Hamgyong province are fed up with Party propaganda, which is disguised as lectures about politics. They have a common complaint: “The Party forces us to hear propaganda all our lives—from cradle to grave. There is no way to get around it. It is just cliché. Like a rider who uses a whip and a spur without thinking about the horse’s condition, the Party keeps a tight rein on us with no regard for our living conditions.”

On July 7, Kim Kil-nam (aged 58) a munitions-manufacturer laborer said, “Reality is far from the propaganda that promises prosperity. Despite the Farming Mobilization, government can’t afford to provide us with any rations, including corn porridge. People are starving. Young women say that making a living by ‘being sold to China’ looks like a better option than living in North Korea. I wonder how many of us can survive this dire situation and whether our country can survive this crisis.”

Mr. Kim overheard a fellow worker say, “The Party had better stop spreading the false propaganda that promises prosperity within a year. The person who writes the propaganda also must be sick and tired of it. He either does not know what he is saying or knows that he is lying.” In the past, somebody would have reported the fellow worker for inflammatory or reactionary language; for example making a statement against government. However, these days it is difficult to find anyone who bothers to report such distrust in government.

Lee Hak-cheol (pseudonym), a laborer at O-Bong coal mine, complained of a tough life: “Small land patching farming is a lifeline for more than 90 percent of residents in the O-Bong coal mine area. While we make money by selling coal during the winter, nobody wants to buy coal during the summer. I don’t have time at all to take care of the corn, which I planted in my small land patch farm last month. Life is getting worse as I have no choice but to participate in farm mobilization. I enjoy no freedom of movement, and have to spend time attending lectures about politics. At the very least, I hope the government allows me time to take care of my small land patch farming, which requires a fair amount of manual labor and work to produce a harvest this fall. The time I squeezed during lunch time is too short to make a trip to the small land.”

Jang Geum-ok (pseudonym), a member of the Democratic Women’s Union at O-Bong Laborer’s District said, “I don’t have time to take care of the corn I planted in my small land patching farming last spring due to farming mobilization. A woman I know put up a temporary tent made from plastic on her small land patch farm, leaving her house locked.”

North Korea Today No. 408, June 22, 2011

2011-06-30T19:02:00.000-07:00

Editor’s Note: A Society that Drives People to Defect
It is time for farming mobilization and the spring lean season, when skipping meals are no more than an everyday routine. Police officers are waiting in the neighborhood to catch anybody they see and send them to farms. You need at least a pack of ‘cat cigarette’* to pass.

You can barely buy 1 kg of corn with a whole day of hard work at a market in North Korea. At the news that they are now supposed to do business only for 2-3 hours a day, people are upset. It seems so natural for them to cry out, “Do they really want us to die or live?”

People say that on the other side of the Tumen River (which means ‘in China’), even dogs eat steamed rice meal. Hoping to eat as much as they want once in their life, increasing number of people are ‘crossing the river’ (defecting). Who are pushing them to the other side of the river? North Korean authorities need to listen to the outcry of the residents, “I crossed the river since I wanted to live!” If they cannot feed the people, the North Korean government should at least let them make their own way to survive. We call for a generous treatment of the defectors who were forcefully repatriated.

*Note: The official name of ‘cat cigarette’ is ‘Craven A,’ which has a cat logo on the case and a British company sub-contracted North Korea to produce and export to Africa.

Strengthened Crackdown on Skipping Farming Mobilization Aggravates People’s Lives
Death from starvation is still ongoing in Heungnam City and Hamheung City, South Hamgyong Province. According to a party official at the Provincial Party of South Hamgyong Province, in addition to widespread food shortage, which is the primary reason, all-out farm mobilization is also responsible for the situation as farm work consumes much of people's time and energy, which, otherwise, they could have used to work elsewhere and make a better living. Furthermore, the stepped up crackdown on movement makes it more difficult for people to make a living for several reasons.

Ham Mi-Young (pseudonym), from Sapo District in Hamheung City, has increasing difficulty in feeding her five family members. She could not make a decent profit even when she spent entire day selling fish, which she transported from Rak-won Beach very early in the morning. To make matters worse, she can spend only a couple of hours selling fish due to the obligatory farm mobilization work. She must be very careful about making round trips between her town and Rak-won beach to avoid the crackdown. During early June 2011, she was caught by a police officer at the entrance to her town while transporting fish from Rak-won Beach. The ‘cat tobacco,’ which she had in her vehicle to use as a bribe in case of being caught, worked for the police officer and he gave her a pass in return for the bribe. Though she could avoid the worst, being arrested, it was still stressful, because the ‘cat tobacco’ cost her 12,000 won. It tops the list of the best bribing items, because it is more highly valued than other tobaccos, such as Poong-nyon, Go-hyang, and Pyongyang, which cost 5,000, 7,000, and 8,000 respectively. She laments that making a profit is almost impossible due to the high cost, notably bribing police officers. She said, “Purchasing cat tobacco for one bribe is not a real issue. What really troubles me is the police officers who are positioned at every checkpoint. Since I have to risk being caught every time I make a trip, I tend to reduce the number of trips to get fish.” Nonetheless, her business is considered in a better position, given the fact that she owns her own vehicle.

Lee Ok-hee (pseudonym), who operates a small grocery business, makes a profit of just 600 or 700 won a day. She said, “Those who can earn more than 2000 won a day are better off with paying fines for missing farm work, because a fine for absence is 2,000 won. However, I have to participate in farm mobilization, because attendance is thoroughly checked, and I cannot afford the fine of 2,000 won a day. If I am caught by a police officer while moving around for business, I have to offer a bribe, at least one box of tobacco, which amounts to the money which can feed my family three meals. Thus, by all accounts, poor people like us cannot get out of poverty. My husband and kids keep me from attempting to commit a suicide. I don’t know how to endure my life.”

Women who run market stall businesses like Lee complain that “We have only a couple of hours for our own business after being released from farm mobilization work. As soon as business starts to pick up, it begins to get dark. How can we live under this condition?” Because of this dire situation, many families can afford only one or two porridges a day. More than a few die out of hunger.

Illegal Border Crossing in Hike Despite Tight Control Over Farming Mobilization
Hardship of farming mobilization seems to be endless. Police officers are at every corner of the streets and people do not dare to go out—if you get caught, you are most likely sent to the farm. This tight control is especially weighing on resellers (brokers). Since they do not have any financial resources, they need to start their day at dawn, buy whatever they can afford to buy, and sell them in the market on the same day. If you are a well-off merchant, you can bribe the officers and get away from the farming mobilization. However, if you are a reseller (broker), you can do nothing but hiding from the officers. The period of farming mobilization in its full swing like right now is the hardest time of the year for the resellers to do their business. During this season, passing days without food becomes more frequent; some people do not make it through this ordeal and die of hunger. As the government control in the farming mobilization is getting tighter, the number of people who attempt to cross the border is on high rise. “Things are not going well in business and we are always in short of food. We cannot live like this anymore.” This is what you hear from most of the border crossers. When the spring hardship season comes, the condition gets worse. Out of despair and hunger, people decide to leave their beloved hometown and attempt to cross the Tumen River; some of them had already tried to cross the border before. The border patrols around Hyesan, Ryangang Province; Sinuiju, South Pyongan Province; Hoeryong, North Hamgyong Province, are beefing up their surveillance in the wake of this rise. Along with the tight border control, the authorities keep a close eye on the family of defectors. In Chungjin city, South Hamgyong Province, for instance, there were 70 households that got caught while communicating with their family overseas through cellular phones. They all got expelled to a remote area and 30 of them were sentenced to be re-educated.

“I Crossed the Border to Survive.”
Jungho Kim (alias), who lived in Pung-nyon li, Gimchaek city, North Hamkyong Province, was arrested when he was crossing the border to China. It was not his first trial. He had crossed the border in 2007 and was sent back to North Korea to serve in Jeongurrie Re-education Center for 3 years. He was released last year because of the amnesty. To celebrate the 65 year anniversary of the Community Party, nationwide amnesty was executed from September 21 to September 27 last year to pardon 150,000 people. In North Hamkyong Province, about 9600 people were pardoned. The political-ideological offenders, who tried to escape to South Korea or criticized the social system, and violent criminals were excluded from the amnesty. Kim was classified as a simple border-crosser and was able to receive the benefit of the amnesty. He felt relieved when he first got out of the Re-education Center but could not settle down in his home.

When he first crossed the border to China, he wanted to find his wife who had left home. Without his wife, the poor father and his son did not know how to lead their lives. He just crossed the border when he heard that somebody saw a woman who looked like his wife in Yanji, China. It was risky, but luckily he could easily cross the border with the help of his old colleague, who was trafficking used clothes. He did not find his wife from that trip, but he began to help his old colleague deliver used clothes. Fast and bold, he did not find it too difficult to cross the border.

In 2007, he was able to cross Tumen River with the help of border patrols but caught by the Chinese border patrol. Although he had a connection with some of them, the Chinese border was very tightly controlled on that day and he could not get any help. He was sent to Jeongurrie Re-education Center and his 10 year old son was sent to a welfare institution. After he was pardoned by the Amnesty, he first tried to locate his son, but could not find any trace. His son ran away from the welfare institution and nobody heard from him since. He does not know whether his son is alive or dead. In a cold shabby shack, he was not sure how to live with very little amount of food and without his son. It was also difficult to start a business without any seed money. Finally he decided to cross the border again. It was last February. He still had old connections in the Border Control and some merchants in China. He was able to bring used clothes from China to clothes sellers and earn some money. During the spring lean season, crossing border became increasingly difficult. Anyway, he crossed the border to earn his living only to get caught by Chinese border patrols and was sent to Musan Customs. He was badly beaten since he had a previous record of border crossing. He is currently suffering from the injury without any medical treatment.

When he was asked why he crossed the border again instead of living with the appreciation of the amnesty, he answered, “I crossed the border to survive. There was nothing to do after I got out from the Center. If the government had provided a means to live, I wouldn’t have planned the crossing. I needed money to find my son and to get some food.” It is said that he would be sentenced to 9 years in prison.

Border Patrols Earn Money by Overlooking Border-Crossing
The border patrols are still conducting illegal activities in secret as the time of instability continues due to food shortages. Unlike those in forefront areas who eat grass porridges, the border patrols can at least have some steamed corn meals; however, the food is not enough to eat in abundance, so they cannot stop taking money by helping the border-crossing. In many cases, high ranking military officers and sergeants (noncommissioned officers) form a group and participate systematically. They cannot avoid the judicial punishment in addition to the termination from party membership and workplace if the border-crossing problem is raised, but the prevailing mentality is to earn money first whenever there is an opportunity. The high ranking military officers who receive 4,000 NK won for living expenses and their share of distribution as well as those of their families are not any better. In fact, the greediness of the high ranking military officers is worse than that of the sergeants, since they think they should take a lot of money while they can so they can make a living one way or the other within the society when they are discharged from the military service someday. They think it is much more profitable to just overlook the matter and earn money than receiving one-time compliment by catching border-crossers and smugglers. If there are more border-crossers and smugglers, it is a better opportunity to regulate moderately and earn money moderately. That is why assisting the illegal border-crossing is not terminated no matter how much joint censorship or cross censorship is conducted by the National Security Agency or the Border Patrol Command.

The border patrol military officers in Hyesan City of Ryanggang Province even take a direct part in smuggling goods such as coppers or herbs. The Defense Security Command conducted a censorship from January to March of this year, and 5 high ranking military officers and 7 sergeants were arrested for smuggling. They implored for generosity, saying that they did not just try to satisfy their own interests but they were compelled to do so in order to achieve the military tasks. It is also true that the various military tasks from the high command instigate the illegal activities of the high ranking military officers. This year as well, the high ranking military officers have been troubled with the task of managing guard posts. “It must be resolved using our own money only, but who among the soldiers would have money? In order to carry out the task, smuggling is imperative. Taking a bribe moderately and enforcing regulations moderately became how the border patrols should behave,” they say. On the other hand, the authorities are placing more emphasis on the regulation of cell phone and reporting by residents in the National Border Area as the spring hardship season came. They also make propaganda saying that a cell phone user will be forgiven if he surrenders himself to the responsible authority and turns in the phone. However, the residents who have heard the same propaganda all the time are letting it go in one ear and out the other this time as well.

“Dear my Wife in South Korea, Please Help us out!”
There are many households that have missing family members in National Border Area. Many of them are parted during Arduous March, and some of them moved to China, some of whom continued their way to South Korea. If a family gets to hear from the defected member from China or South Korea, they are exhilarated by this since they did not even know whether the defectors were alive. In the case of receiving money from those missing people, their families would feel extremely relieved and happy. Kim Geum-wha, who lives in Musan city, North Hamgyong Province, gets two million won a year from a daughter in Seoul. Even though the broker takes 20 to 30 percent off from the entire money, the family can live up to 1 year with the money. Considerable amount of money also goes to security agents and security department, but Kim’s family feels so fortunate to eat half corn and half rice meal under the current circumstance where lots of people die of hunger. As the number of people being supported by their families in China and South Korea grows, there is an increasing expectation on the support from overseas.

Cheol Kim, from Chungjin city, North Hamgyong Province, is desperately waiting for his wife’s contact, who has gone to South Korea. Since 2005, his wife has sent the money once or twice a year from China, for her two children and husband to survive. Then she told him that she planned to go to South Korea because of her security, and finally, about 2 years ago, Mr. Kim heard that she arrived at South Korea successfully. He was also told that she received resettlement fund from South Korean government, which afforded her the phone call and remittances. After a couple times of remittance, he was severed from his wife’s contact. He tried to call her through the messenger, and later he tried contacting the Chinese broker directly by traveling to Hoeryong city. However, he was told that his wife was not able to be reached probably due to the change of her phone number. After several months, Mr. Kim starts to be very anxious about it and laments, “My wife must be busy with her life. Maybe she has met another guy and changed her mind. I tried to contact her through many means in China, but there is no way to reach her. I cannot leave for China for the sake of my survival leaving my kids behind. Now I am just waiting to die. So far my kids could go to school and eat rice thanks to their mother. Without her support, we cannot survive afterwards. I can’t even cross Tumen River with two kids, so I don’t know what to do. I have nowhere to call for a help. I feel so much pity for my two kids.”

North Korea Today No. 407, June 15, 2011

2011-06-23T07:05:00.000-07:00

Editor’s Note: “Increasing Food Production - can Farm Mobilization be the Solution?”
All-out Mobilization for Farm Villages, the Arduous War at its Peak
“How can I Offer Help when I cannot even Feed Myself?”
Power and Wealth, a License to Flee the Reach of Farming Mobilization
Potatoes Stolen by Soldiers before they are Ripe
The Spring Hardship Season Hits the Soldiers in the Forefront Areas
Kkotjebis (Homeless Children) in Harsh Environment even in Collective Farms
___________________________________________________________

Editor’s Note: “Increasing Food Production - can Farm Mobilization be the Solution?”
“Farming is the lifeline in resolving people’s livelihood problems” - it sounds quite heavy. Farming, which is supposed to support the people, becomes the main frontline where they risk their lives. It’s time for the rice planting battle again and residents are dragging themselves to farms with a sigh of dismay. All family members, from little students to parents, become combatants in the farm mobilization combat. With more than 80% of the population assisting in farming, total crop yields still fall short of total rations. We hope that South and North Korea can cooperate and resolve the issues in the near future.

All-out Mobilization for Farm Villages, the Arduous War at its Peak
Due to the order of all-out mobilization of agricultural areas nationwide, almost all residents have been forced to go out in the fields and aid with farming efforts. This New Year’s Day Joint Editorial gave directions stating, “Agricultural frontlines are lifelines for solving people’s life problems. It is necessary to learn from the exemplary units that have been realizing great plans for the construction of agricultural industry, and to contest for securing and increasing grain harvest per jungbo (unit of land, equivalent to 2.45 acres).”

The Chosun Joongang TV broadcasted celebration programs by sending actors from the Pibada (“Sea of Blood”) Folk Music Group and the National Folk Art Troupe. The Samji River Collective Farm was celebrated for being the first to finish planting rice only taking 10 days, and the Okuk Collective Farm in Anak County for planting rice with high quality at a proper season. In the Mikok Collective Farm in Sariwon, North Hwanghae Province, distinguished actors and actress, including Kim Yunmi, performed. This collective farm produced more than 10 tons of rice per jungbo couple of years ago and was conferred the rare and honorable title “My Beloved Farm” by the Dear Kim Jongil, only reserved for special farms like the Mikok Collective Farm.

These celebrations are part of the rigorous efforts to support national agriculture. Kim Iljoo, one employee of a factory for daily necessities in Sariwon, watched the celebration program on TV and demonstrated mixed feelings. He said he was not happy watching the performance, stating, “Since we produced more than 10 ton per jungbo in 2009, they must be pushing us to produce more.” He added, “People boasted that they improved the seeds, they would be able to farm in techno-scientific ways, and that they could follow the juche farming methods. But nobody believes these announcements.”

In reality, most farms are lacking in seed and vinyl film. Workers in factories and public enterprises, members of the district offices of the Democratic Women’s Union, and middle school to university-age students are mobilized without any basic preparation. Consequently, these supporting hands only suffer under the blazing sun, and are not able to provide any substantial help. For them, the farm support efforts are regarded as “arduous wars” they would like to avoid.

“How can I Offer Help when I cannot even Feed Myself?”
The reason why people are reluctant to participate in farm mobilization activity is not only because of the physical hardship but also because of time constraints. If they participate, they need to sacrifice their own time at earning a living. Especially members of the Democratic Women’s Union (DWU) who make a living by selling in the market are strong opponents of this activity. If you are an office worker, factory worker or a student, you do not have to worry about making money for a living (since a ration is provided). However, if you are a housewife or a DWU member, besides working in the farm mobilization activity, you need to do additional work to make your own living. The farm mobilization work starts at 8 a.m. and lasts until 2 p.m. The activity is on a daily assignment basis. Therefore, if you have not completed your daily assignment on time, the ending time runs beyond 2 o’clock. Since they are allowed to sell in the market only from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m., the women frequently skip their lunch times to get the jobs done on time and to be able to go to the market before 4 p.m.

If the women have children, the situation gets even worse. If there is no one at home to take care of the children, they need to put their children in a daycare center. Due to the prevailing negative image towards daycare centers that they do not provide any food for the children and the teachers are not very caring, the mothers do not like sending their children to daycare centers. With very few options to consider, mothers with infants end up taking their babies to the farm. During work hours, the babies are normally looked after by women who are too sick and cannot work in the fields. It is not rare to see some of the infants having heat strokes and carried to a hospital. They cannot endure strong sunlight for extended hours.

“How long should we live like this? We do not have the luxury of helping farms. Our own life itself is a constant struggle for survival. Our grownup children and husbands are all taken to the farms. Now we are also called for the farm mobilization activity. There is no one left at home to take care of the family. In such conditions, how can we sustain ourselves? Who is going to feed us? How can I offer help to others, when I am dying of hunger?” laments the poor laborers.

Power and Wealth, a License to Flee the Reach of Farming Mobilization
‘Haves,’ notably wives of lawyers, party officials and rich men, unjustly flee the reach of farming mobilization which is supposed to be universal. It is not a secret at all that those with power and wealth can take themselves out of farming mobilization with impunity. Rice planting season began in Hamjubeol, the breadbasket of South Hamgyong Province, and farmers have difficulty making progress. Due to the serious oil shortage, agricultural machinery is not much utilized and harrowing the ground with limited number of laboring cows becomes more difficult.

Lim, Soon-deok (pseudonym), a member of DWU (Democratic Women’s Union), was mobilized in Hamjubeol and grumbled that only those who are poor and starve end up in farm mobilization, where most work is done by manual labor due to the lack of farm machinery. She also said, “Only the poor like us are mobilized to plant rice in sun-scorched afternoons when the sun burns our faces. Just one day of our absence from work is a big deal, whereas an absence of a wealthy wife is not an issue. Party officials, including those working on propaganda at the City Party, exempt their wives from mobilization while they encourage the mobilized to work hard. Nobody listens to the over-practiced cliché pep talks from the party officials.”

Jeon, Yong-sook (pseudonym), from Dongheungsan dong, Dongheungsan District, Hamheung City, South Hamgyong Province, recently had an annoying experience with a wealthy wife while Jeon was selling children’s stationery after farm mobilization work. She is completely physically exhausted every single day from managing two jobs - farm mobilization work in the morning and selling stationery in the market in the afternoon. What really annoys her about farm work is the unfairness – the wealthy wives shamelessly relax at home while she is physically exhausted by the heat wave.

A couple of days ago Ms. Jeon as usual felt exhausted after planting rice in muddy water all day long on a sun scorched farm. In doing farm work which is a hands-on and physical job, she has to kneel or squat until the work is completed. Even a one second break is not practically possible. Whenever she looks like she is going to stretch her back, an official, who appears out of nowhere, yells at her to keep working, saying that “You may want to repay what you owe to our country. This is a good time to do so. Keep planting rice!”

It was a particularly tough day as she had cramps during her period and ate just a little bit of noodles for breakfast. Nevertheless, she almost skipped lunch to save time and continually collected herself to complete the assigned work. She could barely finish the work for the day at 4 pm with the help from her close friend, Young-nam’s mother. In the market, her energy was already depleted before she even started selling stationery. To her, even sitting in front of the market stall was physically challenging, let alone summoning her energy to shout to attract customers. Furthermore, not much business was going on since she was selling children’s stationery. After a couple of hours, a mother and her son came up to her. The young and well-dressed woman told her chubby-cheeked son to choose a notepad for himself. After flipping some pages, the kid grabbed his mother saying, “Let’s go to another shop.” After flipping some pages, the mother also complained that “These notepads are so rough. People can’t write on them with pencils. There are many Chinese products with high quality, but these are crap.”

Physically and mentally exhausted, Ms. Jeon would have let it pass without further complaint of the boy’s mother. The lady continued to complain that “nobody wants to use pens like these even if they were free.” After all, the constant disdainful attitude ticked off Ms. Jeon. She yelled, “Get out of here with your kid. I don’t want to sell anything to you!” The kid’s mom paused for a second, apparently surprised by the yelling. Then, she retorted, “You have no idea of who his father is. You should be careful about saying something to me!” The verbal fight escalated into a physical one and, finally, hair-pulling. The kid began to cry and people gathered at the scene. An enforcement officer arrived at the scene and put an end to the fight.

During the investigation at a nearby police station, the boy’s father turned out to be a prosecution official. Police officers were busy pleasing the boy’s mother, shifting all blame for the fighting on to Ms. Jeon. As a result, Ms. Jeon was fined the equivalent of more than several days’ income. She is distressed about her situation, saying that “While my life got worse due to farm mobilization, those who have husbands with power and money are immune from such obligations. The unfairness devastates me.”

Potatoes Stolen by Soldiers before they are Ripe
In Hwanghae Province potatoes come out after June 20th, but there are many incidents where people have already started to steal the potatoes that are not yet ripe. It is more disappointing that the potatoes being stolen are the works of soldiers from nearby military camps. The farmers are disappointed that even if they report the incident they have no way of getting compensation. They make reports numerous times a day to “Stop destroying the relationships between civilians and soldiers” but it is an unworthy attempt. From nearby towns people even have been crying out that “We can’t live next to the army because it is so nerve wrecking.” Hwanghae Province Baechun County’s Baechun-eup cooperative farm has already been the victim of the soldiers more than ten times this month. The farmers are letting out sighs of grief not knowing if they will have enough food left for themselves. Jang Myung-Gook (alias) says “These times are when the citizens have to keep an eye on the soldiers from stealing, not the time when the soldiers protect the citizens.” He even said that the soldiers who help out farming would probably just steal the crops colloquially, so they are even scared of the soldiers coming to help out. One farm in Baechun County actually returned soldiers that were coming out to help by saying “It’s ok.” The soldiers are not gaining trust from the people any longer.

The Spring Hardship Season Hits the Soldiers in the Forefront Areas
The famine is affecting the soldiers stationed in the forefronts of Kangwon and South Hwanghae Provinces. The food supply has been scarce since the last distribution of Chinese corn, which occurred in February this year. For some troops meals are given only twice a day. This has led to soldiers roaming around nearby villages to steal food. Howitzer Unit under the 4th Corps located in Baechun County is even having trouble conducting proper drills due to the failing health of the soldiers. The high ranking officers expressed their grievances as well, saying “No one would be able to fight if a war broke out when soldiers in the forefront are weak like this and the food is in acute shortage. It would be difficult to mobilize the troops immediately even if we are ordered to start action.” The number of soldiers raiding the villages has peaked this year, so the army provision issue is ever more imminent in the military.

Kkotjebis (Homeless Children) in Harsh Environment even in Collective Farms
Orphaned kkotjebis (homeless children) of middle school age from kkotjebi welfare institutions have been chosen and placed in farm youth groups at collective farms. Homeless children ages 15 and older have been sent to collective farms in Pyongyang and Kumgang County by the kkotjebi welfare institution in Wonsan City, Kangwon Province. An employee from the institution commented, “It’s hard to place them in regular work places since they are not educated at all, growing up without parents. It is the best to send them to the farm, seeing as the institution doesn’t have enough food to feed them.” Now, more homeless children have been removed from the public eye, who are in terrible condition from years of harsh street life without proper care. In reality, life at the farm youth group is much worse for homeless children than at the welfare institutions.

The North Korean government has upheld young people and put them in difficult jobs under the national slogan, “Young workers are the core of the Strong and Prosperous Nation and the strongest troop for achieving the goals of the party.” At the time when teens just out of middle school in Kangwon Province were placed in the Pyonggang County Collective Farm, there were many farm youth groups and youth work units allied. The initial purpose of this deployment was to “place young workers in the right places”, but young workers evaded being sent to the collective farms. As a result, collective farms started to establish a farm youth group of the kkotjebi youth.

The Pyonggang County collective farm has a farm youth group that consists of fifty orphaned kkotjebis, whose parents were either dead or lost. At least when the kkotjebis were on the street, they were free to go anywhere they wanted, but now they are at the one place with no freedom at all. They must get up at 6:30 AM and work until 7:30 PM with almost no breaks. Farming on such a tight daily schedule is much too hard for these malnourished homeless children.

Not only do supervisors of the kkotjebi youth group deprive the children of freedom, they also “tighten up strict supervision on them in order to control their bad behaviors like stealing and irregular lifestyle.” Children are not allowed to go out to buy clothing and shoes in need. They just have to wait until the farm provides for them as a group. Chae, Geom-Sil (alias) who was placed in the farm youth group last year described the situation: “We’re called farmers, but we’re really locked-up prisoners. We have no control, not even over our own food. If the farm didn’t give us food, we would die from starvation. I think about running away from the group many times throughout a day. ” There are twenty members of youth women like Ms. Chae in the group. They look worn out by harsh farming. Ms. Chae swears to get out of the farm youth group, saying, “I’m twenty, but I look like I’m in my thirties. I feel like that I’ll wither to death if I stay here any longer. I survived through bagging since I was a kid. I am sure I will survive no matter where I go.” In fact, a couple of kkotjebi group members have run away from the farm and returned to the life on the street.