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Saturday, March 17, 2012

North Korea Today No. 440 February 1, 2012

[Intro] It is Time to Resume Efforts for Inter-Korean Cooperation and Exchanges
It has been reported that the new Organization and Guidance Department’s policy direction has been set, although detailed policies are not yet released. Vice Chairman Kim Jong-un and the new leadership has de facto conducted state affairs and introduced new policies since October 10th last year. However, the overall policy direction is under review because the leadership’s status after Chairman Kim Jong-il’s death has changed. According to the sources the leadership’s policy direction is to accept China’s assistance for economic development while working toward peace through dialogue and cooperation with the United States.

The atmosphere in the leadership circle is known to be that of feeling relieved, for a war is unlikely due to the upcoming presidential election in the Unitd States. They feel that they have gained time to stabilize their position. It has shown, however, no interest in improving its relationship with South Korea. Considering the election schedules in South Korea this year, the North Korean leadership may have determined that they have not much to gain from inter-Korean cooperation as the future looks uncertain. However, if North Korea’s new leadership cares about its starving residents, it should not further delay improvement of its relationship with the South Korean government. This is because humanitarian aid from the South is the most efficient way to help its people. The South Korean government should also seek to understand North Korea’s new leadership through multiple levels of workgroup discussions and meetings and by reconstructing inter-Korean exchange and cooperation channels through resuming of humanitarian aid.

The New Leadership’s Policy to Be in Full Operation by March
The new Organization and Guidance Department’s policies are going to be revised by the end of February and publicly announced in early March to be put fully into practice. Revision of the policies is inevitable because the status of the new leadership put in place after October 10th of last year has changed after the death of Chairman Kim. While the policy planning and implementation before Chairman Kim’s death was within the boundary of not going against the existing policies, it is expected that Kim Jong-un’s own policy direction will gradually differentiate itself from the old one in the future. Nevertheless, given Kim Jong-il’s instructions are still in place, it would be difficult to expect a major policy change anytime soon.

The most noticeable policy change under the new leadership lies in the level of intensity of both heightened crackdown and tightened monitoring of residents. The intensity level has gone up much higher than it has previously been.

On the economic front, the highest priority will be to revive the ailing economy by exporting to and forging a business partnership with China. Given this priority, cooperation with China will be more critical to restoring the economy this year than ever before. As to foreign relations, while seeking to strengthen the old alliances with China and Russia, it will also try to reduce its rapidly growing dependence on China by maintaining channels of dialogue with the U.S. and other western countries. The basic approach to foreign policy is expected to be recalibrated depending on domestic political economy.

The foremost task for the new leadership under Kim Jong-un is to consolidate its power. Yet this will leave room for North Korea to rely on China in case it fails to improve its relationship with the U.S. The details on the new policies will be put in place in March. The new leadership is not interested in improving its relationship with South Korea.

“Make traditional rituals simple and economical” in Response to Food Shortage
As North Korea’s food shortage continues to get worse, the government repeatedly urges people to observe such personal ceremonies as the first birthdays, wedding ceremonies, the sixtieth birthdays, and funerals in an economical way. Even wealthy people and high officials do not openly conduct personal rituals out of concern that the government is watching them. Ordinary people can only afford to serve liquor and one bowl of corn at their wedding ceremony. Ceremony guests tend to be careful about what they are saying and quick to leave because security officers are watching the neighborhood for any sign of anti-government sentiment. The pervasive surveillance results from the concern that talking about everyday life may well involve personal stories about suffering, notably food shortage, and ultimately may lead to complaints about the government. As such, most guests just put in an appearance and leave after quickly eating noodles with some alcohol.

Three days of observance are common for funeral services. Wealthy people prepare the shroud in advance, whereas ordinary people wash the deceased’s most decent article of clothing to wrap the body for burial. Since there is neither a particular place where the funeral service is conducted nor a store that sells shrouds, the way a funeral is conducted is contingent upon one’s circumstances. The choice of coffin depends on what the employer or the farm offers to the deceased’s family. Donation by fellow workers for funeral expenses is usually 1,000 won. Alcohol and food are served only to relatives, seniors in the workplace, and those who help with the funeral. Other guests just put in an appearance and are quick to leave.

Wedding Ceremony and a Home, an Impossible Dream for Newly Weds
The number of newlyweds who cannot afford a wedding ceremony, which requires at least 50,000 NKW, is increasing. Song, Myung-hee (alias), a resident of Hamheung, South Hamgyung Province, is having a headache over the problem of her twenty-seven-year old daughter’s wedding. She has a fiancée, but there is no way she can prepare articles for wedding such as groom’s wedding suit, fabric for groom’s family, and furniture. None of these items can be easily purchased because the consumer price recently has gone up exponentially. The fabric for a suit costs 3,500 NKW and the fabric for Korean traditional attire is sold at 3,200 NKW. After adding the labor for tailoring, the total expense easily exceeds 100,000 NKW just for the wedding attire for the bride and groom. There are many other desired household items such as dresser, TV, and bicycle, but even cutting the list to the most essential items requires at least 500,000 NKW. The bridegroom is not in a position to buy a home either. There is not much he can do since his monthly salary is 2,200 NKW and even with additional bonus his total monthly income cannot go over 5,000 NKW. As such, affording a home for the newlywed is an impossible dream. If the couple wishes to live together, the only way is to exchange a marriage vow over a bowl of water and live together in the groom’s parents’ house.

When Mrs. Song got married she had two wedding ceremonies, one at her parents’ house and another one at her husband’s parents’ house. She was able to afford Korean traditional wedding attire and the couple exchanged wedding gifts. The guests stayed for the wedding party and sang songs for the newlyweds, giving a big celebration for the couple. They even had a new home provided by the government where they can start a new life as a couple. Now the time has changed and even having a wedding ceremony has become a luxury ordinary people cannot afford. Mrs. Song can only feel sorry for her daughter.

Crop Yield is about Three Tons per Jungbo* at Chungam District Direct Farm
(*Jungbo is a unit of land in North Korea; 1 Jungbo = 2.45 acres)
It has been reported that rice crop yield at the Chungam District direct farm in Chungjin was around three tons per Jungbo. One official at the farm said that in the case of corns the crop yield was as bad as only one ton of corn yield per Jungbo last year. Major products at the farm are rice, corn, and a small plot farming of beans, tobacco, and vegetables. The farm consists of five working units. The farm retains ten tractors and each work unit has 3 laboring bulls. Since there are no trucks or cars available on the farm, it’s not easy to transport farm products.

The farm, just like any other farms, has the Primary Party secretary, assistant secretary, a chief of the management committee, an accountant, a bookkeeper, security agents and police officers, the secretary of Socialist Working Youth League (SWYL), and a chief of the Democratic Women’s Union (DWU). Also cell secretaries, supervisors, and administration clerks are assigned to each working unit. The administration clerk keeps track of employee's working hours and manages cash. There is also a propaganda agent who hosts farm events or projects.

Since 2009, workers have not been paid by either cash or food rations due to the incompletion of the farm plans and goals. Food rationing is distributed at once and cash is paid out quarterly. According to the year-end closing of the books, one household that has five farm workers received 70,000 NKW in cash and one ton of rice and corn mixed in the 3:7 ratio. That is, each worker got an average of 200 kilograms. Of course many workers got less than 200 kilograms since it’s an average distribution amount. In cash payments, workers got paid less than 50,000 NKW as a net amount after various deductions, such as deductions for food, SWYL fees, Special Labor Brigade support fees, etc (Total annual deductions is about 3,600 NKW for each category). Also, one ton of grain distributed was not 100% brought home. If a household borrowed grains at a high rate of interest during the spring lean season, they had to give back 2-3 times more than what they borrowed.

A Day in the Life of Farm Worker Kim, Soon-hee
Plantation worker Kim, Soon-hee gets up at four in the morning to cook breakfast. With the end-of-the-year rations she recently received, she eats steamed crushed corn for breakfast and lunch, and corn noodles for dinner. Sometimes she makes corn pancakes, which requires about 500g of corn powder. It seems that the family members consume around 1kg of crushed corn every day. White rice is served only on holidays or birthdays of her husband and mother-in-law. Kim and her family was able to enjoy the lunar new year eating white rice, eggs, pork, fish, and even liquor, which was not the case on the solar new-year day before the ration was distributed.

Kim can no longer afford to burn coal and now uses firewood instead. A cart full of coal costs over 45,000 NKW this year. The farm where Kim works at has made a contract with the Forest Public Enterprise so the workers can cut down trees in the mountains for firewood. Each household usually takes one cart. For additional firewood, children collect dead branches and bring them home.

A day at the farm begins at eight in the morning and ends at five in the afternoon during the winter, with a lunch break from noon to 2 p.m. This is very different from the busy farming season, when work starts at six in the morning and ends at as late as eight in the evening. Kim is content that the hard work during the farming season is now paying off. She also tends a vegetable farm of her own, which gives her a sense of security knowing that she has a backup. Last year she planted beans, corn, and cabbage, and reaped 300 kg of beans, 200 kg of corn, 10 kg of bean, and 70 heads of cabbage. There is no need for her to go to the market for side dishes. She uses the ample time she has to make Heukbosan fertilizer and raise her three chickens. Chickens need special care in the cold winter to continue laying eggs. Nowadays, two eggs can be traded for a kilogram of corn, and Kim is grateful that her chickens are alternately bearing eggs. Her husband, who works at the same farm, uses his dexterity to fix bicycles, keys, umbrellas, and other appliances in his spare time. He gets paid with money from time to time, but usually receives liquor. Liquor can also be traded at the market for a kilogram of corn. He is always in search for more work. Although the couple earns money on the side, the standard of living hasn’t improved much. It’s been five years since the last time they purchased new clothes. But Kim gives a warm smile, saying that eating white rice on a holiday is good enough for her.

Friday, March 2, 2012

North Korea Today No. 439 January 25, 2012

[“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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Reducing Food Waste Can Save Lives of North Koreans
River-Crossers Now Treated as War Criminals
Domestic Work for Chinese Residents is Most Desired Job
Wig Manufacturing Factory Worker, Mihyun’s Daily Life
Farm Workers Threshing Corns with Bare Hands
Ox Cart-laden Farmers Cutting Wood
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Reducing Food Waste Can Save Lives of North Koreans
North Koreans’ wish for the New Year is to live and eat as Chinese do. North Korea used to be wealthier than China 30 years ago, but North Koreans these days desire to work at Chinese residences in North Korea. For North Koreas, even water waste from washing rice and fish at Chinese households is a precious source for making soup. Food waste from Chinese residences is hard-to-come-by food for North Koreans. According to the Department of Environment of South Korea, its economic loss from food waste is estimated to be 22.5 billion dollars in 2012. South Korean budget for Inter-Korean Cooperation in 2012 is 1 billion dollars, among which 490.3 million dollars is allocated for Humanitarian support for North Koreans. The South Korean aid budget in 2011 was 913.8 million dollars, but only 27.5 million had been actually spent by last November. These numbers show that South Korea can afford to help North Korea with food aid merely by reducing its food waste. By simply reducing food waste, we can save North Korean citizens and the environment, and furthermore, we can create a peaceful ambience for unification. In this context, the South Korean government might as well launch a national campaign for reducing food waste and send food to North Korea to save the people.

River-Crossers Now Treated as War Criminals
The Central Party has released an order through each provincial party that, “The mourning period for the death of Kim Jong Il is set for 100 days. During this period, anyone trying to cross the river into China or using a cellphone will be treated as a war criminal.” Another message has also been released: “From January 12, anyone carrying around more than 30 kilograms of food will have all of it confiscated by the authorities.” Many North Koreans are saying this is just a ploy to prevent people from selling food. People react coldly to the lectures declaring that North Korea will become a country that honors the rule of law. In response, people say “They (government officials) are free to make laws that make it harder for us regular people to survive…life has just become too unbearable to go on.” When people gather together, all they say is: “I hope the government changes its policies and creates a place where we can have a good life, like China has done.”

Domestic Work for Chinese Residents is Most Desired Job
Seven in the morning, as the sun rises, Park Hyang Ran quickly prepares to go to the house of a Chinese family across the street. As she enters the tall board fences, which does not allow other people to see inside, three big dogs run out to welcome her. She is not a stranger. There were frequent accidents that someone without knowledge of the dogs came inside the fences and beaten. Ms. Park hurries to go into the kitchen to prepare breakfast. After putting fire on firewood, she washes rice to make steamed rice, uses yellow soybean oil to fry atka fish and puts well prepared water kimchi on the table. As the clock hits 8:00 am, the home owner couple gets out of the bed, wash their faces and brush their teeth. Fragrance from soap stimulates the smelling sense. Then the wife sits in front of a vanity, wearing perfume and putting on makeup. Park wonders ‘when can I sit in front of a dressing mirror, put luxury makeup on my face and eat food prepared for me?’ In a second, however, Park thinks there is no more she would want if all families gather together to eat enough warm corn rice and do not suffer from harsh cold weather this winter.

After the couple finishes their meal, Park packs left-over steamed-rice and fish bones from the table and runs to her place across the road. The landlady especially allowed her to bring out leftovers today in return for preparing breakfast. Park saves everything including water used to wash rice and fish to reuse it in making soup. In Park’s Neighborhood Unit, everyone envies her for the fortune of working for a Chinese resident household. Leftover food and worn clothes she gets from the Chinese household ameliorates her worries for another day. It is a puzzle to her why North Korean life becomes difficult while Chinese life gets better every day. She hears that thirty years ago living conditions of North Koreans were better than those of Chinese. Though she often laments her situation of having to beg for leftovers from the couple, who lives like a king and queen, she cannot afford to complain much. After all, she is better off than most people in her neighborhood.

She leaves the leftovers in her kitchen and quickly runs back to the couple’s place. She has to wash the dishes and clean the house before lunch. Every day, she has the same worry- “what if I lose this job?” Even if the landlady ill-treats her, she begs her for forgiveness. Even if nobody makes her do so, she behaves like a slave. Today, she cannot take even a small break because the landlady is staying at home. Sounds of TV and laughters from the master’s room echo to the kitchen. As it gets dark, light bulbs give the house daylight brightness. After a long day of work, she is too exhausted to cross the road back to her place. She looks at her neighborhood, surrounded by stark darkness. She thinks that it looks like a place where emaciated weary black ghosts are gathered to live.

Wig Manufacturing Factory Worker, Mihyun’s Daily Life
Mihyun has to leave home no later than 6:30 am to get to the factory by 8 am every day. Today as usual, she wakes up before 5 am. She is relieved to see the water is not frozen that she kept last night for this morning’s wash and cook, thinking that the temporary craft paper replacing the broken window pane works quite well against the cold. In a hurry, she pours water to a big pot and put twelve potatoes on a steamer of the pot. Soon after making a fire with full of firewood, she sees the water in the pot starts to boil. At least, it is lucky for her to have enough firewood because she lives in a mountain village. Four potatoes per each person are today’s breakfast. Along with potatoes, she would like to fry and serve wild greens that her mom picked and dried for her daughter last year. However, having no cooking oil, she decides to season wild greens with bean paste after blanching in boiling water. To blanch wild greens, she had better put more woods into the fire pit. She goes out for some more firewood after putting greens in an old worn-out washbowl.

When she gets outside, she sees the village dimly visible in darkness. Almost half of the houses in the village are empty. The empty village reminds her of the good old days. At the same time, suddenly, she gets sad because of irrecoverable memories of those days. Unlike now, the village, Jungdo, was a quite well developed area twenty years ago. Even though it is a little far (about 50 miles) from Hoeryong, Jungdo was one of the Labor Districts exporting high quality cement to China. However, since Kim Il-Sung died, production volume has decreased rapidly and factories closed down one by one. Naturally, the village became abandoned and ruined as many people left. She remembers that people in the village shared happiness together whenever they had good events. However, things are changed now. She understands enough that people cannot afford to pay any attention to others due to their own fierce and tough lives. Survival by fighting against hunger and poverty is the only thing they can care now. There is nothing much to smile about, and tears are dried up in everyone’s eyes of the village.

After making breakfast ready for her family, she hurries to go to work. Among the four potatoes for herself, she quickly eats two and puts the other two potatoes in her pocket. In order to protect her from cold wind as well as to help herself walk fast, she puts her trouser cuffs into her military boots and ties up her shoestrings. She wears a thick towel around her neck. After closing the door tight with her hands in the mittens, she begins to power-walk to the factory in Hoeryong. When she gets near the city, she is so hungry and swallows the two potatoes in a gulp. Fortunately, the factory provides lunch.

When she arrives at the factory, she signs up in the attendance register and changes into work uniform. She then goes to the hall for the assembly. Fortunately, the plant manager is gone to a committee meeting this morning, so everyone is spared from hearing his cussword today. There are only few words from the engineer pointing out some issues regarding quality control. Then a police officer and a security officer give some warnings for the condolence period. They say that six people were caught while crossing the border river and were treated strictly under war-time laws. While they are talking, Minhyun’s eyes accidently meet with those of the officer. His glare is so scary that it gives her goose bumps whenever she thinks about it.

At a whistle blow, everybody sits down at their work station facing each other. For a while, people work with high concentration, but after quite some time people get tired, losing focus in their eyes and hands. A Chinese engineer walks back and forth to check on the factory workers. However, since he does not understand Korean, workers do not care about his existence and keeps talking. The Chinese guy is very well built – he seems to be over 180cm high and as heavy as over 80kg. The women keep talking about him, giving a quick glimpse at him occasionally. There are about ten or more male workers in the factory. Among them, the tallest one does not exceed 165 cm and the heaviest does not go over 60 kg. The Chinese engineer looks like he is genetically different from all the other North Korean male workers. Nonetheless, they laugh at him saying that “Tall and fat people are never canny but meek.”

While talking, they keep glimpsing at the Chinese made wall clock waiting for the noon lunch time. When it hits 12 o’clock, they run into the cafeteria. They sit down at the table without washing their hands because there was no water in the pipe. Eight people sitting at one table share sixteen corn rice cakes placed in the middle of the table. They also share a big bowl of water kimchi provided at the middle of the table as a side dish. As meager as it is, they finish the food as quickly as possible before others do first. Only after 10 minutes the food is all gone. Not even a bit left for a cat to lick. Now, the workers take a nap right after the meal. As so many people are lying together in a small room next to the cafeteria, it is not too cold to sleep. The sound of people snoring, coughing, and laughing quietly are mixed in the air. Someone shouts to ask for silence so that other can sleep.

It is exactly 1 p.m. when the head manager of the factory who is back from the meeting whistles to draw attention from the workers. He starts to hassle the top factory workers expressing his dissatisfaction about the productivity throughout the morning. He continues cursing and swearing at the work result non-stop for about 20 minutes. The Chinese engineer is just looking at what is happening before him in total disbelief—it is still incredible for him to see these abusive behaviors even though the assault is almost a daily event. The workers have grown used to getting humiliated by the managers—they seem to sit there unaffected and indifferent. They only hope that the time pass fast so they can go home at 5 p.m. sharp. The work routine is extremely boring. They do the same work day after day, month after month. They just kill their time waiting for the sound of a whistle informing them the day is over. Only then the factory atmosphere becomes jovial.
After getting changed to go home, all of the 70 workers gathered in the office. Today is the monthly pay day. The payroll personnel calls a name from the payroll list, then the worker steps forward, receives the pay in bare cash without an envelope, signs off her name and leaves. Mihyun receives 3,200 North Korean Won (NKW) as basic wage and gets 2,100 NKW as benefit, in total 5,300 NKW. After receiving her pay, she dashes out of the factory thinking how she is going to spend the money. She contemplates, “one kilogram of rice costs 3,000 won. It is too expensive. I will get 5 kg of maize instead. I have additional 500 won saved from the previous pay. This 500 won and the rest of the pay from today can cover to buy 1 kg of salt (800 won).” She feels good after figuring out this plan.

The sky is already getting dark as she gets out of the factory. She takes the shortcut to the market place via the stepping stones instead of the bridge over the Hoeryung stream. She gets what she has planned to buy, puts them in her sack bag and rushes home. It is about the same distance from her home to the factory and from the market to her home. Yet the former is downhill and the latter is uphill. So it takes almost two hours for her to arrive home from the market. She thinks about her mother and husband who will be delighted when they see what she got from the market. With that excitement, she does not feel cold or hungry.

Her mother springs out of the house to receive Mihyun as soon as she sees her daughter. She takes over the heavy bags of maize and salt. “You must feel very cold, my dear. Come on in. It has been a long day, hasn’t it,” says the mother while giving her a warm hug. Mihyun, without getting changed, goes straight to the kitchen and starts preparing dinner with the maize. She puts maize-rice mix in a pot and sets fire. The cold and fatigue weighing on her seems to go away while she quietly gazes at the flickering flame. “At least for tonight, I will have a good night’s sleep after eating the steamed maize-rice as much as I want. They say China has over 13 billion people and none is worried about getting hungry or being in short of basic necessities. I wonder we will ever reach that living condition in North Korea. Oh well, let’s stop worrying. I do not want to think about it. At least, not tonight…,” she keeps dozing off while her mind travels from one thought to another.

Farm Workers Threshing Corns with Bare Hands
It was 7 am when Nam Hye-kyoung arrived at a threshing floor. She had already had breakfast with boiled crushed corn mixed with radish and cabbage. Electricity was on yesterday morning but not today. She takes a seat and starts peeling corns. Although 12 female and 5 male workers sitting in a circle have peeled corns for half the morning, the piles of peeled corn are small. Healthy men are supposed to go to mountains to search for wood for this year’s farming. However, men in poor health and not fit for going out for wood are here for threshing. The actual amount of time spent in working is rather short –female workers feeling hungry and cold frequently go back and forth to the guard’s room to thaw their hands, and male workers take frequent smoke breaks. They end up not doing much work. Despite the hard work, at least there is no worry of starvation here because workers can sit in front of the fireplace in the kitchen, eating broiled corn ears. Thanks to that, they do not have to bring lunch from home.

The farm workers get colder as the wind starts blowing. Mittens and wadded clothes without much warmth do not protect them from getting numb by cold. They gradually lose feelings in their limbs. When they can’t stand it anymore, they stop working and go into the guardroom again. Since the room is too small to accommodate all the workers at once, some of them are left outside. Sitting together around the fence corner in the sun, female workers hold hands and hug each other in order to warm each other. In the end, they have peeled a little short of 12 straw bags of corns, i.e. less than one bag per person. It seems uncertain if the remaining work can be done until the new farming season begins.

At 6 pm, the farm workers put off a concluding meeting for the day till tomorrow and walk toward their home in a hurry. They had a hard time last year, busy in figuring out how to get by the next day. However it has been even tougher this year to manage every minute of the day. On the way home, Hye-kyoung is preoccupied with concerns about whether she has enough firewood for that evening and how much crushed corn is stored in a chest of drawers. Coming out one after another, her worries multiply, leading her to wonder about when she could use even a little bit of tap water and if her six-year old daughter who seemed to have fever would feel better.

Ox Cart-laden Farmers Cutting Wood
Kim Hakchol rises at 6 a.m. and after lighting a fire in the stove, he opens his storage room and takes out a couple of tools. Today, along with the elderly Hansul who works in the same unit, he must drag an ox cart up into the mountains and cut 20 trees to be used as posts. By around 7:30 he has made it to the farm stable and has found the cart and ox assigned to him. He loads his axe, saw and the lunch his wife packed for him on the cart and begins the journey to the mountains with Hansul. This year brought a substantial amount of snow, which has made the path slippery and uneven. Before leaving his house, he put on military-issue boots and wrapped the ends of some cotton pants around them before tying them up tightly with some string. This prevents any snow or cold air from penetrating the shoes. His outer layer of clothing consists of a jumper, and because the jumper’s zipper is broken he wrapped some straw rope around his waist to prevent it from flying open in the cold wind. The mittens he wears make it difficult to work, but he had to start wearing them four days ago when he suffered from frostbite on his fingers after working with his bare hands.

The two elderly men join forces to cut down twenty trees to be used as columns and load them on the cart. Soon it is lunch time. The men make a small fire and gather around it to warm their hands and feet. The warming of their hands and feet is followed by rumbling from their stomachs. Their lunches consist of corn rice and dried radishes preserved in salt. Quickly finishing lunch, the two men roll up some old newspapers to form a cigarette, and a few puffs later, they seem to have regained their energy. They quickly put cart to ox and start to head back home, but the bony ox looks like it could collapse at any moment. When the road steepens after crossing a small stream, the ox decides not to pull the cart anymore. The two men work together to push, pull and whip the ox, but this only gets them over the first of several hills. The sun has set by the time they arrive at the farm stable and unload their wood. It is times like this when both dream the impossible that they could enjoy some hot food with a glass of soju, but they end up parting with only the thought itself lingering between them.

North Korea Today No. 438 January 18, 2012

[“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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[Intro] The Power of A bowl of Rice
In Hoeryong, 10 Days Food Rations is Like Having “A New Life”
Nationwide Rally of Loyalty
In the Beginning of This year, Many Homes Up for Sale
Pyongyang Officials Use Bank Cards Instead of Foreign Currencies
“Giving Up the Pride of a Teacher, and Losing Face As Well”
Concerns About Childcare Problems Among Wealthy Pyongyang Mothers
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[Intro] The Power of a Bowl of Rice
A sick mother is making grass porridge mixed with a handful of corn for her 11 year old son, who is about to go out to collect fire wood in the early morning hours. It’s not enough food for both of them. The mother puts her porridge into her son’s bowl while he is not looking. This is a scene from “Winter Butterfly” a 2011 non-fiction movie of what happened 10 years ago in North Hwanghae Province. It was produced by a North Korean movie director Kim Kyu-Min. The movie shows that the mother eventually couldn’t even feed her son who had fainted and was dying from hunger. She finally kneels down in front of a portrait of the Supreme Leader and prays desperately to be able to feed her son a bowl of rice. But it has a tragic ending.

A woman in Hoeryong, who was so thankful for having received 10 days of food rations at the beginning of the New Year, reminded me of this movie. I felt that the North Korean people would ask us what we did while they were starving to death. We are doing nothing although North Koreans’ survival depends upon a bowl of porridge. I strongly make an appeal to the South Korean government and international community for humanitarian aid to support North Koreans who are undergoing another harsh winter.

In Hoeryong, 10 Days Food Rations is Like Having “A New Life”
Three off-days were given as a holiday to commemorate Kim Jung-Un’s birthday, the chairman of the Party’s Central Military Commission. But the leave was cancelled on January 8th, which was his actual birthday. Kim Jung-Un didn’t even take one day off, saying, “how can I celebrate my birthday while we’re mourning for the Supreme Leader’s death?” Instead, food rations were distributed for 10 days beginning Thursday, January 5th in Hoeryong City, North Hamgyeong Province. The mixture ratio of rice to corn in the food ration was 1 to 9, which was scanty. It compared unfavourably to the 5-5 or 3-7 ratios in prior years. Yet it was still a good fortune to have anything. A woman that we met, a mother of a child, said that this was like having “a new life”. She was just so thankful for getting rice and corn regardless of the mixture ratio. This was the first food distribution since 2 Kilograms of rice were distributed on November 13, 2011. She said she still remembers that day with gratitude and described it in detail.

On that November morning, farm workers were heading to the farm management office in order to receive rice rations that were made available from either the Chinese or another foreign aid. People made so many excuses to stay away from mandatory farm mobilization during the harvest season, but it was different that morning. The courtyard was filled with people. It was even a Sunday. The farm police officer, the security agent, the secretary of Divisional Party, and the management committee were seated precariously on wooden chairs. People stepped forward as their names were called by the farm manager and received 2 kilograms of rice after all paperwork was completed.

Half of the rice administered by the central government is sent to the People’s army, and some of the remaining quantity is for coalmines, power plant construction sites and other locations; therefore, only about 2kg of rice is distributed to each household. Whilst the distribution of rice was processed, a strange person who looked like an official disappeared to the downtown area with 10 bags of rice after having short conversation with four other officials. A neighbor called Myunghak suspected that the rice was being sent to another Special Labor Brigade, but no one responded to it and Myunghak did not intend to search for any answers.

“There are no symbols or lettering on the surface of the rice bag. Who was generous enough to send this rice? Those who sent this rice could not possibly imagine how much a 2kg bag of rice means to those of us living on corn porridge. If we trade the rice and corn, our four family members can eat corn rice instead of one or two meals of corn porridge. Rice costs 2,500 won/kg, and corn is 750 won/kg, so we could get 6-7kg of corn for selling rice. Half of the rice could also be for with corn, and the rest for fuel firewood”. Chulee is a mother who is busy thinking about a better deal she could get by leveraging this ration.

Finally, after she came back with rice, she cooked a porridge using a handful of rice with water and wanted to fill her stomach with porridge. She seasoned the porridge with a spoonful of Chinese seasoning. Rice porridge is nothing like corn porridge. Even one spoonful tastes so much better and it sets her up for a more effective day. The whole family was overjoyed by one bowl of rice porridge, and Mother Chulee couldn’t contain her joy saying, “Rice contains many kinds of essential nutrition that is necessary for body and can keep us from malnutrition”. However, the joy lasted for a brief moment, and she also had to think about the next day’s meal. “We have this rice today but how about tomorrow? Tomorrow is tomorrow, live or die, that’s all. We have survived with corn porridge so far, and so this seemed like a dream for her family that they would receive rive distribution ay state price for 10 days, regardless whether the rations are rice and corn.

Nationwide Rally of Loyalty
Workplaces, businesses, and neighbourhood units across the country held rallies to show their allegiance toward the newly appointed Supreme Commander Kim Jong Un. Everyone chanted and expressed their determination to “turn grief into strength and courage and pave the way for the Juche Revolution.” It has been decided that the border will undergo a period of tightened security until January 10th. Each guard post stationed at the mountain peaks will use a telescope to conduct searches on populated streets and monitor the residents who climb the mountains to look for firewood. Searches will be more thorough for visitors of the area. The tightened security is expected to loosen up only after the Lunar New Year. Supplies from China have not been able to get to their destinations because the border customs have shut down due to Kim Jong Il’s death. The Chinese government, in view of Kim’s mourning period, extended the docket warrant expiration until the end of January.

At the Beginning of This Year, Many Homes up for Sale
The year started with a surge in houses put up for sale. Those who were barely able to afford to buy homes before the currency reform now seek to raise start-up capital by selling their houses.

The sales prices of decent single-family houses range from 5 million won to 15 million won, which is equivalent to 2 million yuan and 3,000 US dollars. Since it is too large a sum for most people, homeowners have difficulty finding potential buyers. Only the wealthiest people and rich officials, who can afford multiple houses, are running around for a best deal.

Lee Myongsuk from Chungjin, North Hamgyong Province bought her single-family house for 1.5 million won in 1997 with 40 thousands yuan of financial support from relatives in Yanji, China, and 500 thousand won from selling the house she had lived in previously. It has a small vegetable garden and an outhouse. She had been doing fine with the house until the 2009 currency reform, when the national economy collapsed. She failed to find anyone interested in buying the house she recently put up for sale for 5 million won.

Last year, she ran a business selling to retailers all types of Chinese goods coming out of Rajin- Sunbong—cigarettes, home electronics, and other consumer goods—with help from relatives in China. The business was not good enough to bring her back to the level of economic stability she had enjoyed before. While she is planning to revive her career by opening a used clothing store with the money from selling her house, she is still worried by the slim prospect of finding a buyer.

Officials in Pyongyang Use Bank Cards Instead of Foreign Currencies
The new nationwide prohibition of the use of foreign currency now allows only foreigners in Pyongyang to use foreign currencies. Thus far, the prohibition has had limited impact on Pyongyang officials’ use of services that only accept foreign currencies. These officials replaced the actual foreign currencies with a bank issued money card. This card could be issued to anyone who deposited a minimum of $1,000 US dollars in a bank.

A Central Party official said that some of the party's officials were relieved by the minimal impact on their daily spending by using the bank cards. It is a different story, however, when foreign trades are considered. Therefore, the relief felt by the officials was too immature. The use of the bank issued money cards could create obstacles in trades with China. These obstacles would have more profound effects in local markets compared to those in Pyongyang. Even with the adaptation of the bank cards in local markets, trading Chinese goods in those markets might not be as easy as it could have been with foreign currencies on hand. The Central Party official continued to point out that, making the matter worse, the banking system in North Korea has been known for frustrating citizens when it came to customer satisfaction. He predicted that all these obstacles could end up putting more and more pressure on local governments’ capability in securing local finance. Some other local government officials shared the similar opinion as this Central Party official.

According to an official in Sinuiju, not using foreign currency as it faces the loss of the value of North Korean currency would make purchasing Chinese goods very difficult. He stated that the people would be dead if the government could not provide goods and/ or food to them. This would be the same even for people who had foreign currencies on hand, just as much as for the poor. People can’t purchase goods if they are not available. A surplus in importing goods and/ or food from China would lower prices for imports. However, the lowered prices and surplus of Chinese goods might not happen if the prohibition were enforced at all levels. The official worried over the negative relationship between livelihoods of people and the prohibition, which would worsen upon the lack of supply of essential living necessities.

An official from Hyesan, Ryanggang Province said that he did not believe that the government would enforce the prohibition on Chinese currency without a through prior preparation. North Korea has relied heavily on China since the Arduous March, and most of North Korea’s overseas representatives are located in China. According to him, the prohibition could cause more apprehension among North Koreans than the one from the currency reform. This was why he was shocked when the prohibition was carried on. He could not believe the government was so numb to all these situations. Trading officers in China voiced the same opinion about the prohibition; it would peter out sooner than what happened with the currency reform.

At the same time, Safety Bureaus had been conducting a nationwide raid on people who used foreign currencies such as US dollars at stores or in markets. The officers from the bureaus focused on finding sources of foreign currencies after confiscating the foreign money. Under the intensified enforcement, people who are just asking around for exchange rates would be considered disloyal people. It was therefore difficult to ask about exchange rates, since the person could be reported to a local Safety Bureau or be mistaken an undercover Safety Bureau officer trying to identify locals using foreign currencies. Consequently, people put up their guard against others asking for exchange rates. There was also a rumour among North Koreans regarding the prohibition. It was said, "on December 14, 2011, the General Kim Jung-il left an order on his will about the prohibition of foreign currency use. To follow his will, the government is trying to circulate NK won (exchange vouchers) instead of Yuan (Renminbi) or US dollars.”

“Giving Up the Pride of a Teacher, and Losing Face As Well”
Jang Soo-myung (alias) is a 3rd grade teacher at the People’s School, in Haesan City, Ryanggang Province. The People’s School is 4 years old, and students must acquire their own uniforms and school supplies. The middle school is 5 years old and the student also must provide for everything. Winter heating is the same; during school days, each student is assigned daily to bring some coal or wood from their home to the school. One might think that students have a vacation during winter, but, in fact, they don’t. Winter vacation of the People’s School is from December through February 16th, and from December through mid-January at the middle school. [After the winter vacation] each student is required to bring 3 buckets of “Heuk-bo-san” composts (human feces) per student when schools reopen. This is not as easy as it sounds since people or animals need to eat something to produce waste; so, students and their parents worry more and more about this as the school reopening date approaches.

In the past, while the great leader was alive, each classroom was full of students and school grounds were filled with children playing, chatting, and full of laughing sounds during recess hours. Then, many things changed during the Arduous March period [in late 1990’s].

First of all, the child population sharply decreased.

Not only is it hard for young people to get married, but many couples hardly want to have their own children because they think they can live a better life without a child. They do not want to come across more trouble by having a child, since adding one more mouth to feed in their family makes their life tougher. Even if they have a baby, raising a baby is difficult and raising a healthy baby in a stable setting is more difficult. Babies’ legs become scrawny, rachitic, O-shaped bowed legs due to malnutrition if the parents cannot provide for the child. Giving birth to a healthy baby is but a wish in parents’ hearts. The Party continues to say that people should be giving birth to healthy babies and raising them well, and then sending them to the People’s Army; however that is not realistic in such a dire situation in which individuals can scarcely feed themselves. By the time most children are 17 years old, which is when they join the army, they are shorter than 150cm in height, and below 45Kg in weight on the average.

The lower grades have fewer students. The children, whose families are so poor that they do not even have enough money to buy a corn and rice mix, do not go to school and instead work in small patches of farm land or in markets in order to help their parents. The Kkotjebis [young homeless children] roam in the markets or train stations, and there are many children who left their homes long ago; there is now no way of contacting them in order to find out where and how they are surviving. Some may have gone to China, drowned in the Yalu, or been shot to death by border patrols. Nobody knows.

The number of students is dwindling more and more, and working as a teacher is also becoming harder and harder. Jang used to make money by secretly teaching the children of rich families how to play the accordion, but Jang lost the tutoring job as the children lost their interest in the accordion. Jang started collecting kindling with a 10 years old son, but the long trip to and fro in the cold winter cannot be easy. Despite losing the job as a teacher long time ago, Jang is still looking for tutoring jobs at any opportunity. The delightful study room full of laughter, playing the accordion with the students in the classroom has become a distant memory.

Concerns About Childcare Problems Among Wealthy Pyongyang Mothers
Since it is a trend for North Korean women to get married at a later age, mothers with babies are, for the most part, in their thirties. They have little interest in marrying in their twenties because they are busy taking care of their own families; so many women end up getting married in their thirties. Their main concern is childcare. Women have no option but to earn money on the side because their husbands’ monthly wage is not sufficient to provide for the family , but there is nowhere they can leave their children with confidence. Previously, when parents gave birth to a child, they would leave their children in day-care. After the food crisis, however, the children were not properly fed and many times would come back with illnesses, so mothers would instead try to bring their children with them. Also, since many women are engaged in trading in markets, their primary interest is to find reliable goods in amongst the infant products sold in the market. Young mothers want to raise their children well, no matter how bad their situation, so they want to avoid anything that will adversely affect their children’s health, rather than simply buying a product because it is from China.

Whereas young mothers in the provinces raise their children by trudging through tough lives, well-off mothers in their thirties who live in Pyongyang can focus on childcare with relative ease. Wealthy households in Pyongyang sometimes purchase dolls that are displayed in state-run stores, and some of them are of famous character brands such as Mashimaro or Hello Kitty. Ms. Han Mi-kyung (alias), who is thirty-two years old this year, says that her five-year old daughter desperately wanted a cuddly rabbit, and Ms. Han remembered that her father had also brought her a doll as a gift when he came back home from a foreign country when she was a child, so she just made up her mind to buy one for her. However, Ms. Han had to think hard before buying a simple doll because her husband did not have a stable income. Ms. Han’s wish is for her husband to establish himself as soon as possible so that her domestic economy might stabilize to such an extent that they can achieve financial independence from her parents. By implication, this is to say that she is still receiving financial support from her parents.

Seo Eun-young (alias), who is employed at a hotel, is a mother of a four-year old child, and she speaks about the difficulties of providing her child with food as the child grows up rapidly. Ms. Seo also receives parental support; she says, “If there is no support from the parents, it is difficult to maintain our livelihoods, and to sustain the family. The reality these days is such that if the parents are poor, their children will also be poor.”

Most young women in Pyongyang in their thirties receive support from their parents or husband’s parents. In other words, their parents have some secret sources of funds to make payments even though their husbands do not have a stable enough income because they are young and do not hold a high position. "As for young husbands who are successful, even if they have an extra-marital relationship with one or two women, their spouses cannot openly express their jealousy because they may not receive living expenses from their parents anymore if they are thrown out of their homes. Even if their hearts bear such a burden, they can only speak ill of it behind their husbands backs, and they are forced to behave like good wives and wise mothers on the outside. That is our reality as women in our thirties in Pyongyang,” says Ms. Seo with bitterness.

North Korea Today No. 437 January 11, 2012

North Korea Today No. 436 January 4, 2012

[“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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Year 2012, Let us be the Hope for North Korean Citizens! A Day in the Life of a Laborer, Ho-suk, who Takes Care of His Little Daughter and Old Mother
A Day in the Life of a Mine Worker, Jung-hak
Story of Hyun-sook, who Sells Firewood to SurviveA day in the Life of Firewood Seller, Jung-ok’s MotherSecond Grader Eunsil’s Typical Day
A Day in the Life of an Old Farmer, Mr. Kim
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Year 2012, we should be the hope for North Korean citizens!
There are people in North Korea who leave their homes in the darkness of early morning. They have to leave home very early so that they can bring water, firewood, and charcoal. If they are able to bring a bundle of firewood against the cold winter weather, they can afford to get corn porridge for their family. That is why they cannot even consider taking a break unless they are suffering from some fatal disease. Although the supreme leader who had the absolute power died and the New Year has come, their lives are still the same. They start their days with concerns about whether they will have anything to eat, and end their days with concerns for the next day’s food. They endure all this like a selfless mother who sacrifices herself to feed her children even if she stays hungry.

To commemorate this first issue of the New Year, we have featured the everyday lives of several North Korean citizens. We can have a look at the cross-section of North Korean people’s lives through observing how they survive the winter months in a situation where there is no work to do at the farm as well as in the factories because they are not in operation.

The new year of 2012 has dawned. Nobody can know how turbulent the international politics surrounding the Korean Peninsula and the relationship between the two Koreas will be. However, one thing is clear – we have the capability to bring hopes to the North Korean people. We can provide food for those who live a life of hand-to-mouth existence through humanitarian assistance, and we can provide farm machinery and fertilizer for them to revive agriculture. Furthermore, we can revitalize the economy through economic collaboration between the South and the North. Could there be a greater pleasure if we can be a hope for someone? Let’s make 2012 the year which brings hope and happiness for all people in South and North Korea. The peaceful unification is not far from us. Doesn’t your heart overflow with joy even at the thought of it?

A Day In the Life of a Laborer, Ho-suk, who Takes Care of His Little Daughter and Old Mother
Ho-suk woke up at 5:00 a.m. and first went to riverside, which is 300 meters away from his house, to get water. It was a freezing early morning and still dark. As he arrived there, after 20 minutes of groping his way in the dark, other people were already there to get water as well. Ho-suk filled the container with water scooped from the river by standing on the frozen riverbank, but his hands were already numbed with cold and hard to move freely. He came up to the embankment with two water-filled containers in mitten-covered hands, then stumbled and spilt almost half of the water. He walked in hurry to get home with shaking body- it took about an hour for him to return home.

His old mother and young daughter were still sleeping curled up. The only thing covering their two thin bodies was a ragged comforter. He put his comforter on top of it, but the heavy and crude comforter did not look warm, only desolate. He hastily started fire with dried leaves and twigs in the kitchen, and then prepared meal with two bowls of corn powder and shredded Napa cabbages in a caldron. There was no electricity, no water, only a harsh existence persists.

Ho-suk’s wife left the family one summer night in 2007 without saying anything. It has been 4 years of no contact from her. He guessed she went to China and there is no way to get in touch with her. The day breaks at around 7:00 a.m. and his old mother and daughter woke up. He went to work hurriedly after having a bowl of corn porridge for breakfast. His mother sells kindles in a market after washing dishes. His daughter should watch the house all day because she does not go to school. At 8:00 a.m., he signed his name on the company attendance report and came home. He climbed the mountain, which is in front of his house, with a tool to collect kindle that would be sold in a market. The livelihood of family of three relies on this.
To arrive on the mountain ridge on foot took almost 2 hours. Collecting kindle is not easy because too many people do it for their living as well. Moreover, they should try not to collect thicker trees because of the forest guards. It took a half day to fill a bag with small pieces of chopped wood. His body was shaking and he was so hungry. He carried the bundle of kindle on his back with a support of a short stick, got home by taking 5 breaks on the way back home. He arrived at home around 4:00 PM. His mother and daughter helped him to unload the bundle from his back. After having a scanty meal, a bowl of corn porridge that was a leftover from the morning, he fell asleep as soon as he lay down on the bed. His mother did not ask him questions, since her son was sleeping deeply, such as how much kindle he has sold, or if he has prepared food for tomorrow. The daughter and mother, who has finished washing dishes got into the bed together and fell asleep soon. In that cold room, without any touch of warmth, another day was passing by.

A Day in the Life of a Mine Worker, Jung-hak
Jung-hak, a mine worker, wakes up around 6 a.m. Because it’s so early, the sky is still grey and the cold biting. He slates his hunger with a bowl of corn rice that his wife cooked for him; he drowns the corn rice into a bowl of warm water mixed with Chinese-made flavor enhancer before gulping it all down. He calls over his neighbor, Young-sam, and leaves home together at 6:30 a.m. When he arrives at the entrance to the mine at 7 a.m., his friend Chul-ho is already there.

In return for being allowed to work here, they have to take their chances working in a closed mine. They enter the mine and arrive at the work space soon enough. They don’t need any lights to see their way since they know the path by heart. There is always the danger of cave in since all the wooden support has been ripped out for firewood. Nevertheless, they don’t have any safeguards to protect them from things dropping on their heads here and there.

Their job is to dig a side tunnel along the main walls to mine the layer of coal that’s about as deep as a hand is wide. They are lucky today. From the look of things, they should be able to salvage about 5 A-frame’s worth of coal if they can get everything out that they see. But after working by a dim candlelight to dig enough coal for one A-frame, it’s already lunch time. Lunch is two pieces of corn cake. Then it’s back to work again. It’s around 3 p.m. when they manage to drag to the entrance what they dug for the day. It’s about 300 kg, good enough for a day’s work.

Dead tired, the three friends divide up the load on their backs and head home. Usually, their wives and children would meet them to help them take the coal directly to the market, but they were told not to come today on account of the bitter cold. The coals are often too heavy for a woman to lift anyway. But when Jung-hak’s wife sees the coal that her husband brought in, she quickly loads up the hand cart and heads for the market. The cold weather would increase the demand for the coal. They usually go for around 6~7,000 NKW per one basket. For the bigger merchants, one ton of coal go for 90,000~100,000 NKW. One pocketful of firewood goes for 2,500~3,000 NKW, while one large cart’s worth sells around 35,000 to 36,000 NKW. It’s because of the coal that allows Jung-hak’s family to subsist on corn. As such, Jung-hak will be dragging his tired body to the mine again tomorrow morning.

Story of Hyun-sook, Who Sells Firewood to Survive
When Hyun-sook, a worker in a collective farm, wakes up at 6 a.m., she hurriedly starts making gruel of corn and two pieces of dried cabbage leaves. She used to use a Chinese-made flavor enhancer to spruce up the flavor, but it ran out. Since then, she uses common salt instead. She quickly gulps down one bowl of the gruel before washing up and leaving home to breaking dawn. She unlocks the pad lock to the storage shed and takes out the hand cart. She moves the piles of fire wood that her husband brought back yesterday onto the cart and ties them down with rope. She needs to push the cart for about two hours to arrive at the town, trying to ignore the spasms in her belly. She’s hungry and cold by the time she arrives at the square in front of the railroad station. She’s able to sell the fire wood by the middle of the day. With the money, she buys a few kilograms of corn. Hungry and cold, since she went without lunch, Hyun-sook visits a relative’s house. They don’t have any food either, but, at least, they have a warm spot on the floor where she can warm herself. After warming herself, she heads back home with the cart. When she arrives, it’s already dark. She goes immediately to the kitchen thinking of the family who’s waiting for her to come back home with the corn. She somehow manages to make corn gruel in the dark kitchen and feeds her family. Afterwards, she lays herself down in the dark room without electricity, but cannot get to sleep for worry about tomorrow. When she got married seven years ago, they had hopes for a brighter future, promising each other that they would work hard. But they are still worrying about where the next meal’s going to come from. She had gotten pregnant several times, but had abortions without telling her husband. Her head’s filled with the thought when she would finally be able to not worry about food, so much so that she can’t even bear to be next her husband who’s seemingly sleeping so soundly.

A day in the Life of Firewood Seller, Jung-ok’s Mother
Jung-ok’s mom, a twenty eight year old lady has lived alone since her husband and a daughter (Jung-ok) died three years ago. She makes a living by selling firewood. In order to buy firewood from rural woodcutters, she usually goes to a station square at five in the morning. If she sells firewood in a local market, she makes only a small profit, from 1,000 to 2,000 NKW at most.

It is a lucky day today for her because she met a good seller and got eight bundles of firewood without a sticky price negotiation. If she sells out of this firewood, she could earn a 1,500 NKW at least. She displays the firewood well on the pushcart and sits at a good location near the market entrance. When she looks around to search for customers, she notices that no one walks with a calm and composed posture. More than half the people walk like they are running. From their crouching posture and busy walk, she could feel the weight of their hard lives.

At last after one hour of waiting, a man approaches to buy firewood. His worn-out pants and shoes show at a glance that he is a person skipping his meals frequently. His black sooty face seems like he has not washed in over a month. His eyes are without focus as well. As Jung-ok’s mom sells firewood to him, she thinks that he needs to eat corn porridge first rather than buying firewood.

She also wants to have some corn porridge. It is natural to feel hungry because she skipped breakfast. A cold wind searched her ragged collar. Her husband’s old winter jacket, army-colored summer pants and sweater and thin underwear are the only clothes protecting her from the cold wind. Around her neck and face, she wrapped a Russian-thread woven muffler, a wedding gift from her mother, in hopes that it can help her keep warmer. However, she still trembles like a leaf before a strong, icy wind.

Around 11 o'clock, she bought a corn-flour cake and a frozen radish to satisfy her hunger. She had her hopes up in the morning, but the business was not going as well as expected. She sold only seven bags. After paying the cost, she netted 1,200 NKW. However, one bag of firewood remained and she would not have to worry about firewood for the next several days.

It was almost 5 p.m. when she got back home. She put a bunch of corn noodles in the water for soaking and chopped up the left-over radish from lunch. She added some condiments to the water and when the water boiled, she put the noodles in and that would be her dinner. The water did not boil for some time because the firewood was a little bit wet.

If her husband were home, he would have started the fire while he was waiting for her, and the thought made her sad. Her husband was working as a Combat Worker to earn foreign exchange but was injured seriously on the job, then died without much medical treatment.

Not even two weeks after her husband's passing, her two-year old daughter had high fever, vomiting, and diarrhea. She brought her to a hospital but her daughter died without receiving a drop of medication. It made her sad that she had sent her husband and daughter to the other world, and yet she was eking out a living by buying firewood then reselling it day after day. She still preferred when people called her "Jung-ok’s mom" rather than her own name, Lee Geum-soon because she can pretend her husband and daughter were still around.

The water was not hot enough but she cooked the noodles anyway and ate a bowl of not-fully-cooked noodles. It was completely dark now. She was drained and her joints ached. She threw her body down on the floor without taking her cloths off or without washing her face. Even when she was falling asleep, her last thought was to hope that business would be better tomorrow.

Second Grader Eunsil’s Typical Day
Eunsil is a second grade student. At six in the morning, she gets up before her mother wakes her up. She eats steamed corn meal her mother prepared, washes her face, packs, and goes to school. When she arrives at school at 7 a.m., first thing she does is clean with a broom and a cloth. In cold weather like today, they don’t go out to clean the playground but roughly sweep the hallways. Due to a water outage, the desks, chairs, and windows are wiped with a dry cloth.

The class starts at 7:30 am. 14 students are absent today. 12 of them caught a cold and one has a broken leg. And the other one’s mother passed away from an illness yesterday. With half of the class absent, the unheated classroom feels emptier and colder in the harsh winter day. The teacher seems to give oral instruction mostly and use the blackboard rarely in order to keep the hands warm in the pockets. You can hear the sound the children make blowing into their hands to warm themselves.

Lunch time is at noon. There are a few kids who brought lunch. Some chew grilled corn kernels from their pocket. Others eat pieces of a corn bread they brought. More than half of the students are either just staying calm in their seats or stooping over their cold desks quietly. Only some students whose father is a security agent, a police officer, or a party official gather and have a proper meal in one side of the classroom.

They do not have class in the afternoon. All students in school go out to clean the village. They are not even wearing many layers of clothes in the temperature of -18°C (-0.4°F), which makes it difficult to actually do anything other than jump up and down and blow on their hands to keep them warm. Too hungry and cold, the kids do not even chat among themselves. The “cleaning” does not conclude until 4 p.m., when the students return to school where the classrooms are dark now due to power outage. The students end up being dismissed from school.

Around 5 p.m., Eunsil arrives at her dark house. She cleans the house alone and warms the corn noodles that her mother made, who is still working at a market. It is completely dark outside. She waits for her mother shivering with cold. By the time she finishes her dinner and washes dishes with her mother, it is almost 8 p.m. There is neither power for light nor oil for lamplight, and Eunsil does not feel like doing homework or anything. She tries to sleep warming herself in her mother’s arms. While her tired mother falls into a deep sleep right away, Eunsil can’t sleep because she still feels hungry. Finally, Eunsil slowly falls asleep while wondering what she can eat the next morning.

A Day in the Life of an Old Farmer, Mr. Kim
Mr. Kim rises at 6 a.m. It has already been several days since he last enjoyed electricity. He has to feel his way in the dark to his kitchen and light a candle. He lives deep in the countryside, and finding wood to burn is not difficult if he is diligent. He makes breakfast, placing two bowls of corn-rice that he had boiled in advance the night before on the table. His side dish is a mountain rabbit that he caught in the hills the day before. There is no oil or soy sauce or spices of any kind. He simply boils it in water, cuts it into pieces and dips it into salt before eating it. He boils the rabbit, and dips his rice into the remaining soup. To him, it feels like a special holiday because it has been such a long time since he has tasted meat. Both his son and his son’s wife have gone off to earn money, but he has received no news about where they are. His grandson, who is turning nine this year, awakens at the appetizing smell of rabbit meat soup cooking. He hurries over without even washing, finds a spoon and waits eagerly for his share of the soup. Mr. Kim spoons corn-rice in a bowl, takes out the boiled rabbit and cuts it up before putting it on the table. At this, his grandson uses his bare hands to place it in his mouth. Having been unable to eat meet for the past month, he wolfs down one rabbit in a flash. Mr. Kim is left with a rabbit head without much meat on it and a single rib. Mr. Kim lets out a laugh, however, and dips his rice into the rabbit soup before eating it. He thinks about his wife who died last fall. His wife had headed to the mountains one day in search for acorns for food, but was killed when she fell down the mountain after being attacked by a wild boar. She had loved eating mountain rabbit, and when she was alive it had always been so difficult to catch even one. However, now, Mr. Kim tearfully thinks, he has caught a rabbit, but his wife is not here to share it with him.
After finishing breakfast, Mr. Kim heads to work at the farm. A number of farmers appear at the sound of the farm manager’s whistle. A lot of people have not come work complaining of headaches or stomachaches. The farmers first stop by the guard house to check-in, and have followed the manager’s instructions and picked up farm equipments, but because of the cold weather, they all stand around complaining to each other with their hands cupped together. No work can be done in these conditions. Just under half an hour later, the farmers return to the guard house and are able to warm their hands, feet and ears near the kitchen stove. Some of them roll small bits of newspaper together to form cigarettes and smoke while making conversation with those around them. By 12:00 noon, they all return to their homes. Just over an hour later, Mr. Kim has made a quick lunch and cleaned his house. He lays his grandson near the stove where some heat remains and then covers him completely with an old blanket. Mr. Kim then puts on two sewn-together socks and army boots and heads quickly into the mountains. He has to check whether he has caught anything in his rabbit traps that he laid some time ago. He has to check his traps regularly because if anything has been caught it is a race against time to fetch it before another animal or hunter gets to it first. He goes around checking his traps for almost three hours, but none of them has caught anything. On his way home he picks up a couple pieces of dry firewood and wraps them in string before placing them on his back to take home. When he passes the vegetable garden of the farm, he picks up five stalks of corn in the snow-covered corn field and places them on the firewood. With that, he has found enough to eat for tomorrow. By the time he reaches home at 5 p.m., it is pitch dark.

North Korea Today No. 435 December 28, 2011

[“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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Rice, Water, and Fuel for North Koreans
This Winter, “Rice, Water, and Fuel” in Urgent Need
Hoeryong’s Rice Crop Decreases From Last Year’s
Rice Harvest in Hoeryong Dropped from Last Year
Hoeryong Needs Foreign Support
Deportation Order for Defectors’ Families in Border Areas
Shinyang County Factories Are All Left Idle
Central Party, “Factories Should Not Expect Help from Above
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Rice, Water and Fuel for North Koreans
North Koreans are in urgent need of food, safe drinking water and fuel for heating. Their poor living conditions get worse in the winter. Clean water becomes scarce when the rivers freeze up, and the same goes for food and fuel. A common cold can develop into a serious illness due to lack of medicine. People freeze to death in homes with inadequate heating systems. These deaths went unheeded during the period of mourning for last Kim Jong Il. While the international community is preoccupied with the death of Kim Jong Il, those truly in need of attention are the nameless North Korean citizens who are struggling to survive. The newly appointed leaders are far too busy attending the national mourning, and their capabilities to take care of their citizens are questionable. South Korea, however, has the capacity to save the lives of North Koreans. The South Korean government should take an altruistic stance toward North Korean people and provide them with clean water, food, and adequate fuel. We hope the international community would offer a helping hand as well to the suffering North Koreans and actively engage in humanitarian aid programs in the near future.

This Winter, “Rice, Water, and Fuel” in Urgent Need
North Koreans are literally struggling to survive this harsh winter. There is no clean water supply because water pipes are frozen. Even rivers are frozen, making it impossible to get fresh water. Although people try to get water from the ice, they do not have any fuel to melt it. No electricity has been supplied for more than a month except the capital city of Pyongyang. Some households in Pyongyang use coal for heating, but people in other places have to look for firewood or dry grass left in the field. People without water and fuel rarely have food. If they do, it is corn, and they are fortunate to have some. People who did some small plot farming are relatively better off since they have a bit of food savings. However, people living day by day doing small businesses never know if they can eat today or not.

Mr. Lee Gil-Nam (Alias), a merchant dealing second-handed bicycles shuttling between Wonsan and Hamheung City, South Hamgyong Province, said “Since the Arduous March, North Korean people have learned to survive independently, and more importantly, have taken responsibility for themselves. However, not even one of the three items (rice, water and fuel) has been fully supplied over the past 15 years. What has the Party done for the people when we are trying so hard to survive? We are no longer expecting anything from the Party. I wish the Party would leave us alone to take care of ourselves.” He complained indirectly about the Party’s control over the people.

A Party official of Hamheung City also described that “In the area of the Seongcheon River, they found a frozen dead body of an old man. He died from cold, thirst and hunger while living alone in an empty apartment on the fifth floor. The head of the Neighborhood Unit found him by chance. I am very concerned not only that many people might die from cold this winder but also an epidemic might occur due to malnutrition and lack of proper hygienic care.” He expressed his frustration as well on the limited freedom to the local Party officials. As the local Party was told not to ask the Central Party for help, the local government tries to start working on their own. But then the Central Party launches investigations on local officials behind them. Local officials are too intimidated to do anything. They cannot even publicly report how many people have died from hunger and cold, because it will work against them at the performance evaluation of the local government, and the local party will be blamed for that. The City Party official sincerely appealed for humanitarian help saying in tears, “People in Hamheung City urgently need rice, water and fuel. I will be extremely grateful if anyone helps us now.”

Rice Harvest in Hoeryong Dropped from Last Year
This year’s crop for Hoeryong City in North Hamgyong Province is reported to be below five tons per 1 jungbo (2.45 acres) at best. Three to four tons per jungbo is common, and even the maximum amount failed to go over five tons. The amount of crop is estimated to have decreased by ten percent from last year’s. Other agricultural regions in North Hamgyong Province have begun end-of-year evaluations of their harvests as well. In plantations of Hoeryong, the maximum amount of pay that a worker has gotten is 450,000 won, with average workers receiving around 150,000 won. Before the currency revaluation, workers were paid sometimes as much as 700,000 to 800,000 won; despite the rising price level, workers are receiving even less than they used to. Workers who had excused absences from The Province Farm Management Committee only receive 60 percent of the minimum wage, which is usually less than 100,000 won.

The amount of ration the workers’ wives get is half of what their husbands get. Each worker’s ration is supposedly 700g of grain, 50-50 between rice and corn. Of course, the ratio is not exact. A daily ration for an eight-year old child is 300g, but it is impossible to get the full amount due to nontax payments. As of now, male farmers all across North Hamgyong Province are busy collecting manure and spreading them on the fields in preparation for the New Year, and female workers are weaving straw bags.

Hoeryung Needs Foreign Support
A farm worker in Hoeryung city expressed disappointment at this year’s crop, even after using more fertilizer than before. He said, “We normally use government-supplied fertilizer, and when we run short of it as well as pesticide, we buy them at the market. I am pretty sure that we used more fertilizer than in any other year. However, the crop still did not turn out well, and I am very discouraged. Farms own 15 to 20 cows, and one work unit has one agricultural tractor. Cows are raised by households and not by work units as before because they are better taken care of in that way. This method was quite effective, and we have not seen cows die of diseases or get weak in recent years. Cows are usually mobilized for farm work, and if they are not occupied, they are rented out to individuals at a fee. This year, we did not have bad conditions for farming, but the climate was too bad for the crop. The City Party figures show that the production has dropped by more than 1%. It would be great if we could get some support from foreign countries, but so far we have not seen any food aid from abroad reaching us working in collective farms. We got some medicine and basic necessities. The distribution method was that they put the items on display, and each household picks up whatever they need. For Mother Kim Jong-sook’s birthday, we have recently received 500g of sugar and 500g of soy bean oil. Other than that, we have not received anything. Hoeryung is one of the well-supplied cities as well as Pyongyang, but sea foods are only available to Pyongyang citizens. There is nothing for us. This is our situation, so things must be no better in other places.

Deportation Order for Defectors’ Families in Border Areas
The deportation of the defectors’ families in the national border area is in progress since November 25 of last year. Each household is investigated of its incomes and expenses, and those that have abnormally high expenses or who have a missing person within the family are the primary target of investigation. Households with a history of crossing the river over to China, being caught for using a mobile phone or being suspected of defection, as well as even those with a history of transacting South Korean commodities are also investigated. Among these, a few households suspected to be defector’s family have been selected as examples and deported to the remote countryside far away from the border area.

The new leadership reaffirms its strong will to completely eradicate the disloyal reactionary forces in the border area, but the affected residents are complaining that it is too much. Jung Eun-hyang (alias), who lives in Hyesan City of Ryanggang Province, says the following: “The families who do not have anything to eat cross the border towards Changbaek, China, in broad daylight. They are in desperate circumstances and they feel that they have no alternatives, even though they might get shot to death. Among those who are deported to the remote countryside, it seems that only a small number of them are the actual families of defectors. Anyone who is able to pay one million NK won can escape from the ordeal, even if they are in fact the families of defectors. Most of the defector’s families get away with it because their family member in the region below (South Korea) sends them money. If they happened to be the unlucky draw for a show case, they suffer a major blow, but otherwise, they can cover up themselves by offering bribe.”

An officer from the security authorities also says, “My understanding is when a defector’s family is caught, they slip money into the security officers’ pockets to ask for lowering the severity of the case. Then the officers lower the severity by treating it as a simple border-crossing or a peddling with Chinese traders. These days, cases have been suddenly increased in which the security officers are offering a deal by asking for a bribe beforehand. Even though a substantial number of security officers were replaced, the atmosphere is just like how the previous officers were doing the work.” In other words, there used to be some reform movement once among the security officers including the Border Patrols after the investigation by the “Storm Trooper Units”, but the deportation order surreptitiously created an atmosphere to overtly ask for bribes again. The problem is, that every resident in the border area, regardless of whether they are a defector’s family or not, is harassed by the excessive regulation from the authorities. The residents who are already having the most difficult days due to the severe cold and hunger suffer so much because of the regulation from the authorities. If the new leadership repeatedly asserts the control of the border area, it seems that the residents’ lives in this area will become even more exhausted.

Shinyang County Factories Are All Left Idle
It has been reported that none of the Shinyang County local industry factories are in operation. Two years ago the factories have been criticized by the Central Party for not having any outcomes during the consecutive 150-day combat and 100-day combat.

An official who inspected Shinyang County during that time said, "I visited the Shinyang Food Factory which plays a vital role in the food production for the people in the county. Although the building looked impressive, the equipments were not installed and even the partial production process on the corner of the factory was not in proper operation .When I asked the workers in the factory they all said in unison that it would take a long time until people can benefit from the factory even though the construction had started several years ago. The situation in the paper mill right next door was not much different. The condition of the building was so poor that it looked like a wrecked storage. Walking around inside was difficult because of various garbage littered around. I ran into the manager comrade at the factory and asked about the production power. He answered that they could not produce anything properly due to power shortage, and therefore they were unable to carry out their paper and notebook production plans. I remember his lamentable tone, while I was looking around the production facilities with him, telling me that the power required to produce paper is at least 200kw, but the actual power provided by the government is only a few watts, making it impossible to produce paper no matter how hard they try." He had a chance to visit the factory two years later. The situation was the same as before, and he was told that the power condition got even worse.

“It makes sense that they cannot produce anything due to power shortage. Use of inefficient facilities inevitably leads to higher consumption of power, which results in poor production. Even the small amount of power supply available before has now been cut off, so the workers had to give it all up." He said there was no chance to revive the factories. Moreover, the facilities and the buildings of the factories in Shinyang County were severely damaged by the flood during the summer of 2006. Now, even the facilities in good condition ended up being scrap metal due to lack of proper repair work. The Shinyang Chemical Factory also has stopped operation with its rusty facilities due to bad power supply and lack of material. An official from the Central Party said with regret, "None of the factories in Shinyang County is in normal operation. This is not a problem confined to Shinyang County, and it is very depressing."

Central Party, “Factories Should Not Expect Help from Above”
“In today’s circumstances factories cannot increase production or grow in size if they rely only on the assistance from above.” This is practically the only policy that the Central Party has given to regional factories. Simply put, the government is advocating self-revival. The example of Shinyang County factories being practically all but shut down is a nationwide phenomenon. Even in these conditions the Central Party has found a few model factories and has been advertising them on a large scale. The Central Party has recently lifted up the Pyongseong factory as a model example of self-revival. Recently the Channel 3 broadcast station has advertised, “Pyongseong paper factory had no better conditions than other factories. However, they have mobilized reserves and the employees have a high morale. In the past year they have renewed all their production processes. They set high standards and increased the production of paper and student workbooks. They have invented new products that are in high demand, thus diversifying their production. They have set bold goals that will significantly increase production rates compared to past seasons, and are faithfully devoted to their work.”

The Central Party claims that the officials’ outlook and attitudes are the reasons that Pyongseong paper factory is prospering although it has no better conditions than other factories, thus putting emphasis on ideology. One official of the Central Party says, “The Central Party blames the regional officials for the lack of production in the regional factories. They only criticize the district officials for not being able to manage the few factories in their own district. They say nothing about how they would help the regions. Just like parrots, they simply repeat words like ‘A powerful nation does not come automatically. It is created by our hard work and sweat. All our officials must come to their senses and not wait for someone’s help. They should reform and renovate on their own.’ How will the regional officials be encouraged by words like these? It is no wonder that the regional officials fall into self -seeking ways rather than help the people.” He judges that the Party’s policies have long since reached their limits.