RESEARCH INSTITUTE FOR NORTH KOREAN SOCIETY http://www.goodfriends.or.kr/[email protected] Weekly Newsletter No.379 (Released in Korean on Dec. 1, 2010) [“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.] ___________________________________________________________________________ Party’s Decision to Settle 1,000 Retired Soldiers in Paekam County Unsuccessful Mass Housing Program for Retired Soldiers in Daehongdan County Residents of Daehongdan County Demand Permission for Small Land Patch Farming Poongseo-ri Orphanage Director Praised as a Hero Engaged Exploiting Child Labor Poongseo-ri Orphanage Need Support from the Government “Kim Jong-Eun’s Birthday—A Holiday to be Widely Celebrated” “What is the Use of having a Strong Military When People are Starving?” ___________________________________________________________________________ Party’s Decision to Settle 1,000 Retired Soldiers in Paekam County The Paekam County Local Party, which will accommodate 1,000 newly retired soldiers, is busy constructing new residential developments. The edict came from the Central Party, and Ryangkang Province officials have assigned each local party with the responsibility of constructing a minimum of 10 to 20 buildings. While Province officials have not explicitly voiced their concerns, there is a growing unease concerning how the project will be funded. This situation is comparable to the 1999 measure that ordered the Daehongdan County Local Party to accommodate 1,200 retired soldiers. It began in 1998, when Kim Jong Il, the Chairman of the National Defense Commission, mandated that Daehongdan County officials enlist a group of retired soldiers for potato farming. Under Chairman Kim’s command as well as the instruction of the Ryangkang Province Party Commission, each administrative district, including that of Hyesan City, Paekam County, Samjiyon County, and Samsu County, built 10 to 20 residential buildings. The total number of buildings constructed amounted to 190 for 350 households, with each complex designed for one or two families. In addition to housing, each retired soldier was also provided with food rations, a television, medical supplies, a dishware set, two blankets, bedclothes, formal suits and confectionary products. Other goods, generally unavailable to average citizens, were allocated to the retired soldiers in state-run stores. The Party even ordered that retired soldiers be given priority considerations for managerial and administrative positions. Moreover, officials took the initiative to depict retired soldiers as heroes and promote their eligibility for marriage with urban bachelorettes. Accordingly, in April and May of 1999, two groups of wedding ceremonies were supported and arranged by officials. However, support for these retired soldiers eventually ceased. Although there were announcements that food rationing would resume in the latter half of 2005, the national situation became worse over the next year. Ryangkang Province’s circumstances were particularly severe since citizens of the region relied on potatoes for their main form of sustenance. As a result, the standard of living for these retired soldiers and their families dropped and those who had the ability to leave Daehongdan County did so. The retired soldiers were also afflicted with high divorce rates. One factor explaining the situation was the lifestyle incompatibility between the spouses. Yet, the more critical reason placed blame on the difficulties retired soldiers and their families had to face due to the cessation of food rationing. This issue led to many women pleading with their husbands to agree to divorces. However, their requests were both largely rejected by the husbands and forbidden by the Party. As a consequence, many wives ran away and left their husbands alone to raise two or three children. In light of this failure, local residents are skeptical about the success of the Party’s decision to again relocate a group of retired soldiers in Paekam County. Unsuccessful Mass Housing Program for Retired Soldiers in Daehongdan County In Daehongdan County, residents are worried about the news of a mass housing plan to send more than 1,000 retired soldiers to Paekam County in April next year because they had previously experienced a very hard time from a similar plan. Although it was hard for the retired soldiers who were forced to relocate to Deahongdan County in 1999, the residents in the neighboring areas also suffered from the resettlement. Since the government favored the retired soldiers and treated them much better, residents of Daehongdan County used to say, “We are not human beings. Only those 1,200 retired soldiers are deemed to be human.” Farmers in the collective farms also expressed their frustration, saying, “The government gives food ration only to those 1,200 people. We must not be needed here, so we will not work.” The government’s favoritism paved the road for a conflict between the residents and the retired soldiers. However, the good times for the retired soldiers did not last long. When the country was hit by the food crisis in 2006, and the government’s food rations dwindled, the family of the soldiers had to sell everything they received from the government including dining ware, bed linen and comforters, various household items, and TV sets. As their livelihoods severely deteriorated, many began to steal agricultural crops, pesticides, fertilizers, and other agricultural supplies from the collective farms to sell in the market. If caught, ordinary farmers would be severely punished, but retired soldiers only received light punishments or warnings, which aggravated farmers even more. A collective farm member Kim Haeseong (alias) said, “The retired soldiers are always pardoned by the special order of the Dear Leader. They only get very light punishments or are put in an educational session and that is it. They couldn’t be treated more differently from us.” Although the solders suffered through hard times in those days, residents who had it even worse felt bitter. The mass housing of retired soldiers is remembered as a nightmare to the soldiers as well as the residents. Residents of Daehongdan County Demand Permission for Small Land Patch Farming Small Land Patch Farming is not allowed in Daehongdan Country, Ryanggang Province. The Party prohibits it because of the geographical peculiarity of the region with its high mountains and the high possibility of fire on the hillsides. Another reason for the prohibition is that it can promote selfishness and encourage the farmers to neglect the work for the nation. Residents disagree: “The government is not providing us with food and prohibits us from farming too. Do they want us to just die?” The residents’ discontent grew even greater when they received news from traders who travel between Musan and Hyesan that farming is allowed in those places. Shin Hyundeok (alias), who lives in Sambong labor district, has a relative in Onseong. He heard that Onseong County allowed private farming by the County Party’s own measure last year even when it was prohibited nationally. At first, the Party prohibited farming as in everywhere else, but it withdrew the measure when it faced an intense opposition from residents and the worsening food crisis. As a result, Onseong County didn’t have anyone starve to death even while the rest of the nation was suffering from severe food crisis after the currency reform last year. Shin told this story to his colleagues, and the news spread to everyone. Some residents started criticizing their County Party for not taking measures like the Party of Onseong County. Petitions to “allow small land patch farming to old people and chronic patients who cannot work in their designated work areas” were only met with a firm “no.” Poongseo-ri Orphanage Director Praised as a Hero Engaged in Exploiting Child Labor Hee Sun Lee, an orphanage director in Poongseo-ri, Onsung County, North Hamgyong Province was recently honored by the government as a maternal hero. Lee and her husband have raised orphans since 1994, when their son died while serving in the national army. At the time, which was during the Arduous March, the number of orphans significantly increased due to the ongoing famine. Lee subsequently met her first orphan at a train station who she claimed reminded her of her deceased son. Since taking this child in, the number of children under her care has reached 170, but has decreased to 150 in 2008, and currently remains at 100. Due to the softening of North-South relations at the time, as well as the publicity Lee and her husband accumulated through Chosun Central Television and other written sources, the Poongseo-ri Orphanage received major support from South Korean organizations as well as international aid associations. When World Food Program (WFP) workers came to evaluate aid distribution in Onsung County at the end of July in 2008, the county proudly introduced the orphanage as the location to check on the status of its children’s health and living conditions. Despite their praise from the media, the Lee’s reputation among local citizens is troubling. Locals, who are aware of the internal state of the orphanage, claim that orphans are often forced into labor, ill-treated and sexually abused. They also claim that orphanage workers siphon off donated items. “The children are treated cruelly and not as humans. They are almost treated like how the slaves were treated by their owners in the old days. Everyone here knows of the couples’ behavior and their sexual abuse of the orphans,” assert villagers who live in the vicinity of the orphanage. Their criticisms continue, “With the country honoring such a couple, there is not one person who is not laughing at the irony and hypocrisy of the situation.