North Korea has launched a nationwide population and household census following devastating floods in late July. The census, which began on Aug. 24, was personally approved by Kim Jong Un following a proposal from the national police agency in early August.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, a source in the country told The Daily NK on Wednesday that the cities of Pyongyang and Nampo and the provinces of North Hwanghae, Kangwon, North Pyongan and Jagang were designated as primary census areas. These areas were likely chosen because of the likelihood of radical changes in the population and household composition in these areas, which were severely damaged by the recent heavy rains.
The Ministry of Social Security has stated that the primary objective of the census is to obtain an accurate count of the population and households, which will serve as basic data for fine-tuning methods of public control.
Significantly, the ministry sees the census as a chance to make up for its botched attempt to assess the extent of damage in North Pyongan and Jagang provinces during the floods and to repair the tarnished reputation of law enforcement organizations.
“The Ministry of Social Security plans to use the census to lay the groundwork for a more effective response to future natural disasters and the damage they cause. The view within the regime is that this will serve as an important framework for developing state control systems,” the source explained.
“Police stations in Pyongyang and other primary census areas have hastily recruited civilian workers, including teams of clerks, to help update the household registry. Neighborhood watch leaders and local government officials have been mobilized for the census and instructed to compare residents’ records with facts on the ground.”
The source said that neighborhood watch leaders and local officials are going from house to house to determine who lives there, how many people are in the household, whether births and deaths have been properly reported, and whether any missing people remain unaccounted for. As part of these visits, officials also compare ID cards issued to Pyongyang residents with ID cards issued to all North Korean citizens.
The information gathered from the census will be compiled by police departments in each area and then used to revise and supplement current population registration documents.