Some factories and companies in North Korea paid workers “socialist competition assessment bonuses” late last year to encourage an increase in production, Daily NK has learned. Although some workers received wages ten times higher than usual, it turned out to be a temporary bonus.
Daily NK was told by several sources in South Pyongan, Yanggang, and Kangwon provinces that some companies and institutions in these provinces gave stipends to workers to encourage them to meet the company’s annual targets before the year-end review.
The North Korean authorities have conducted socialist competition evaluations to create competition among factories and regions in each sector, including agriculture, light industry, and heavy industry, with the ultimate goal of improving performance.
These socialist competition evaluations are often administered by relevant departments in regional party committees. However, last year’s competition stipends were reportedly paid not by the North Korean authorities, but by the companies themselves.
“A feature of the Marshal’s [Kim Jong Un] era is that workers who have helped increase productivity are to be encouraged not only verbally but also practically, with cash or material gifts. Before last year’s assessment, several companies rewarded workers with a ‘competition stipend,’” said a source in South Pyongan Province.
Some larger companies divided their workers into five or ten ranks according to their annual contributions and then paid them bonuses based on their rank, the source said. This, however, means that only some workers received bonuses.
Daily NK also understands that a company in Kangwon Province paid up to KPW 300,000 as a competitive bonus at the end of last year. There was also a factory in Yanggang Province that paid a one-time competition stipend of about KPW 100,000 per worker – more than 15 times the average monthly wage of KPW 3,000.
Since the average worker’s monthly wage is not enough to buy even a kilogram of rice on the market, North Koreans have no choice but to find other sources of income.
Middle- and upper-level managers in companies typically make money through illegal means, such as embezzling money intended for material purchases or other parts of the operating budget.
“People in low-level management positions in manufacturing can regularly earn about USD 100 a month and sometimes as much as USD 1,000. Since people can’t live on their standard wages alone, they are forced to find all kinds of ways to make money,” said a source in North Pyongan Province.
Translated by David Carruth. Edited by Robert Lauler.
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February 26, 2024 at 12:30PM
by DailyNK(North Korean Media)