North Korea recently dispatched work brigades to the Paengma-ri Petroleum Refinery in North Pyongan Province to help upgrade the facility, Daily NK has learned.
Speaking on condition of anonymity for security reasons, a Daily NK source in North Pyongan Province said Monday that after North Korea issued an order last year to complete the modernization of the Paengma-ri Petroleum Refinery by mid-2024, local work brigades in North Pyongan Province were officially deployed to the site in early January.
“The modernization project was ordered due to endless complaints of accidents in various sectors of the people’s economy caused by the poor quality of refined oil from the plant due to old equipment,” the source said.
The accidents occurred last year after refined oil that failed quality tests was shipped from the plant. The accidents dismayed refinery managers and even Cabinet officials as disputes arose over responsibility for the problems.
Authorities responded by stressing the need to upgrade the refinery. As a result, plans were quickly drawn up late last year to upgrade and expand the plant’s two main processes. Officials then signed a contract to import the necessary equipment from China.
“They don’t have everything they need for construction at the site, but with the basic concept in place, North Pyongan Province organized and sent the local youth work brigade and the party work brigade to the refinery,” the source said.
In addition to modernizing the refinery, North Korea has ordered officials to draw up measures and plans to overcome problems in the quality inspection and shipment of refined oil and to safely store and manage urgently imported crude oil.
The authorities have also made it clear that after the refinery is upgraded, they will treat the misuse of crude oil as a criminal offense and have ordered plant officials to teach this to their workers in advance. In other words, they have told officials that they must prepare in advance for refinery workers to potentially engage in questionable behavior, including stealing crude oil.
“With rumors circulating that the refinery is likely to flourish as new processes come online with the plant’s modernization, more and more people are trying to find work there, even if it means bribing officials.”
Translated by David Black. Edited by Robert Lauler.
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The post N. Korea moves forward with efforts to modernize key petroleum refinery appeared first on Daily NK English.
January 24, 2024 at 01:30PM
by DailyNK(North Korean Media)