North Korea has begun major road inspections and repairs in major cities, focusing on routes to China and Russia. The directive, issued by the Ministry of Land and Environmental Protection to local offices, has sparked speculation about the regime’s motives.
According to a source in North Pyongan province recently, road maintenance teams in Pyongyang, Nampo, Rason and Kaesong launched inspection campaigns on Oct. 7 to check whether signs have been installed, roads damaged and tunnels in good condition.
In Rason, a city near the border with China and Russia, local authorities ordered various organizations to “mobilize workers to actively participate in road repairs” because of the “importance of inspecting roads related to the transportation of materials during the war.”
The source told Daily NK that “Rason has both a road leading to the Chinese customs house and a road leading to Russia. Senior officials said that these roads need to be carefully managed to ensure that military supplies can be transported on them in the event of a crisis, which they explained is the main goal of the project.”
The Rason administrative district includes a 55-kilometer stretch of road leading to Hunchun in China’s Jilin province and a 45-kilometer stretch of road leading to Khasan in Russia.
As part of a thorough inspection of all roads leading to China and Russia, Rason officials are checking to see if the roads have potholes that would impede traffic, if the roads have adequate drainage, and if there is garbage in the area that needs to be removed.
One possibility is that the North Korean authorities ordered Rason to inspect and repair the connecting roads with the intention of expanding overland trade with China and Russia.
Public discontent rises as civilians mobilized for repair work
Rason citizens are currently being organized to repair and clean the roads, the source said.
Normally, teams of two families go out to clean the roads in the early morning about twice a month. But currently, families in almost every neighborhood watch unit are going out every day to clean the sections of road under their care.
Under these circumstances, unit members who are in charge of cleaning remote road sections sometimes complain to their unit leaders about having to get up early every morning to make such a long trip, the source said.
In some areas, orders have been given not only to repair the roads, but also to widen them and plant trees along the roadsides. This has led to grumbling that the government is passing on its own responsibilities to the public.
“Widening a road is not repair work, it’s construction work. It’s not the kind of work you can just round up the neighborhood watch unit to do. But excessive work orders are being issued that create hardship for people,” the source said.
The Daily NK works with a network of sources in North Korea, China, and elsewhere. For security reasons, their identities remain anonymous.
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October 15, 2024 at 05:30AM
by DailyNK(North Korean Media)