Pressure is building on North Koreans to pay “non-tax burdens” as the deadline approaches to complete regional industrial factories as part of the government’s “20×10” provincial development scheme. A source told Daily NK that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s command that officials not place economic burdens on the people “became a scrap of paper long ago.”
Speaking on condition of anonymity for security reasons, a source in South Pyongan Province said Monday that authorities in Songchon County tasked residents with providing grass for landscaping at a local factory under construction.
“Each household provided one square meter of grass, while families who couldn’t provide the grass itself paid KPW 20,000 each,” he said. “However, not even a month later, neighborhood watch units ordered households to provide another one square meter of grass, sparking complaints among people.”
The burdens did not stop there. Last month, a factory in Songchon County tasked workstations and workgroups with ensuring roofing material for provincial factories under construction. Workers paid KPW 50,000 each to purchase supplies.
North Korea always asks people to pay non-tax burdens to support state construction projects. However, people resent the constant levying of non-tax burdens, despite Kim’s order issued before the provincial development scheme against imposing such burdens.
“Songchon County was where the 20×10 policy got underway, and at the time, commanders of the 124th Regiment received an order from Kim telling them that the Korean People’s Army may use only the air and water of the places where they are deployed during construction,” the source said.
Delays in construction lead to increase in burdens
People received next to no tasks when factory construction began in March. When staff of the Kunja Village Revolutionary Site in Songchon County visited the headquarters of the 124th Regiment to give them whole pork and other supplies they had prepared, the commander turned them down.
People were surprised, saying that “something was really different,” that they “couldn’t even see the shadow of the troops while they were building the factory just next door,” and that it was “really nice that they didn’t have to provide support while the factory was under construction in their county.”
However, with state provision of building supplies delayed and the construction deadline approaching, local factories, enterprises and neighborhood watch units gradually began receiving tasks, the burdens of which fell entirely on local people, the source said.
“The public response is completely different from when construction began,” the source said. “People now complain that they don’t care about the 20×10 regional development policy and just want to be left alone, that the authorities should just do nothing if they really thought about the people, and that the people get roasted every time the state builds something new.”
Daily NK works with a network of sources living in North Korea, China, and elsewhere. Their identities remain anonymous for security reasons.
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August 02, 2024 at 05:30AM
by DailyNK(North Korean Media)