North Korean authorities have launched initiatives to combat malnutrition among displaced people in Pyongyang, amid concerns about their deteriorating health. The directive, issued by the Central Committee to the Pyongyang Party Committee at the end of August, aims to address the poor health conditions of the displaced population temporarily living in the capital.
According to a source in the city on Tuesday, the Pyongyang Party Committee has asked the party committees of each of the city’s districts and the party committee of the April 25 Hotel – where the displaced people are staying – to make active efforts to alleviate their malnutrition.
The Central Committee’s order stressed that city officials “must remember the words of fatherly love of the supreme leader (Kim Jong Un), who said that ‘it is not enough for the people from the provinces who have come to the capital – the home of the nation – to relax and live their lives,’ and take care of the displaced people to the last one, ensuring that each one recovers his or her health.”
In particular, the Central Committee urged officials to spare no expense in supporting the health of the displaced, noting that many had been diagnosed with malnutrition during emergency health checks, and some had suddenly become unhealthy under the stress of living in a completely new environment.
“Most of the displaced people now in Pyongyang have long been unable to eat properly in the difficult economic conditions of the provinces, and since they have little experience of eating protein-rich foods such as meat or oil-rich foods, the new environment is actually causing problems,” the source said.
Many malnourished displaced people suffer from diarrhea or allergies when they suddenly eat oil-rich foods.
The Central Committee has instructed the Pyongyang Party Committee to ensure that district-level party agencies collaborate with the city’s medical and food distribution departments. These entities are to provide displaced individuals with appropriate medicine, health products, and nutritious food tailored to their needs, treating them like family members to ease their discomfort in Pyongyang.
The Central Committee also ordered Pyongyang officials to do their best to help the displaced people recover their health so that none of them will return home in the autumn feeling ill or malnourished.
“The Central Committee issued further instructions to provincial party organizations, telling them to help so that the displaced people don’t have to worry about food or winter preparations such as firewood and kimchi-making materials when they return home in the autumn,” the source said.
Authorities have tried to reassure the displaced people by telling them “not to worry and to take care of their health as the government has prepared what they need to return home in the autumn.”
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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September 12, 2024 at 11:45AM
by DailyNK(North Korean Media)