North Korean neighborhood watch unit leaders have given households their yearly quotas for various scrap materials they are supposed to collect for the government.
Families have been given heavy quotas once again this year, eliciting sighs and lamentations from many North Koreans.
A source in North Hamgyong province told Daily NK recently that the yearly quotas had been handed down during meetings of neighborhood watch units at cities and counties throughout the province, including Chongjin and Hoeryong.
“People at these meetings all had grievances to share,” the source reported.
Every household in North Korea’s neighborhood watch units are given yearly collection quotas for such recyclable materials as scrap metal, paper, and plastic.
As a rule, households are informed how much of each material they are supposed to submit for the entire year. The point is for families to collect their recyclables in advance so they can submit it to the neighborhood watch unit whenever requested.
“Each household is given their collection quotas at a neighborhood meeting at the beginning of the year. Then the amount they collected throughout the year is checked at another neighborhood meeting at the end of the year. Everybody who got their quotas for the year had grim expressions on their faces,” the source observed.
Heavy quotas weigh on households
According to the source, one neighborhood watch unit in Chongjin provided the following quotas to each household in a meeting on the evening of Jan. 14: 40 kilograms of scrap metal, 10 kilograms of scrap paper, 5 kilograms of scrap rubber, 2 kilograms of oil crops, and three 25-kilogram sacks of dried night soil.
“You’ve got your orders, so be sure to meet your quotas in advance so you can hand over your recyclables at any time. If you don’t meet your quota, the neighborhood watch unit will be given even heavier quotas in the future. Be responsible about your collection work so that you don’t inconvenience the other families,” the neighborhood leader reportedly stressed during the meeting.
Neighborhood watch unit members were roundly displeased about the whole affair.
“The tough thing is we’re expected to meet quotas not only in our neighborhood but also at our schools and workplaces,” one commented.
“We’ve gone through every inch of the house, but there are no other items worth trading in. It’s not like we can make something out of nothing,” another frustrated person said.
“I was already worried about feeding my family, and now I’ve got to worry about meeting our quotas too. It looks like I’ll be plagued with worries until my dying day,” a third remarked.
A neighborhood watch unit in Hyesan, Ryanggang province, received similar quotas for similar items during a meeting on Jan. 15.
“No slackers allowed! We’ve got to carry out these tasks with a patriotic spirit, since this is all helping our country develop,” the neighborhood leader said.
But facing this appeal to patriotism, browbeaten residents could only shake their heads and mumble about how stressed out they are.
“While we get these assignments every year, the burden feels much heavier because the yearly total is announced all at once at the beginning of the year. It’s discouraging to start the year with such a weight on your shoulders,” a source in Ryanggang province said.
“There are complaints that these collection quotas never seem to go away and, if anything, are becoming more of a burden. People who can’t gather enough recyclables on time are expected to pay a cash equivalent, and the quotas themselves are sometimes bumped up arbitrarily. That’s why North Koreans say they feel shackled by these collection quotas,” the source added.
February 02, 2026 at 06:46AM
by DailyNK(North Korean Media)