Power trap: Hyesan residents suspect electricity inspections are bribery scheme

Residents of Hyesan in North Korea’s Ryanggang province are facing intensified inspections of their electricity usage, particularly targeting households using power-hungry appliances. These crackdowns suspiciously coincide with when power is provided, leading many locals to believe authorities are deliberately supplying electricity just to catch violators.

“Officials from Hyesan’s power provision department are conducting home inspections throughout neighborhood watch units to check on electricity usage,” a Daily NK source in Ryanggang province reported recently. “Since officials perform these inspections precisely during hours when electricity is available, residents suspect they’re providing power specifically to catch people in the act.”

According to the source, inspectors primarily target high-consumption appliances such as electric rice cookers and heaters. The inspections occur randomly during power-on hours, frequently catching residents who attempt to cook or heat their homes as soon as electricity becomes available.

Those caught during these crackdowns have their appliances confiscated and are required to file reports at the power provision department. To avoid these consequences, many residents resort to bribing inspectors with cigarettes or liquor.

“When electricity is flowing, people naturally try to use it to conserve firewood, but the moment they turn something on, inspectors burst in, making crackdowns nearly impossible to avoid,” the source explained. “People are frustrated by the unexpected expenses, often spending over 5,000 North Korean won on cigarette packs just to bribe inspectors.”

Initially, residents believed these were routine electricity inspections. However, as more households were caught—some families multiple times—suspicion grew. Conspiracy theories began circulating that the provision of power itself was “bait for inspections, with the power department using crackdowns to extract bribes from the public.”

In one Hyesan neighborhood watch unit alone, more than 10 households have been caught and paid bribes to inspectors.

“On April 5, when electricity was provided around 1 p.m., a resident placed a saucepan on an electric stove to heat soup, only to be caught by inspectors less than five minutes later,” the source recounted. “The resident escaped further trouble by handing over a 7,000 won pack of filtered cigarettes.”

While North Korean authorities claim to conduct these inspections in the name of “conserving energy,” the reality appears quite different. The organization authorized to implement these crackdowns is effectively extorting bribes from citizens, demonstrating how corruption persists with officials using enforcement to line their pockets with residents’ hard-earned money.

“With the same agency that supplies power also conducting the crackdowns, people view these inspections not as simple enforcement but as deliberate acts of plunder to fleece the public,” the source said. “People often remark that those in positions to enforce regulations spend their days contemplating how to profit from ordinary citizens.”

“As a result,” the source added, “more families are completely abandoning the use of electronic appliances altogether.”