North Korean authorities in South Pyongan province have ordered a crackdown on public complaints about Pyongyang’s construction drive. Following months of open criticism from people and officials, authorities issued the order in 2026, saying the project is draining materials and labor from the rest of the country.
A source in South Pyongan province told Daily NK on Wednesday that complaints had spread among local people over the large-scale Pyongyang construction project. Some said authorities were wringing the country’s materials and labor dry to build up the capital. The South Pyongan province’s party committee issued an order early this month to suppress these complaints.
The committee had received reports that both ordinary people and officials at every level were voicing complaints about the project, the source said. It labeled the complaints a serious deviation, tantamount to slandering the socialist system, and issued its directive on that basis.
Shock brigades for Pyongyang construction strain local factories
The source said Pyongsong, a city in South Pyongan province, had already run a large recruitment drive for shock brigades. These are the mobile labor units North Korea has long used for major state construction projects, and they now support the Pyongyang construction effort.
Pyongsong recently launched another recruitment round after the earlier drive fell short, creating new problems locally. Factories and other work units that lose employees to the brigades must still cover their food, clothing, housing and other support needs, the source said. Sending young workers to the brigades also leaves factories short of people who know how to operate machinery. That shortage has drawn complaints from on-site officials, not just ordinary workers.
“While the outward appearance of the capital Pyongyang grows more spectacular, the provinces are falling further into disarray,” the source said. South Pyongan province people are voicing a sense of relative deprivation, the source added. Discontent among officials has reached a breaking point as well.
Despite these complaints, the provincial party committee has ordered officials to monitor each other closely. Officials should report anyone who fails to treat the Pyongyang construction project as a source of national pride, the directive states. The same goes for anyone who complains the project is difficult. Party organizations and assigned informants attached to the National Intelligence Agency, the renamed successor to the Ministry of State Security, are meant to receive these reports.
The directive also repeated the regime’s longstanding call for self-reliance. It instructed the provinces not to depend on outside resources or support. Regional economic development should rely on local resources alone, the directive said.
The order has fueled skepticism among people and officials in South Pyongan province. Some have questioned whether it is right to push the Pyongyang construction project without considering local conditions. They acknowledge that building up the capital is a legitimate goal, but not at the expense of the provinces.
The source said a Pyongsong city administrative official complained that authorities branded him a reactionary for voicing even a single complaint. This came even as authorities drained away the province’s labor to build gleaming structures in Pyongyang, the official said. Many South Pyongan province people feel authorities are working them to the bone for the capital’s prosperity. They compared their situation to that of laborers with no say in their own fate.
The provincial party committee’s directive lays bare a contradiction facing North Korea’s leadership, the source said. Officials are dressing up Pyongyang’s exterior at the expense of the provinces. Sentiment outside the capital, already stretched thin, continues to worsen, he added.
Reporting from inside North Korea
Daily NK operates networks of sources inside North Korea who document events in real-time and transmit information through secure channels. Unlike reporting based on state media, satellite imagery, or defector accounts from years past, our journalism comes directly from people currently living under the regime. We verify reports through multiple independent sources and cross-reference details before publication.
Our sources remain anonymous because contact with foreign media is treated as a capital offense in North Korea — discovery means imprisonment or execution. This network-based approach allows Daily NK to report on developments other outlets cannot access: market trends, policy implementation, public sentiment, and daily realities that never appear in official narratives.
Maintaining these secure communication channels and protecting source identities requires specialized protocols and constant vigilance. Daily NK serves as a bridge between North Koreans and the outside world, documenting what’s happening inside one of the world’s most closed societies.
September 10, 2026 at 05:10AM
by DailyNK(North Korean Media)