The North Korean authorities have rewarded the young people who helped build Pyongyang’s Jonwi Street by selecting some of them to join the Workers’ Party of Korea, Daily NK has learned.
“At the end of last month, the Organization and Guidance Department of the Workers’ Party of Korea instructed the leaders of each brigade of the youth ‘shock troops’ that took part in the construction of Jonwi [meaning “vanguard”] Street in the Sopo area of Pyongyang’s Hyongjesan District to submit a list of young people who have proved their loyalty through their heroic efforts and give them the honor of joining the ruling party,” a source in North Hamgyong Province told Daily NK on June 3 on condition of anonymity.
As a result, the North Hamgyong Provincial Shock Troop Brigade submitted to the provincial party committee a list of about 20 highly productive and politically and ideologically reliable shock troop members who were mobilized for the construction of Jonwi Street. The provincial party committee then announced that these people would be given the honor of becoming either candidate members or full members of the party.
“The provincial party committee has instructed all the shock troop members who are to become party members to return home to celebrate the occasion with their family members and colleagues, and the party committees of their respective enterprises or organizations have taken an interest in the matter and ordered cell meetings to be held for party nominations,” the source said.
Pending the approval of the membership nominations by the cell meetings and then by the city or county committees, the party registration of the shock troop members is expected to be finalized by the provincial party committee on June 10.
In accordance with the Central Committee’s order to warmly welcome the shock troop members upon their return home, North Hamgyong Province reportedly had staff prepare gifts for them, including food, seafood, fruits and vegetables, and had officials from the provincial party committee personally visit their homes.
State propaganda places emphasis on loyalty to the regime
In addition, North Hamgyong Province has taken the heroic conduct of the shock troops as the basis for a propaganda campaign to show young people the party’s great trust and care for the youth shock troops and their great patriotism and loyalty.
“The provincial party committee immediately began preparing educational material about the shock troops. The material will enthusiastically praise the shock troops nominated to the party for having worked honorably for the capital Pyongyang with untiring youthful energy in the midst of heat and cold and despite sickness, fatigue and hunger, and for having accomplished great deeds that brought joy to the heart of the marshal,” the source said.
The source added that the educational material boasts that “the state will not hesitate to bestow the honor of membership in the Workers’ Party of Korea, a coveted privilege that is so difficult to obtain, on those who achieve great deeds while vigorously participating in the construction of our economy for the prosperity of the nation as they did.
“No matter how much the puppet state of South Korea and our American imperialist enemies try to corrupt the youth ideologically, they can never degrade our youth-oriented education and ideology thanks to the presence of these passionate young people who are sacrificing their youth and their lives for the project of nation-building. May we all volunteer for positions where we can achieve greatness as patriots and builders of socialism,” the provincial party committee reportedly appealed.
However, many young people are very tired of these educational activities, according to the source.
Pyongyang’s Jonwi Street, which runs from the Sosan intersection in front of the Three Revolutions Exhibition to the Sambong Bridge, takes its name from the Youth Vanguard (Jonwi), a youth organization that plays a key role in major construction projects in North Korea.
Kim Jong Un praised the young people who helped build Jonwi Street while attending the project’s ribbon-cutting ceremony with his daughter on May 14. “Thanks to our legion of passionate youth, our victory in the task of building a strong socialist state is assured,” he said.
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June 10, 2024 at 11:30AM
by DailyNK(North Korean Media)