Households in Ryanggang province have been ordered to prepare gravel for spring road repairs, Daily NK has learned. The directive, issued under the pretext of fixing roads damaged by the freeze-thaw cycle over winter, has prompted an outpouring of frustration from North Korean people who feel the state is once again offloading its responsibilities onto their shoulders.
A Daily NK source in Ryanggang province reported recently that neighborhood watch unit households in cities and counties across the province, including Hyesan and Pochon county, recently received a gravel procurement assignment through neighborhood watch unit meetings. “The reason given is that paved roads crack and develop potholes over winter and need to be repaired,” the source said.
North Korea carries out road repair and maintenance work every spring following winter damage. With such work expected again this year, the order for households to prepare gravel in advance of the season appears to have been issued early.
The directive was passed down from the people’s committee through neighborhood offices to neighborhood watch unit leaders, with each household ultimately notified of the specific quantities and specifications at a neighborhood watch unit meeting.
On Feb. 20, a neighborhood watch unit in Hyesan called an evening meeting at which each household was told to prepare three 25-kilogram sacks of gravel cut to a 25-millimeter specification. The same order was issued to households in Pochon county and other counties in the province, with particular emphasis placed on strictly adhering to the specified size, the source said.
The directive was issued before the spring repair work even begins because cutting stones to the 25-millimeter specification with a hammer is labor-intensive and time-consuming, the source explained.
‘How long is this on us?’
North Korean people are voicing strong discontent at being handed yet another social assignment while struggling to make ends meet. Among the complaints making the rounds: “The unofficial burdens never stop even though we can barely feed ourselves,” “We spend all day at the jangmadang (market) and still can’t make enough for the day, and now we have to do this too?” “We only have one body — how many things can they ask of us?” and “How long is this going to be on us?”
“These days the price of rice is one thing, but firewood has gotten so expensive that quite a few households are going up into the mountains to gather grass stalks to burn,” the source said. “In that kind of situation, being made to produce gravel on top of everything else means complaints are inevitable. And it won’t end with just the gravel — they’ll be assigned the repair work itself too. The burden of providing materials and then being mobilized for labor keeps coming without end, which is why people are crying out even louder.”
The upkeep and repair of infrastructure such as roads is an area where the state should bear responsibility, yet it is being passed down in practice to ordinary North Korean people at the grassroots level. This is nothing new, but the source noted that the weight of these demands feels heavier as the economic hardship facing the population deepens.
Wealth gap on display even in social assignments
The disparity between the wealthy and the struggling is visible even in how these social assignments play out, observers note. “Well-off households have already paid a set annual sum to their neighborhood watch unit and either don’t have to do these social assignments at all or can easily settle them with cash whenever one comes along, so they have nothing to worry about,” the source said. “But people who scrape by day to day through petty trading have to give their time and effort.”
The source added a pointed observation: “Households that settle their assignments with money get praised as loyal or model families, while households that can’t complete their assignments because they’re struggling financially are always the target of criticism. Being branded a ‘problem household’ just because you’re poor — that’s the reality here in North Korea right now.”
In the meantime, some North Korean people are viewing the assignment as a money-making opportunity. Those without a steady income or a fixed trading business are said to be preparing gravel that meets the required specifications in advance, with plans to sell it to other households for a profit when the submission deadline draws near.
