Facebook
Twitter
Meetup
Advertisements, links with an http address and inappropriate language will be deleted.
2017.06.28
| Won | Pyongyang | Sinuiju | Hyesan |
|---|---|---|---|
| Exchange Rate | 8,070 | 8,050 | 8,095 |
| Rice Price | 5,800 | 6,000 | 5,900 |
[imText1]
On the 12th, the North Korean state media revealed news of a river bed maintenance project taking place along the Potong River in Pyongyang. The goal of the work is to improve lives by preventing the flooding that has regularly occurred in the city since the 1980s.
“60% of the silt has already been removed,” Pyongyang Broadcast proclaimed on the 15th, embracing the rapid and successful progress of a project that Rodong Shinmun had called “Marshal Kim Jong Eun’s grand plan.”
One particularly noteworthy aspect of the story is that, while Chosun People’s Army Chief of Staff Hyun Young Chul attended a rally for soldiers participating in the project on the 12th, it was then Prime Minister Choi Young Rim who reviewed the construction site itself on the 14th.
“It is very unusual for the Cabinet Prime Minister to visit a site which is the responsibility of the Chosun People’s Army,” one defector hailing from the city explained. “The military seems to be in charge of the work but the Cabinet is overseeing it, which probably reflects the new economic management policy.”
However, to understand why such a project is being prioritized requires us to look back at the history of the Potong River, a 55.2km watercourse which runs through the city before joining the larger Taedong River.
Throughout Pyongyang’s history up until the 1940s, even minor rains would lead to flooding and harm to people and property, so in May 1946 Kim Il Sung declared that the river must be controlled, and headed to the river bank personally to put spade to soil.
Thereafter, the authorities placed a commemorative photo of ‘Comrade Kim Il Sung digging the first soil at the Potong River maintenance site’ in Kim II Sung Revolutionary History Research Rooms nationwide, and propagated the notion of a leader expressing his love for the people by dealing with their problems directly.
Thereafter, in 1971, the authorities constructed a 13m commemorative tower remembering the project, while in 2006 this was followed by a commemorative stamp.
However, the 1980s marked a high point for state land management, and thereafter sediment began to accumulate in the river, and this caused it to flood during rainy seasons. As the situation worsened, people even began to refer to it as the "Po-pooh River" in honor of its troubling stench.
As such, the Kim Jong Eun regime is not only dredging a river and controlling its course; rather, it is also trying to show that under a new and energetic young leader it is capable of solving challenges which couldn’t be solved during the Kim Jong Il era.
Kim, the defector from the North Korean capital, agreed, saying, “When I was there in the city, the ‘Potong River Maintenance Office’ existed but, because of the lack of electricity, equipment and whatever else, workers were reduced to going out on a small boat to collect flotsam; that was all they could do.”
“The Potong River maintenance project is designed to show that Kim Jong Eun can do what Kim Jong Il could not, in order to heighten the expectations of the people.”
On the 12th, the North Korean state media revealed news of a river bed maintenance project taking place along the Potong River in Pyongyang. The goal of the work is to improve lives by preventing the flooding that has regularly occurred in the city since the 1980s.
“60% of the silt has already been removed,” Pyongyang Broadcast proclaimed on the 15th, embracing the rapid and successful progress of a project that Rodong Shinmun had called “Marshal Kim Jong Eun’s grand plan.”
One particularly noteworthy aspect of the story is that, while Chosun People’s Army Chief of Staff Hyun Young Chul attended a rally for soldiers participating in the project on the 12th, it was then Prime Minister Choi Young Rim who reviewed the construction site itself on the 14th.
“It is very unusual for the Cabinet Prime Minister to visit a site which is the responsibility of the Chosun People’s Army,” one defector hailing from the city explained. “The military seems to be in charge of the work but the Cabinet is overseeing it, which probably reflects the new economic management policy.”
However, to understand why such a project is being prioritized requires us to look back at the history of the Potong River, a 55.2km watercourse which runs through the city before joining the larger Taedong River.
Throughout Pyongyang’s history up until the 1940s, even minor rains would lead to flooding and harm to people and property, so in May 1946 Kim Il Sung declared that the river must be controlled, and headed to the river bank personally to put spade to soil.
Thereafter, the authorities placed a commemorative photo of ‘Comrade Kim Il Sung digging the first soil at the Potong River maintenance site’ in Kim II Sung Revolutionary History Research Rooms nationwide, and propagated the notion of a leader expressing his love for the people by dealing with their problems directly.
Thereafter, in 1971, the authorities constructed a 13m commemorative tower remembering the project, while in 2006 this was followed by a commemorative stamp.
However, the 1980s marked a high point for state land management, and thereafter sediment began to accumulate in the river, and this caused it to flood during rainy seasons. As the situation worsened, people even began to refer to it as the "Po-pooh River" in honor of its troubling stench.
As such, the Kim Jong Eun regime is not only dredging a river and controlling its course; rather, it is also trying to show that under a new and energetic young leader it is capable of solving challenges which couldn’t be solved during the Kim Jong Il era.
Kim, the defector from the North Korean capital, agreed, saying, “When I was there in the city, the ‘Potong River Maintenance Office’ existed but, because of the lack of electricity, equipment and whatever else, workers were reduced to going out on a small boat to collect flotsam; that was all they could do.”
“The Potong River maintenance project is designed to show that Kim Jong Eun can do what Kim Jong Il could not, in order to heighten the expectations of the people.”
