Just a few days ago, a defector going by the name Mr. Kim (38), who only entered South Korea in May of this year, explained to Daily NK his shock at the difficult lives of the citizens living in a village in Yeonan, South Hwanghae Province just prior to his defection.
Kim used to live in Musan, a city in North Hamkyung Province, but, for personal reasons, he apparently spent the period between summer, 2007 and the beginning of 2008 on a farm in Yeonan.
Yeonan is located in the southeast region of South Hwanghae Province. To the East of the county is Baecheon, to the North is Bongcheon, to the West is Cheongdan, and to the South is Kangwha Bay. The area is known for its rice production.
Kim said that he was frustrated at seeing people living in the region barely eating two meals a day.
Serious Rice Shortages Even in November
In the beginning of that November, Kim visited a friend living in Janggok-ri in Yeonan while running some errands. Kim was surprised, for although dinnertime was approaching his friend did not make any attempt to prepare food.
Kim asked his friend, “Why aren’t you preparing a meal?” In response, the friend replied, “There is not enough food.” Incredulously, Kim asked his friend again, “It is November, so how can you be short of food?”
His friend sighed, “They have taken almost all of our rice for army rations, so it is nearly impossible for farmers like us to survive on what we are given for a year. Rations are not properly provided either, so it is hard to see how we will live next year.”
When Kim went to other farms in regions such as Daean-ri and Ohyun-ri, he saw more people eating just one meal a day due to the lack of food.
According to Kim, many households survived on just noodles and soup for only one or two meals in any given day due to the dire food situation. This was not just in Daean-ri; the living conditions of civilians in most districts were not particularly different.
The reason why food is inadequately distributed to farmers is not just due to collection for army provisions, but also has to do with the false reporting of provincial officials. When reporting the year’s harvest to their superiors, officials tend to falsely report figures to exaggerate their “devotion.”
After the figures from the false reporting of the officials are calculated, superiors try to estimate the amount of food that will be available for the farmers after diverting a portion for army provisions, but due to the erroneousness of the figures, the actual amount of food that ends up in the hands of farmers tends to be much too small.
Soldiers Living on Potatoes!
In this place, not only the farmers but also members of the military report that the rations situation is not ideal, despite the fact that the state has been diverting harvested supplies to the armed forces.
On another day, Kim went to meet a friend at a border patrol unit checkpoint, where he saw a strange sight. Soldiers who had just finished eating dinner were sitting around in a vacant lot near a restaurant, hard at work. Upon closer inspection, it became apparent that the soldiers were intently peeling potatoes.
Large soldiers, each holding a spoon in lieu of a peeler, had obtained a metal bucket filled with potatoes and were peeling them. When Kim asked, “What are you going to do with all of these potatoes?” his friend replied, “We are going to boil and eat them tomorrow morning.”
When Kim asked, “Do soldiers eat potatoes for meals?” his friend said, “We eat potatoes as a meal for at least an entire month during the summer.” Kim lamented the situation, “Our country is finished. If the army, which is supposed to guard the country, eats nothing but potatoes because there is not enough food to eat, then how will they be able to fight?”
One region in Yeonan County apparently surpasses others in terms of its gains from farming. The harvest in the Yeonbaek plain located in Yeonan and Baechun is supposed to be excellent due to the fertile ground in the area. As a result, people in this place were supposed to be better-off than others.
Indeed, people say that even during the March of Tribulation in the 1990s, many farmers in Hwanghae Province apparently had a sufficient amount of food. Although residents of Hamkyung, Jagang and Yangkang Provinces died in huge numbers encompassing whole communities, this was not true in Hwanghae Province.
Civilians in Shinuiju, on the border with China, used to bring in Chinese goods by trading or smuggling and then go to Hwanghae Province to exchange them for polished rice.
Citizens of Hamkyung Province, where cereals are grown, brought plates, industrial goods, clothing and cereal grains such as corn or peas to exchange for rice.
But after year 2000, with the introduction of a new economic system in North Korea, the collection of rice for army provisions, and continuing natural disasters, the lives of the farmers in Hwanghae Province became more difficult. After rations stopped being adequately provided despite the farmers’ hard work, the level of production decreased even further as farmers slackened off or simply took up trading.
Kim lamented, “The situation is so dire that the price of rice in this region is 200 won higher than in Hamkyung Province.”
