Interview 2
Name: Im Seong Tae
Sex: Male
Age: Mid 50s
Area: Shinuiju, North Pyongan Province
Job: n/a
– It is said that obtaining food in Shinuiju is easier than in other areas of North Korea. What is the situation right now?
In March the price of one kilo of rice was around 1300 won. At present I hear it is around 1800-2000 won. This is the standard for the spring lean season. The price of rice is expensive. We are trading and my son is a cadre, so the whole family gets food distribution from the state. Distribution has never been cut off, although it has been delayed at times. We get distribution 10 months out of 12.
– I am told that distribution is given to a very limited group…
‘We’ means the families of revolutionary patriots and the security forces. We come before the glorious soldiers. My wife, through the money she earned trading, funded our children’s studies. She had a stall to trade from. Four years ago, traders each gave 40,000 won and built a new building, so they gave us a stall. We pay 500 won a day in trade tax.
– It would be a big problem if there were no market.
Chosun markets contain 85% Chinese products. If there were no Chinese products we would be walking around naked. The state no longer keeps its people alive. The individual is king now. I can raise and lower prices as I wish. Deciding the price of products is the most important form of governance.
– What percentage of people has sufficient food?
Around 60%. Around 35% only eat 2 meals a day. In our apartment building there are 20 families, not many cannot eat. People with money live in apartments; people without live in single story houses. Almost nobody only eats one meal. If you say you live in an apartment, you are saying you are doing quite well. Those in the city can trade, but farmers cannot trade and have no time, either, so their lives are difficult.
– What do the ones who eat only two meals a day have?
Life is very difficult for people living in farming areas. Once collective farms have collected the autumn harvest, first the state deducts military rations and then remainder is distributed to farmers; enough for around 4 or 5 months. Those people also go to the city to sell rice and buy clothes and shoes to wear.
In which case, there is not enough rice for farmers. Not enough nourishment. In Chosun today, people who live hungry are treated as fools. Whether it be trading, theft, whatever the way, you must live somehow. This is the rallying cry of the Chosun people. If you can’t live, you are a fool, and you will have no choice but to end up in hell.
– Are there people dying in farming areas?
I haven’t seen any. But there are in other regions. People are sharp, so things are better than during the March of Tribulation. Because the simple and honest people all died and the rest survived. They know how to survive.
– Why do you think Kim Jong Il went to China in May?
The Chosun economy has reached the bottom rung; all the facilities are from the 60s and 70s. He went to get aid. Chosun produces nuclear weapons so the United States will not help and Europe will not help, so the only country to get aid from is China, the ally.
– So why don’t they just get rid of their nuclear weapons?
He won’t.
– What do you think of life before and after the currency redenomination?
Following the March of Tribulation, life stabilized in around 2005. Until then we lived with trust in the Party, but now there are many people who have no hope and commit suicide. People changed after the currency redenomination. Before it, they felt their lives were secure. They gathered money by trading; anyway, they gathered it somehow, bit by bit.
Speaking frankly, before the currency redenomination I was grateful to the state. However, afterwards I started to really dislike them. I lost a lot of money. When I think about it, my blood boils. Money earned off my blood and sweat was taken away, it makes me totally disgusted. Who could think well of their country after that?
– Do the people around you voice such discontent?
As a family we can discuss it, but you cannot voice such things publically. North Korean politics are controlled, and if you are caught by the National Security Agency’ that’s the end. I am very careful.
– What do you think of Kim Jong Eun?
I don’t have any interest in him. The third generation succession is feudalist. In 1964, Kim Il Sung said he would create a country where all eat beef soup and rice, and live in tiled houses, but 50 years have passed and it still hasn’t happened; so when will it? It took less than 30 years for China, so what is so what is wrong with us?
– What do you think of Kim Jong Il?
They say that during his onsite inspections, the General eats rice balls and sleeps very little, all for the happiness of the people. But I hear he imports delicious foods, so for what reason would he eat rice balls? The Party propagandizes to deceive the people. I do not believe it.
– What do intellectuals like yourself think?
There are some people who talk about their discontent at the state. But about Kim Jong Il, and about Kim Jong Eun; this they cannot. They are stressed and prickly. I think that at heart they are not good. Outwardly they cannot express themselves. Because you can vanish overnight without a word, they can do nothing. They are scarier than German intelligence. Even if you want to say something, you cannot say it openly.
– What is the mental condition of the people?
People get stressed in the battle for life, so they are nervy. Any way you look at it, people had their pockets picked; it brings stress. People are sensitive, so when they drink they get touchy and angry. Living is really quite hard; it makes you wonder how you are meant to live. There are lots of women with depression. Everyone uses alcohol to cope.
If there were press freedom, people would not be groaning in pain, but there is no press freedom in the North, so people get depressed. The number of female alcoholics has increased a lot. Now, women are the masters of the house and men have become like the dogs which protect the house. Life for men is now drinking at home, and doing the housework.
– How far has drug use spread in the North?
The number of people who use ‘bingdu’ has increased. There is a rumor that taking it is good for people with blood clots in the brain. In the past most people took aspirin, but now they use bingdu. Young people smoke it; it’s called ‘snorting’. There are people who have died from addiction, too.
– Have you seen leaflets or graffiti criticizing the government?
I have seen many personal grievances. It’s about taking revenge against government officials or the security services. When such cases are investigated, most of them are caught. I haven’t seen any leaflets of late. I have heard about leaflets flying over from South Korea. They say there are plenty so everyone sees them. When ordered to hand in the leaflets, lots of people don’t; instead, they read and then burn them.
– Does everyone know what South Korea is like?
South Koreans live well. Everyone knows that South Korea has developed good electronics and cars. There are also people who have watched South Korean TV shows and people who have talked about it. There are people who while away most of their time watching South Korean TV dramas.
– Have you watched any?
If you get caught watching a drama you go to prison, so it’s better to listen. Many young people have gone to prison for watching them. Kim Jong Il demands that people believe in him, but if you watch South Korean TV shows then you focus on the South; to stop that, people are forcibly imprisoned. But apparently people in the border areas all watch them secretly.
– What would have to be done to improve the lives of North Koreans?
For the Americans and other countries to help, we must get rid of the nuclear weapons. The world doesn’t want Chosun to have nuclear weapons. South Korea too, Russia also; the whole world. If they are gotten rid of, then they will help Chosun. Second, the North should open up. We are not open, so we struggle to survive.
– Is it likely that Kim Jong Eun will open the North?
Like father, like son. The same. I have no hope. He is a four star general aged 28, it’s a joke. When did he do his time in the army to get those stars? It’s nonsense.
– What do you think of Jang Sung Taek?
I know him to be a reformer. He might do something. He’s an arrogant man. Wasn’t he doing so well that Kim Jong Il’s sister fell in love with him? However, he’s someone calling for opening. That’s how I know him.
– Can Kim Jong Eun take power?
I really don’t know. He is dragging around a time bomb. We don’t know when Kim Jong Il will die. If and when he does, Kim Jong Eun will probably become a puppet of China. China approved his appointment as successor. Without China the regime wouldn’t survive. That’s the deal.
– What do you think of the ‘Strong and Prosperous State’?
It’s never going to happen. It’s like a kid’s name . When it becomes clear that it has failed, I’ll be interested to see who dies. When they preach the ‘Strong and Prosperous State’, they see the people thinking, “With what are we going to make this ‘Strong and Prosperous State’?” That’s why Kim Jong Il is so busy. They are going to detach Hwanggeumpyeong, too, to give it to the Chinese.
– Do you have any belief or trust in the Party?
Almost none. All I think about is survival. Nothing else. I recite the slogans, but inside I am saying another slogan, “Making money is patriotism”. You give it to the state, so the people who make money are the real patriots. So you gotta earn money! (Laughs)
– What is the situation in the army?
The loyalty of the Chosun People’s Army is still strong. They accept that they work for the supreme commander. But they eat corn-meal and radish. Army life is tough and exhausting.
– Have you seen religious people in the North?
I have seen Buddhists. They are registered with the National Security Agency, so they are fakes. You will get arrested if you believe, and most people won’t risk that. Believing in God is violating the law.
– Do you want unification?
60 years have passed, but if it happens everything will be good. The Chosun people must become one nation. (That Chosun is still divided) is shameful for the world.
– How do you see the Yeonpyeong Island shelling and the sinking of the Cheonan?
The outside say that it was us, but our Party doesn’t acknowledge it. The 1987 Korean Air terrorist attack (KAL-858) and the Rangoon bombing (of 1983) are just the same. All were done by Chosun. A poster came out; it was a poster showing a South Korean battle ship being sunk by the People’s Army. That was last September. That has to be seen as the Cheonan.
