Interview 3
Name: Kim Eun Hye
Sex: Female
Age: Late 30s
Home town: Pyongsung, North Pyongan Province
Job: Restaurant employee in China
(Editor’s note: Kim ordinarily lives in Pyongsung, North Pyongan Province. Previously, she had her own trading business and was able to save some money. Then she lost her assets in the currency redenomination. She subsequently came to visit a relative in China to ask for some help, and plans to work in a restaurant there until she has enough money to try again)
– Where did you trade?
In Pyongsung Wholesale Market. With the exception of the wives of high ranking cadres, everybody trades in the market. Laborers and teachers alike. More than half the 30 households in each People’s Unit work in the market, I reckon.
– What did you sell?
I’d go to the market at dawn and sell rice and eye glasses to buyers from Pyongyang. I made about 7000 won per day. People with Pyongyang I.D. can travel to Pyongsung without a travel permit.
The household made about 15,000 won per month. We were pretty average, but not quite middle class. We ate three meals a day, but had problems because we had to give money to our kids.
– What was the effect of the currency redenomination?
I managed to save little by little before that. I sent my son to college, maintained the household and still saved up about $2500. I was planning on buying a house with it. After the redenomination, less than $200 was left. Everybody suffered the same way. People with bigger businesses lost more. Many people attempted to commit suicide because of that.
Also, many traders suffered. The money men were ok, but all the small businessmen lost out. They exchanged our money at a 100:1 rate up to 100,000 won, and said we would be living well within a month. They said not to burn the money, that national commerce would flourish, and department stores would open. Traders trusted them and went ahead and lowered their prices.
After a month, Pyongyang No. 1 Department Store was open, but their prices were not marked at the 100:1 rate. They were close to the original prices. All the vendors were watching the department store; they realized it was wrong and quickly raised their own prices.
My hometown is Shinuiju. After my husband died, I sold everything I had and brought the money with me to Pyongsung, but it all turned into scrap paper.
After the redenomination, the people harbored a bitter grudge and should have protested, but North Korea is not that kind of place. People can’t protest in North Korea. Park Nam Ki was shot for rebelling against the Party. But people are not stupid, and now we don’t trust the state.
– Since the currency redenomination, what do people thing about the Party or the state?
They don’t trust them. The people were even afraid of the word ‘dictatorship’ in the past but now they talk. The redenomination was nothing but a hoax. Now people don’t even believe it when they tell us tofu is made with beans. People have to look after themselves. They say foreign currency cannot be used and the market will be controlled, but the people don’t go along with it. We go our own way.
– How interested do you think Kim Jong Il is in the lives of ordinary people?
I saw on TV news that a 28-storey building with 5-room apartments has been built near Pyongyang Station. They said it was a ‘gift’ from General Kim Jong Il. Among the units, one unit was given to the National Orchestra and another to Enhasu. We heard that the General gave direct onsite guidance for these ‘artists’ apartments.’
I felt so bad that I had to shut off the TV in the middle of it. Scientists and engineers don’t even have houses; they’re even having trouble getting the food they need daily. 5-room apartments are an unreasonable luxury. The people feel deceived. They should build many more 2-room apartments instead, so that a lot more people can receive help.
– What’s the currency used in the market?
Dollars and Chinese Yuan. Prices rise and fall depending on the value of these foreign currencies. The price of rice fluctuates, too. My savings are only in foreign currency. Now that we don’t believe in the government, we gather US Dollars. Even though the government says foreign currencies are prohibited, we only save Dollars or Chinese Yuan.
We believe the Dollar will have value as long as the US stands. When I was in China, I sensed that the US won’t go away. In North Korea, the people are bankrupt and trust has been lost. Between close friends, people sometimes say, ‘The General listens to music and watches famous figures in shows. He rides his train and takes vacations; what good fortune!’
– Have you watched a lot of South Korean TV dramas?
Most young people watch them despite the government’s prohibition. I have seen two; one at my mother-in-law’s place in Wonsan. They had a video tape. Their son is young, so he brings them home. It was all CD’s in the past, now USB memory. We watch them on a DVD player. Just about everyone who is awake to what is going on watches them.
– What happens if you get caught?
Even if they use a detector, due to the memory in the player we can’t be caught. Young people watch as much as they want. Recently there have been more controls on young people. If someone gets caught, they are exiled from Pyongyang. We have to be careful. But they don’t have enough people to send agents to every household. We watch all the latest dramas, too.
– Do you know any South Korean TV or movie stars?
Yes I know Hyun Bin, Kwon Sang Woo, Lee Beom Soo, Ha Ji Won etc. I remember the ones that I like. Im Hyun Sik is a good actor. He is very believable in his roles. Lee Beom Soo and Ha Ji Won also are good actors.
I like Kwon Sang Woo better than Hyun Bin. I think he is very attractive. I have seen his dramas about 10 times. High cadres watch the dramas, too. NSA agents and cadres go home at night and watch dramas. For them, there’re no controls so they watch them freely. Since everyone knows that they watch them, even if they speak strongly, they can’t do very much.
– How is the military doing?
That’s the hardest thing to talk about. I heard most average soldiers in Pyongsung are malnourished. Women serve in the military for 6 years, and when I was at a military base last, I noticed that the soldiers all looked so pale. I asked one lady when she had come to the base. She said one year before. There was almost no fat on her breast or behind.
Going into the military, there is something called the ‘sandball period’. It means a period of malnourishment. Everybody goes through it. I guess poor quality food together with extensive physical labor causes malnutrition. Outside Pyongyang, no solders have access to white rice.
They mix corn flour and husks and eat that. A few pieces of potato and a couple of bits of sweetcorn. Maybe that’s why they learn to steal in the military.
– Do soldiers die of malnutrition?
Yes it happens quite regularly. The military typically says the death occurred during training. If they informed the parents in time they would survive, but they say they will treat them and in the end they all die. They become weak, get tuberculosis or some other disease and then die.
– How is the relationship between soldiers and civilians?
In the past they were called the People’s Army, but not anymore. Soldiers steal things from the jangmadang; sometimes we capture them, other times they hit us. Even though they really bother us, we know how dire the military circumstances are, so we don’t make a big deal out of it.
– What’s the poverty rate in Pyongsung approximately?
If you can’t trade and have no money, are you not poor? Most workers’ families live that way. One lady comes here from Pyongyang to find products, yet still worries about food for her family. Even in Pyongyang, when they say there will be distribution, people line up from 1AM in front of the distribution center. Some even sleep there. If that is the situation in Pyongyang, don’t even ask about Pyongsung. It’s still better than most places, though.
– How about the lower classes?
In our neighborhood, we eat three meals a day as standard. There are many people who can’t do that. Many people are not smart enough to survive.
– Have you seen anyone starve to death?
I went to Baeksong-ri last July; a child and her mother died there. Apparently they ate rat poison because they couldn’t cope with continuously being hungry. The kid was smart but had no father. The mother worked in a munitions factory and that’s all she knew. They lived off her income, and when she had no money, she couldn’t trade. They relied only on the rations from the factory, and when they were stopped, that is what happened.
She was the head of the household so going to the factory was mandatory. It was so sad.
– Did you see this personally?
The rat poison wasn’t enough. The mother died very soon after taking the poison, but the child was clinging to his classroom teacher crying “I don’t want to die, I don’t want to die.” Apparently the mother said “Let’s eat” and they ate, but she had put the poison in the food. The teacher took the child to the military hospital but it was too late. The son had no idea that it was going to happen.
The boy asked for help but he didn’t make it. He was in his graduating year of senior middle school and was doing well. He was planning to go to a high school for good students. His body was weak and he wasn’t in good condition for the military. His scores were high but he couldn’t go to college because there was no money. When her pay was late and they had no food, the mother thought that was it and decided that they should give up.
– What do people say about Kim Jong Eun?
We ask what a young man like him can do. We often reminisce about the period under Kim Il Sung. Things were good back then. Kim Jong Eun has the appearance of Kim Il Sung during the time of the liberation of the motherland; but he is too young. He has never suffered, and people wonder whether he can keep power. Kim Jong Eun knows nothing of suffering. He also knows nothing of our suffering.
On the bus or in restaurants, people talk about how someone who studied capitalism should run the country. They criticize the current political situation. They say there are too many traitors. It’s not just traders, everybody expresses their opinion. At least now we have enough freedom to speak accurately.
– I heard people don’t think highly of Jang Sung Taek?
We are not interested in Jang Sung Taek. He is the Director of the Ministry of Administration, but we only know him as Kim Kyung Hee’s husband. He is known as someone who takes care of himself. Kim Kyung Hee’s role seems big. Kim Kyung Hee is the sister of Kim Jong Il, and as such often accompanies him.
The General once said there are many spies and anti-revolutionaries around and we can’t trust anyone, so family members should help each other. Kim Kyung Hee’s role seems pretty big.
– Have you heard of the graffiti incident (criticizing Kim Jong Il)?
That seems to happen once or twice a year. Last March there was also graffiti criticizing the Party. They caught the person who did it; it was a college student. After that there was one talking badly about Kim Jong Il on the wall of a revolutionary historical site in Pyongsung Whenever such incidents occur the rumor spreads like wildfire.
– How do people react to such stories?
On the surface, not much. Between people who know each other, they do say how true the graffiti is.
– Why are there no protests in North Korea?
If anyone leads or participates in a riot, then three generations of the family will be exterminated.
– I heard Pyongsung can receive South Korean TV?
There is a small size TV that’s about as big as my palm. It’s a South Korean satellite TV, and can show 36 channels. With an adjustable antenna, you can watch any South Korean channel. Someone showed it to me too but I told him to get lost. It’s too risky. I heard these TV’s are brought in by people going to and from China.
– Do you think Kim Jong Il will ever embrace reform and opening?
It’d be good if he did, but he won’t. They just keep pouring out anti-South Korea stuff. I reckon something serious will happen next year.
– What do you think about food aid from other countries?
Aid doesn’t come to the people. I believe it comes with a cross on it. If just 10% of the rice going to the military went to the people, it would be a big improvement, but is that likely?
– What are government officials’ lives like?
They live well and have fancy homes. Their apartments use separate electric power cables so they don’t lose their power much. Their lives are so much better than ours.
– How about those who are well off in Pyongsong?
All wealthy people use South Korean products. All the cosmetics they use are South Koreans too. This is typical of people with power and those earning lots of money from trade; they all have their funds. NSA agents and cadres too; because they have power, they have wealth.
They buy the best things from the jangmadang, too. They buy wool coats and ‘skinny jeans’. Despite the controls, they cut their hair in the South Korean style and speak like South Koreans.
-South Korean dialect is popular?
We hear “oppa” sometimes here. My kids use quite a lot of South Korean style spoken language. Particularly in Pyongsung, because it catches trends fast, you commonly see South Korean clothing styles like dresses. Hairstyles too; people follow the styles from South Korean movie stars or TV drama characters. Women let down their hair long and men make theirs pointy on top like Hyun Bin. Some dye their hair and some wear short skirts too. The country calls it “The cheap South Chosun wind” and tells us not to do it.
