Daily NK discusses life in North Korea under Kim Jong Eun . | Image: Daily NK

The North Korean authorities claim that public projects undertaken by the Kim Jong Eun regime are done in order solely to improve the lives of ordinary North Korean civilians. This, they say, is a reflection of Kim’s own strongly held love for his people.

Even though news agencies like Daily NK note that this type of propaganda is not reflective of reality on the ground, there are always some who harbor doubts, and suspect that the true feelings of the North Korean people may be different.

To assuage these doubts, Daily NK recently sought out the opinions of visa-holding North Korean citizens on family visits in China. What we found was a unified voice of condemnation, one that laments the course chosen by the regime of Kim Jong Eun.

For example, one interviewee who had come to China from her home in Pyongyang said, “It would have been better if they had not built facilities like that water park, and had just helped people to live better. Shouldn't they be doing that, so that the masses no longer starve?”

“People are having a hard time, what with getting mobilized for this and that construction project,” she went on critically. “In factories the managers keep getting their workers to pay money or give cement, and nobody can push back against it. They just have to do it. If you say you haven’t got any money, they’ll tell you to borrow it.”

However, “If you say anything about [the actions of the authorities] they’ll arrest you, so we just think it instead.”

Even people who failed the physical entrance test for the military were mobilized to one construction project, the building of Masikryeong Ski Resort in Gangwon Province, according to North Pyongan Province resident Kim Jeong Nan. “In Chosun, students take the entrance test between April, when they graduate, and August," he explained. "A portion of the people who failed were mobilized to the Masikryeong Ski Resort construction site, while the rest were sent to workplaces.”

Echoing the sentiment of the first interviewee, Kim declared, however, “Sitting here I can complain about it, but if I did it there it would be a major problem.”

“Our factory had to go out and help with the building of Masikryeong Ski Resort; it was a really tough time,” a second North Pyongan Province informant recalled to Daily NK. “When there were lectures and study sessions, they told us ‘let’s tough it out for a little while even though it’s hard. Just trust in the General and tough it out.’”

Park Min Jun from Sinuiju in North Pyongan Province added dejectedly, “People just snort at the construction of amusement facilities. We think it’s all just construction for the sake of the Marshal’s record of achievement. That kind of thing is just going to both make people’s lives and the economy harder.”

Lee Ju Hee from Kaecheon in South Pyongan Province agreed. “People wonder why they didn’t use the money they invested in Masikryeong Ski Resort and Munsu Water Park to help the ordinary people get by," he said. "It’s true that those amusement facilities will draw foreigners to Chosun, but how much can they really earn that way?”  

However, yet again Lee struck a note indicative of pervasive fear in North Korean society, explaining that a person "may think that the Marshal should be using some of the absurd sum he is spending on nuclear tests and the construction sector for ordinary people, but you have to be careful what you say. People like us have to hold our tongues and just get on with it.”

Despite interviewing a diverse range of informants, Daily NK heard an almost unified opinion of the actions of the Kim Jong Eun regime to date. While the propaganda states that Kim is improving ordinary lives, the reality is that the construction undertaken thus far has not been for them at all.

Water and sewage works manager Park Sang Ho from Haeju in South Hwanghae Province declared, “People couldn't take a positive view of it even if they wanted to, because none of the various construction projects is of any help to our lives. Life is hard, and we have neither the time nor the money to go and play in those places.”

“It’s all designed to be shown to the outside, and only rich cadres and Pyongyang residents can go to play there,” Park concluded. “Normal people can’t even go. There is no way you can say it is being done for the people.” 

 * This article was made possible by support from the Korea Press Foundation. Names have been changed to protect the innocent.