Ahead of the 21st anniversary since the
death of North Korea’s founding leader Kim Il Sung, which falls on July 8th,
Pyongyang has been ordering enhanced surveillance around the statues of its two
late leaders and other monuments rather than organizing related events, Daily
NK has learned.
State officials in Yangkang Province
started construction on Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il statues late last year with the goal to complete it in time for October’s Korean Workers’ Party
Foundation Day. This further strained an already beleaguered population, who, under the directive, struggled to fulfill supply quotas.
“Instead of putting together gatherings to
mourn and look back on Kim Il Sung’s passing, the state is more focused on
beefing up security around the statues,” a source in Yangkang Province told
Daily NK on Tuesday. “The authorities have even ordered 24-hour surveillance for the towers
of eternal life, angering residents.”
This ire, stemming from now having to guard the eternal life towers scattered across the city in addition to constructing statues and performing city-wide clean up work, is so patent, “it’s written all over people’s faces,” he explained.
Party cadres have been emphasizing the need
for this extra patrol work, calling on people to remain vigilant, “as assailants
looking to blow up such monuments do not show up announced,” according to the
source, who added that officials have also been constantly reiterating that people
should “be on their best behavior” during the mourning period.
In fact, officials with every enterprise in the region are on equally high alert,
doubling their efforts to monitor workers to ensure they carry out their
responsibilities properly lest responsibility for their poor performance fall
on those higher up the chain.
“Residents who are caught nodding off lash
out at these officials, asking why they’re being monitored, while officials fire
back that they can’t shoulder the blame for the shortcomings of their workers,”
he reported.
This frustration is nothing new, increasingly on the rise among those tasked with extra patrol work during national holidays or
state anniversaries. Many point out, “Why are we toiling for hours to revere the
dead while those alive hardly receive the support that they need?”
Others
comment that redirecting the money for the statues back to the people and
improving their lives would be far more constructive and productive.
“The state of this country seems to be
pretty bad based on the fact that they are guarding these statues around the
clock during the period of mourning,” the source mused.
“The more the state pushes for the
adulation of its leaders, the more people will challenge it.”
