More Workers’ Party cadres in North Korea
are tuning into banned radio broadcasts beamed in from other countries on a
regular basis, and with this comes growing awareness about the differences
between the North Korean leadership and the outside world, Daily NK has learned.
“Party cadres secretly listen in on radio
broadcasts and compare news from there with what’s reported in newspapers
published for cadre members, so they can get a better grip on international
affairs,” a source in North Hamgyong Province told Daily NK on Tuesday. “Once
you start comparing things with normal countries, it’s only natural you end up
criticizing, to some degree, how abnormal things are.”
Two additional sources in Kangwon Province
corroborated this news.
“Party cadres who take the train to go on
business trips often find themselves sitting around and drinking because the
trains stop due to power shortages. This is when you can hear them complain a
bit about the leadership,” the source explained
“One of the first things they talk about
once they get drunk is the shortage in electricity. It starts with the question
of why the country still has so little power despite the completion of the power plant up in Baekdu, and it ends with people saying the country will never
become what it claims it will.”
The chronic power shortage in the North
more than often slams the brakes on train operations, creating demand among passengers
for drinks and food, which is now supplied by vendors in major cities. This is
when such conversations often take place among cadres stuck on the tracks.
“Women get onboard the train after it has
stopped and sell noodles and other simple dishes, as well as alcohol and
water; kkotjebi (North Korea’s population of
homeless children) also crowd into the train and sell water,” the source said.
These scenes mingle with the deluge of outside information cadres absorb while illicitly tuning into radio broadcasts from beyond North Korea’s borders, spurring the passage of more in-depth reflections between travel companions. According to the source, the discussion frequently veers towards talk of the ubiquitous nature of market activity in modern North Korea, where the population has long since dropped expectations that the state will provide for it.
