More than a month has passed since the lights at the
inter-Korean Kaesong Industrial Complex went out. The Daily NK has learned that
the local residents of Kaesong have been struggling with the sudden lack of
electricity and are lamenting the loss of comforts they had once enjoyed.
“Kaesong residents are saying they found more comfort in the
bright lights of the complex than in communism, so they’re greatly saddened by
the closure,” a source from North Pyongan Province told Daily NK on March 16. “Some cadres have likened the closure to losing a home that used to keep them
warm.”
The source also claimed that the North Korean staff employed
at Kaesong had enjoyed traveling to work every day on a modern bus and working
in a clean and refreshing environment, as well as having access to emergency
medical assistance and medicine if they got sick on the job.
The area surrounding the Kaesong Industrial Complex was
attractive for having significantly more favorable economic conditions than
other areas. With electricity and hot water available 24 hours a day, people
even used to say, “The Kaesong complex is our glimmer of hope and the only paradise this socialist world can provide,” according to the source.
“The residents of Kaesong say they’ll not be able to forget
the South Korean companies who gave them a taste of civilized life and advanced
technology,” he added, going on to speculate that having lost the complex that
allowed them to live as proper human beings, it will take a significant amount
of time before these memories fade.
In light of Pyongyang’s announcement that it will liquidate
all South Korean assets at the inter-Korean complex, Kaesong residents have
expressed animosity saying the state has ‘cut off their lifeline,’ an
additional source in South Pyongan Province reported.
“Many residents had been hoping for a reopening of the
complex, so there have been some overt expressions of anger towards the state
for announcing it will liquidate the assets there,” she explained. There has
also been criticism of the leadership for handling the complex hosting foreign
companies “just as they would a common merchant,” with some likening the state
to an “immature father.”
“Some residents say the overnight closure of a ‘complex
built for ten years’ as was witnessed at Kaesong is a tragedy triggered by
‘mood-driven politics’ that can only be seen in North Korea,” she said.
“The once bright city of Kaesong has now turned into a
gloomy area, so it’s only natural that people here are expressing significant
hostility toward the leadership,” the source surmised, adding that there are
some who still hope for the ‘good old days’ and even now still dream of the
complex reopening.
