Facing a shortage in raw materials and
funds for the Ryomyong Street construction project in Pyongyang [hailed in
state media as Kim Jong Un’s next legacy project], the authorities are piling
pressure on residents to make larger contributions, including in the form of
donations of household goods, Daily NK has learned.
“We are seeing all kinds of orders being
handed down due to the Ryomyong Street construction project in Pyongyang,” a
source from South Pyongan Province reported to Daily NK. “They are demanding
contributions of raw materials, equipment, and resources to be provided through
mass campaigns involving all residents.”
“Trading companies are also being pushed to
reduce their imports from China of preferred daily goods to less than half, and
to bring in rebars (steel), cement, glass, and other construction materials
instead,” the source said. Despite this, he added, trading company heads are
“hesitant and trying to determine how long the current state of affairs will
last,” as they grapple with financial difficulties brought on by international
sanctions.
This news was corroborated by additional sources in Pyongyang and North Pyongan Province.
Ryomyong Street is intended to become a
refurbished strip connecting Kumsusan Palace, where the embalmed bodies of
former leaders Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il lie, to the Ryonghung intersection
near the Tower of Eternal Life. Kim Jong Un has personally pushed for it to be
completed by next year, but the project has run into difficulties due to a
shortage of materials.
In an attempt to address these issues, the
state had previously been making efforts to dredge sand and stones from the
Taedong River, but has moved on to areas near the west coast. As a result,
recent train shipments are said to be loaded with sand, stones, and wood,
rather than the essential daily goods they normally carry.
“The state is pressuring steel mills,
rolling mills, and cement factories across the nation to prioritize production
and guarantee supply for the construction project,” the source said. “Along
with this, it has handed out quotas for state companies, schools, and inminban
(people’s units) across the country for scrap iron and metal, so children and
adults alike are under considerable strain.”
These directives have sent students to
sediment processing areas run by state factories and waste piles in villages to
search for scrap metal. Inminban leaders are visiting all households regularly
in the search for shovels, pickaxes, nails, and welding rods for construction,
as well as gloves, soap, and wash towels together with their “donation
requirements”, and generally giving residents a difficult time, said the
source.
However, with most construction materials
already scavenged during the “70-Day Battle,” the state is forcing the
mobilized students and residents to comb through their local districts to
collect what few items remain, such as discarded rebar pieces. Some cadres are
even demanding people donate their cooking pots, briquette tongs, fire pokers,
and other metal objects at home, the source reported.
Outside of the capital, tension is mounting
between residents and inminban leaders who are pressuring them for more
provisions to beautify the capital, an area of the country effectively inaccessible
for the majority of the population.
