It is almost harvest time in North Korea, which means that rural residents are preparing to protect their private vegetable gardens by spending time in small huts adjacent to the crops. The authorities may be absorbed in the various labor mobilization activities associated with their “200- Day Battle,” but rural residents are much more interested in maintaining their livelihoods.
“As the grain crops reach their prime in the autumn harvest, farmers are living in mud huts near their vegetable plots they cultivated near and around the village. Some residents have planted their crops in the mountainside areas. They have built small huts capable of fitting about one or two people. While there, they manage and guard their grain crops,” a source in South Pyongan Province reported to Daily NK on September 2.
“All the thieves come out during the autumn harvest season, requiring the residents to be nearby night and day. Because of this, the towns themselves are mostly filled by children and older folks these days, so it’s on the quieter side.”
The practice of staying in mud huts near private vegetable plots began around 2011. At that time, the regime began allowing residents to pay a de facto tax to cultivate their own private crops on personal plots of land. As a result of this development, the practice of guarding the crops by staying in small huts beside them also became commonplace.
From that point on, the residents began solving food shortage problems by managing their own gardens, growing vegetables such as corn, potatoes, soy, and various grains. The mud huts overlooking the plots are equipped with a kitchen and ondol [Korean underfloor heating system] and include various tools and utensils necessary for daily life. People typically spend about three months living in the huts, from August until the end of October.
“In the local vicinity, there are hundreds or thousands of pyeong [1 square meter is equal to 0.3025 pyeong] devoted to personal farms. Because of the persistent theft problem, most people regard it as unsafe to be absentee landlords. Even being off one’s guard for the smallest of moments could be a big mistake at this time of the year, when the fall grains are reaching harvest time,” the source explained.
“In the dark of the night and during the heat of the day, residents from other regions and soldiers living nearby have been known to pilfer the personal plots. Cooperative farms are guarded by teenagers and armed security guards. The slightest offense could have big repercussions. Thieves can even be sentenced to a labor camp, so would-be robbers tend to focus on personal plots, where the risks are much lower.”
Protecting one’s private plot has become a fundamental survival tactic, according to a separate source in North Pyongan Province. “That’s why residents are not interested in national level goals like the ‘200-Day Battle,’ which distract from their work,” he said.
“Because the rural towns are so quiet, the inminban leaders and security officers are having a tough time. They are issuing and relaying orders related to the ‘200-Day Battle,’ but the residents are not available for the mobilizations [either having paid to evade them or proving too difficult to track down].”
