Provincial Party cadres received a box of gifts ahead of Kim Jong Il’s birthday, while the common people of a few regions even received special distribution, Daily NK has learned. However, plenty of people also went without.
A source from Hyesan in Yangkang Province told Daily NK this morning, “On the 13th there was an event at which a box with Kim Jong Eun’s name on it was conveyed to cadres including the Chief Secretary, People’s Safety Ministry head, the secretary responsible for the National Security Agency and also Party delegates.”
The gift box apparently contained fruit from the south of North Korea and various snacks.
However, the source added of local citizens, “We did not have hope for any kind of gift of ‘consideration’ on the 16th, and until yesterday they had not given us sweets or even a drop of oil. All they did was giving about 1kg of snacks to elementary school students.”
Yet elsewhere there has been special distribution for people in other cities and districts in North Hamkyung Province. The quantity of the special rations depends on local Food Policy Department supplies, meaning that some areas are better served than others.
“Five days of rations were given to the people in Chongjin and a week plus 200g of oil per person for those in Musan County. 1.5kg of snacks were given per household and prize money was given to workers with excellent result in the 2.16 Memorial Production Competition at Musan Mines,” the source said.
According to the source, the 16th and 17th have been given off as holidays. As people swarmed to the market from the 15th, rice also went up from 3,100 won to 3,400 won per kg and pork rose to 10,000 won per kg, the Hyesan source revealed.
The Hyesan source said, “The people will be off for two days, today and tomorrow. They even sent electricity since morning, although because of the low voltage it is difficult to determine whether the lights are turned off or on. In the afternoon around 3PM there’s a college ball in front of Kim Jong Suk Art Theater and also a concert by the Union of Democratic Women”
In addition, there will be a firework display tonight at 8PM at Jong Il Peak, behind Kim Jong Il’s mythical birthplace at Samjiyeon.
The Hyesan source said of this, “There was an order to strengthen guard patrols on the China-North Korea border from yesterday to tomorrow so people are not able to draw water from the river”.
