Food rations have been distributed to residents living in certain regions of Ryanggang Province following an on-the-spot guidance visit by Kim Jong Un to the area earlier this month.
“The Party ordered food rations to be supplied to certain areas including Samjiyon County, Taehongdan County and Paekam County after Kim Jong visited the Samjiyon area,” said a Ryanggang Province-based source on July 30.
“There were no food rations supplied to other more populous municipal areas that have a lot of families and workers.”
The authorities supplied 10-day rations twice, so those who were selected received a total of 20 days of rations. Prior to the collapse of the country’s public distribution system, food rations were generally given every 15 days.
“There are many people living in Samjiyon County, Taehongdan County and Paekam County who are suffering because they cannot earn enough money, and they were happy to receive the rations. People are excited because there are rumors that more rations will come next month, too,” a separate source in Ryanggang Province reported.
“Those who received the rations said that it was like a dream because they had nothing to eat. They expressed hope that they could receive similar 20-day rations in the future.”
“Despite having worked for free for the government for so long, they were so excited to receive ‘free’ food rations that they stared at what they received for a long time,” she said, adding that the “family’s kids jumped all over the rations in excitement when they saw their parents’ happiness.”
The source also reported that a government official in Taehongdan County, one of the areas in which rations were handed out, told local residents that there is a possibility that rations will continue to be given out because [the state] has been bringing in food from China for “some time.”
