Hyesan’s party committee secretary, people’s committee director, and the head of the local Ministry of Social Security office recently apologized to people affected by explosions that destroyed some of the city’s housing in early August, Daily NK has learned.
On Aug. 18, the senior officials visited the site of the incident to review progress in cleanup efforts and ordered “intensive” measures to get things back to normal, a source in Yanggang Province told Daily NK on Friday. The source, who requested anonymity for security reasons, said that the officials apologized for the government’s failure to properly respond to the incident and even promised that “those responsible” will be punished.
North Korea rarely issues apologies to people impacted by major incidents. One exemption was the collapse of a high-rise apartment building in Pyongyang in 2014. At the time, Chae Bu Il, the head of the Ministry of People’s Security (now the Ministry of Social Security), apologized to victims and their families, and his apology was widely reported through Rodong Sinmun and other state-run media.
According to the source, the latest apology was similar to the one in 2014 because it focused on the fact that the authorities did not react as well as they should have to the incident. The source speculated that the authorities may have been under pressure to issue an apology because their delayed response to the incident led to a rise in the number of casualties.
The issuance of an apology by senior officials may also have been part of the broader leadership’s efforts to show of their “love of the people.” In short, the apology can be compared to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un recently admitting to the failure of the five-year strategy for national economic development at a recent Central Committee meeting.
Rumors of the explosions in Hyesan have also spread quickly in North Korea and issuing the official apology may have aimed to head off any discontent among ordinary North Koreans.
“[The officials] promised to complete construction of new housing and have everyone move in before the start of the winter kimchi-making season,” the source said. “Each family of the victims was given KPW 80,000 [around USD 100], and blankets were also handed out to the families affected by the incident.”
The money, however, was reportedly collected from other locals and the blankets were Chinese-made.
According to the source, victims and their families are unhappy over the small amount of compensation and poor-quality relief supplies. Many reportedly believe that a similar incident could happen again in the future because fundamental issues that led to the poor government response remain unresolved.
“There are rumors that a fire truck with the municipal Ministry of Social Security did not have any gas to get to the scene [of the incident], despite the fact that the incident was reported [to the authorities] quickly,” the source said. “Without resolving such fundamental issue[s], people are very concerned that [similar] incidents will continue to occur.”
The alleged perpetrator of the explosions, the commander of a border guard post, has been dishonorably discharged from the military and sentenced to two years in a forced labor camp, the source further reported.
Two senior officials with the local Ministry of Social Security’s fire department have also been removed from their positions, he added.
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