In the run-up to the Feb. 8 holiday commemorating the founding of the North Korean army, the Kangwon Province Party Committee ordered party officials to “take good care” of the descendants of Korean-Japanese people who have supported the military in exemplary ways.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, a Daily NK source in the province said Wednesday that the organization department of the provincial party committee on Monday issued an order to local political organizations to “take good care of the lives and activities of the descendants of the Korean-Japanese to encourage them to become pioneers of the age at the forefront of economic construction and support of the military.”
According to the source, the order followed a visit by several descendants of Korean-Japanese people from Wonsan and disabled veterans to the First Corps headquarters in Hoeyang County on Sunday, where they delivered supplies and care packages.
“The descendants of Korean-Japanese people brought the disabled veterans to the First Corps headquarters and delivered KPW 5 million and about 200 kilograms of pork on the occasion of the Military Foundation Day,” the source said. “They also held a meeting between the soldiers of the guard company of the headquarters and the disabled veterans.”
Earlier, descendants of Korean-Japanese people had engaged in such “praiseworthy customs” as helping disabled veterans in Wonsan and taking disabled veterans to a rural housing construction site in Chongdo County to deliver KPW 4 million and 50 kilograms of pork.
“The [party committee] ordered the relevant political organizations to take care of the livelihood of the Korean-Japanese after receiving several reports of their deeds in Wonsan [such as] taking care of disabled veterans and taking the lead in supporting the construction sites of the socialist economy and the Korean People’s Army,” the source said.
Korean-Japanese descendants still barred from high positions
In particular, the provincial party committee ordered that medals and commendations be awarded to exceptionally meritorious individuals and called on political organizations to popularize the “unswerving loyalty of the Korean-Japanese descendants to the party and the state” throughout the province.
“Many Korean-Japanese descendants live in Wonsan,” the source said. “Most of them are engaged in trade between Chongjin and Wonsan, Hamhung and Wonsan, and Nampo and Wonsan, or commerce, and locals agree that it is not easy for the descendants of Korean-Japanese to willingly support [the army] when it is so difficult to make a living.”
However, descendants of Korean-Japanese people are still barred from high positions in powerful organizations such as the party and security agencies under North Korea’s songbun social classification system.
Because of this, people sympathize with them, saying that they “will never escape the stigma of being Korean-Japanese no matter how much money they contribute,” and that “an order from the provincial party committee won’t be enough to remove the leash of being Korean-Japanese, although an order from Kim Jong Un might do the trick.”
Translated by David Black. Edited by Robert Lauler.
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