Heavy monsoon rains in North Korea have disrupted the summer vacation plans of wealthy citizens, forcing many to postpone their seaside getaways and extend their travel permits. The downpours have damaged roads and beaches, complicating travel for the country’s elite who had planned to escape to popular coastal resorts.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, a Daily NK source in North Hamgyong Province said recently that wealthy people – otherwise known as donju – in Chongjin “who planned to go to famous beaches have recently been putting off their trips with heavy monsoon rains destroying and blocking roads, making getting around difficult.”
According to the source, beaches are the preferred summer destination of North Korean donju with the economic means, with the handful of donju in Chongjin having planned to spend their one-month summer vacations at Majon Beach in Hamhung or Songdowon Beach in Wonsan, Kangwon Province, between late July and late August.
In the past, few people went to beaches for summer vacation, but over the last couple of years, people with the money have been heading on family summer trips to famous beaches, seemingly competing with one another, the source said.
Ordinary people barely get by day-to-day due to hardship and cannot even dream of traveling, let alone going on summer holidays. However, donju now want to spend their free time and breaks in a leisurely manner rather than focusing only on making money.
Even this year, there was a noticeable uptick in donju receiving travel papers to head to their beaches of choice to spend the hot summer by the sea.
In North Korea, where there is no freedom of travel, people need to receive a travel certificate from “department no. 2” of their local people’s committee to go to a region outside their place of abode. Accordingly, people with travel plans must apply and receive the certificate in advance.
Initially, travel certificates were issued to temporarily lift travel restrictions for family events such as weddings or deaths involving relatives living far away, but they are easy to obtain with bribes.
However, recent heavy monsoon rains have hampered the donju’s travel plans. With impassible roads and muddied seawater rendering beaches unreachable or unenjoyable, donju have been extending their travel papers, even if they must pay bribes to the issuing agency’s officials to do it.
“Wealthy people are saying they will travel after the monsoons once the destroyed roads have been repaired,” the source said. “In North Korea, traveling is a real hassle because you need to jump through so many hoops and spend so much time. So people are complaining that they’ll need to spend more money if they have to delay their travel plans due to the rains.”
Daily NK works with a network of sources living in North Korea, China, and elsewhere. Their identities remain anonymous for security reasons.
Please send any comments or questions about this article to dailynkenglish@uni-media.net.
