North Korea has recently provided workers at eight major munitions factories in Pyongyang, North Pyongan Province, and other areas of the country with eight months’ worth of rations, Daily NK has learned.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, a source in North Pyongan Province told Daily NK on Monday that “the rations were provided to workers at eight major munitions factories and their families in mid-May as a special favor from the Supreme Leader [North Korean leader Kim Jong Un].”
Before providing the rations, the authorities had said it had received food and raw materials for munitions in exchange for providing large amounts of weapons and war materials to Russia, a “fraternal nation,” the source said. Adding that it had secured about a year’s worth of food for munitions factories, officials said the state would effectively manage the food to provide priority supplies to key facilities.
In particular, North Korea promoted the idea that the food rations were “the result of the Supreme Leader’s strategic plans and activities.”
“When the workers at the eight major ammunition factories and their families, who had been in an unspeakably difficult situation due to food shortages, began receiving rations on May 14, they danced joyfully and called it a day of celebration,” the source said. “The rations consisted entirely of whole wheat and corn.”
In carrying out the provision, North Korea conducted a thorough crackdown to prevent corruption in logistics units of the munitions factories. It urged the factories to distribute the rations fairly and without trickery so that all the workers – the owners of the munitions factories – would receive food without exception.
After receiving the supplies, munitions factory officials appealed to the workers to “ensure a stable supply of the important munitions entrusted to us by the state and speed up the achievement of this year’s quota.” Workers, too, are working with more passion than ever, arriving at work early to “repay the Supreme Leader’s kindness.”
“In the major munitions factories that have received rations, the atmosphere has been electrified with a spirit to overcome past difficulties, unconditionally ensure attendance at work, and increase production to exceed quotas by 150% or 200%,” the source said.
Government handouts lead to rush to collect debts
As word of the latest handouts spreads, debt collectors are rushing to some workers’ homes to take away their food.
Some workers facing food shortages had borrowed several months’ worth of corn at high interest rates. After news of the government provisions broke, the lenders of this food immediately descended on the debtors to pressure them to repay the food with interest.
Since borrowing food is considered a personal matter, neither the police nor their workplaces can intervene. This leaves the workers with little choice but to solve their debt problems on their own, the source said.
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