North Korean authorities recently ordered people to bring T-shirts emblazoned with the country’s flag to special state-run agencies when they fray rather than throwing them away.
North Korea is currently distributing T-shirts emblazoned with the flag as a way to encourage patriotism among young people.
A source in North Korea told Daily NK on Monday that the state has mass produced about 70 kinds of clothing articles with the national flag.
“An order has been handed down that if these pieces of clothing should become entirely frayed, they should be sold to state-run purchase centers in each district as waste fabric,” he said.
While one does not need permission from the state to throw out T-shirts with the flag, the state is telling people that they should bring the frayed shirts to state-run purchase centers or other designated places, rather than tossing them in the bin like ordinary trash.
In fact, several students recently got themselves in hot water after they were caught using old T-shirts with the North Korean flag as rags instead of returning them to a purchase center.
According to the source, in Nampo, some high school students, university students and Socialist Patriotic Youth League members at local factories and enterprises were cleaning up statues in the middle of the night between Sept. 7 and 8, ahead of the holiday marking the foundation of the North Korean government.
However, some of the high school and university students brought worn out T-shirts with the North Korean flag to use as rags. This was reported to the city’s party committee.
Nampo’s party committee discussed the incident as a serious matter, and on Sept 12, it called in the students in question and made them write self-criticism letters. It also notified the party committees of their parents’ workplaces of their transgressions.
“If clothes made from sacred cloth imprinted with the national flag frays, you need to bring them to a purchase center as waste fabric, but they got in trouble because they used them as damp cloths,” said the source.
“It became a serious political matter because [the authorities] took issue with their attitude and view of the flag, and with how the young generation views the nation,” he added.
Given that North Korea is producing and promoting T-shirts emblazoned with the North Korean flag to promote public patriotism, the authorities seem to be treating the thoughtless treatment of those T-shirts as a serious political matter.
However, the students in this case reportedly got off lightly with warnings rather than criminal punishments.
In fact, the source said the students were neither tried nor punished over the matter.
“The authorities dealt with it by instructing that [the students] be thoroughly educated at home,” he said.
“The party said it was the first time this problem had emerged, but because it wasn’t something worth trying them for, the party made them aware of their mistake and had them write self-criticism letters,” the source continued.
“The party committees where their parents work, the students’ schools and Socialist Patriotic Youth League organizations, too, were warned and ordered to explain to their members how to process clothing with the national flag when it frays,” he added.
However, one university student who was criticized over the matter was severely punished after he complained about the situation.
The source said the university student in Nampo remarked, “Even clothing with the North Korean flag is just a rag when it’s all worn out. I didn’t even use it to clean my house, but to clean up statues [of North Korea’s past and present leaders]. Is that something I need to write a self-criticism letter for?”
A kerfuffle ensued, and the Ministry of Social Security decided to send the student to a forced labor camp without even a trial, the source said.
The student was also rebuked for having dated a female student in his class when he was a freshman, and kicked out of school for being a born reprobate.
The source said it is dawning on people that treating clothing with the North Korean flag with disrespect brings trouble.
“Perhaps because of this, some people even say it’s better not to buy clothing with the North Korean flag,” he said.
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