FILE PHOTO: Rabbit stew, which is commonly consumed during the summer in North Korea. (Daily NK)

North Korea is taking measures to deal with an ongoing summer heatwave, warning people about heat stroke and adjusting working hours in response.

A source in South Pyongan Province told Daily NK on Thursday that the government had tasked the State Emergency Anti-epidemic Command with comprehensively managing the nation’s heatstroke problem. It also ordered that the authorities put a stop to heatstroke deaths from the high temperatures, and that measures be taken to “overcome” the heat, including adjusting working hours. 

According to the source, in a meeting on July 30, the party committee of South Pyongan Province — in accordance with an order from the State Emergency Anti-epidemic Command — instructed that efforts be taken to end heat stroke cases and deaths in the province, while calling for the formulation of plans “tailored to each city and county” to adjust local working hours and promote public well-being in preparation for the heat, which is expected to last until the end of August.

During the meeting, the provincial party committee said while cases of heat stroke emerge every year due to extreme temperatures, this is the first year so many people are collapsing or dying from it. It blamed this on the many cases of malnutrition, a problem directly linked to the miserable food situation.

The provincial party committee called for local factories and enterprises to organize work schedules to avoid the hottest hours of the day, and to adjust the beginning and end of the workday accordingly, taking into consideration the nature of each workplace. 

The provincial party committee also ordered workplaces and neighborhood watch units to report a daily tally of individuals who have collapsed or died from heat stroke.

In fact, neighborhood watch units were ordered to check the daily condition of local residents, taking immediate measures when cases of heat stroke emerge to prevent deaths. Above all else, the committee called on the neighborhood watch units to prevent cases of heat stroke among the elderly and young children.

The recent meeting of the province’s party committee also discussed measures to post printed warnings about heat stroke, ordering organized efforts to stick warnings in highly visible places such as next to the front door of workplaces or offices.

The committee also called for the prevention of food poisoning, warning that food easily spoils in hot, humid weather. It called on people to eat cooked food whenever possible, and to drink boiled water because of poor water quality. 

The source said the meeting also dealt with the pressing issue of eradicating mosquitoes, flies and other insects that inhabit stagnant water.

He noted that the government was originally planning to tackle these pressing problems in the form of a decree, but ultimately tasked the State Emergency Anti-epidemic Command with taking care of announcing warnings about these matters. 

Please direct any comments or questions about this article to dailynkenglish@uni-media.net.
Read in Korean