North Korean authorities are conducting a nationwide inspection focused on the cleanliness and general operations of restaurants, bath houses and other similar businesses. The inspections have led a considerable number of businesses in Sinuiju to close down almost overnight.
According to multiple Daily NK reporting partners in North Korea on Monday, North Korea has been carrying out intensive inspections of public catering facilities since last month, ostensibly to verify how well businesses are complying with the Law of the DPRK on Public Catering, which was enacted last December.
During the 23rd Plenary Meeting of the Standing Committee of the 14th Supreme People’s Assembly last December, North Korea enacted the law, whose articles were taken from the existing Law on Socialist Commerce.
Daily NK reported last month that officials from the Cabinet and State Planning Commission visited South Pyongan Province to inspect the state of sanitation of local public catering facilities and get a first-hand look at the quality of food and other goods and services.
In South Pyongan Province, the officials largely carried out intensive inspections of sanitation, handing out relatively light administrative punishments when infractions were discovered, such as warnings or fines.
In Sinuiju, however, the authorities have gone beyond simple administrative penalties, handing out severe punishments, including the confiscation of property.
In short, the authorities are inspecting not only the sanitation of restaurants, bathhouses, billiard halls, beauty salons and other facilities, but also their financial management and how transparent their operations are.
Inspection teams include officials from the Cabinet and State Planning Commission, as well as prosecutors and cadres from the Central Committee. Some businesses have been inspected more than two or three times.
Sinuiju residents are complaining about the intensity of the inspections, saying that “once again, Sinuiju is being punished to serve as an example for other areas.”
Even during the COVID-19 pandemic, residents of Sinuiju continued to engage in smuggling across the Yalu River. Now that the COVID-19 situation has stabilized, smuggling with China has grown even more recently.
CRACKING DOWN ON SMUGGLING
In fact, one reporting partner told Daily NK that the North Korean authorities have launched the special inspections in Sinuiju with a view to stop smuggling and to prevent people from illegally accumulating private property.
Most of the people who had their businesses confiscated in the latest inspection were members of the city’s branch of the Ministry of State Security who had been using their power in the city to operate restaurants, bathhouses and other businesses.
Soldiers or public security cadres run private businesses in other regions as well, but given Sinuiju’s location on the border with China, the environment is ripe for security agents to turn a blind eye to smugglers or take part in smuggling themselves. In fact, many agents have used the proceeds from smuggling operations to run private businesses like restaurants or bathhouses.
“If the authorities are carrying out an intense inspection in Sinuiju and meting out harsh punishments, we must take into account that the characteristics defining Sinuiju are at play,” said Cho Chung-hee, director of Good Farmers. “Sinuiju is close to China, which means smuggling is rife. There are also plenty of ethnic Chinese moving lots of money, and many businesses in the city are colluding with them.”
In short, North Korean authorities have long been keeping a special eye on Sinuiju because it is an area where anti-socialist behavior has long run rampant due to official and unofficial exchanges with China.
“The government has two goals here. Politically speaking, they want to make an example of people who have continued to engage in illegal, corrupt or anti-socialist activities. Economically speaking, they want to claim unpaid taxes or confiscate illegally accumulated assets,” Cho added.
Translated by David Black. Edited by Robert Lauler.
Daily NK works with a network of reporting partners who live inside North Korea and China. Their identities remain anonymous due to security concerns. More information about Daily NK’s reporting partner network and information gathering activities can be found on our FAQ page here.
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