With state-sponsored construction projects underway in Sinuiju city and Uiju and Yomju counties in North Pyongan province, officials responsible for feeding construction workers are scrambling to find supplies.
A source in the province told Daily NK recently that soldiers and labor brigades are currently building large greenhouses, a vegetable science research center, and flood barriers in Sinuiju and Uiju, which have been undergoing recovery efforts since heavy flooding last July. In neighboring Yomju county, factories are being constructed as part of North Korea’s “20×10 regional development policy.”
With the ongoing need to supply mobilized workers with food and daily necessities, logistics officials are frantically visiting local farms and warehouses with supply vouchers to collect vegetables, soap, and other essential items.
Since these supplies are scarce, officials have to compete with each other to grab as many materials as possible.
“The marshal (Kim Jong Un) once said that ‘logistics is politics,’ and there’s a tendency here to emphasize how important logistics officials are. When there’s a shortage of food and other materials, these officials take vouchers from their bosses and go around to farms and warehouses collecting whatever supplies they can find,” the source said.
Officials compete for scarce resources
“There’s a saying that ‘those who make rice cake get to eat rice cake.’ People assume that those handling food and supplies can profit from their position, so many are jealous of logistics officers and see it as a cushy job. But the reality is these people are always running around frantically.”
Even when logistics officers bring vouchers, their warehouse visits are completely pointless if other officers have already cleaned them out. They can try going elsewhere, but they have to sit around and wait unless they offer bribes or use connections to speed things up, the source said.
Logistics officers say sourcing food is especially stressful in summer. That’s when their superiors constantly pressure them to prepare hearty meals and cooling snacks to keep construction workers motivated when their energy drops in the heat.
“Obviously, construction workers sweating in blazing sun and humid weather have it tough. But logistics officers put in surprising effort to source food and other necessities for those workers. Everyone’s focused on their own struggles because of the unreasonable system that expects people to complete their jobs without any real support,” the source said.
