North Hamgyong province has ordered reduced market hours through November to mobilize merchants and residents for land management projects. A source in the province told Daily NK that the party committee’s Nov. 2 directive requires merchants and neighborhood watch unit members in Chongjin and surrounding areas to participate in the work.
Each spring and fall, North Korea mobilizes citizens nationwide to plant trees, repair roads, clear waterways and prevent erosion to protect the ecosystem and prevent natural disasters.
The provincial party committee has assigned specific areas to marketplaces and neighborhood units. Market merchants selling similar products have been grouped together and given assignments.
The committee emphasized the need to supervise workers closely to ensure construction meets engineering and scientific standards.
Officials were instructed to stop inflating reports and accurately record achievements, with work reviews to be strictly fact-based.
The committee stressed environmental protection, saying workers must not damage nature while conducting land management work. Officials noted that allowing environmental damage would undermine the projects’ goals.
Calling land management an ongoing priority, the committee urged officials to take responsibility by working at project sites rather than leaving workers unsupervised.
The committee also emphasized creating a strong management system while addressing problems in the projects.
However, merchants and members of neighborhood watch units and women’s union chapters have expressed frustration with the directive.
“Women’s union members and merchants, most of whom are women, object to reduced market hours and mandatory land management work when they urgently need to prepare for winter,” the source said.
Daily NK works with a network of sources in North Korea, China, and elsewhere. For security reasons, their identities remain anonymous.
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