The residents of a village in North Hwanghae Province recently submitted an appeal to a local committee of the Workers’ Party of Korea to build a new rope bridge across a nearby river, Daily NK has learned.
“The villagers gathered recently to demand the replacement of a dangerous rope bridge crossing the Nam River in Sungho County,” a source in North Hwanghae Province told Daily NK last Wednesday, speaking on condition of anonymity for security reasons. The villagers live in Nodong Village, an area located in Sangwon County, North Hwanghae Province.
According to the source, villagers usually go to the nearby market in Sungho Village, Sungho County, instead of the market in their own county. But they have to cross the Nam River to get to the Sungho Village marketplace, and the current bridge is in such a state of disrepair that there have been several accidents there.
Last year, for example, three locals slipped off the bridge into the river and drowned, the source said.
“The rope bridge over the Nam River is made of wooden planks, and it wobbles so much during a crossing that it’s been nicknamed the ‘Wobbly Bridge.’ It’s known to be so dangerous that district officials tell people not to cross it on stormy days and during the monsoon,” the source said.
The repair crew from the Nodong village government and a river and stream maintenance company have worked together to add new planks to the bridge every year, but such minor repairs are not enough for such a rickety bridge. In fact, villagers take their lives in their hands whenever they cross the bridge on their way to the market in Sungho Village, the source said.
An unusually large number of villagers crossed the rope bridge on their way to the market because of the back-to-back holidays this year (Lunar New Year and Shining Star Day on Feb. 16, Kim Jong Il’s birthday). But several planks went missing over the winter, making the bridge more dangerous than ever, he said.
Appeal falls on deaf ears
Eventually, the villagers collectively appealed to the county party committee to replace the bridge, which had become too dangerous to cross. However, the committee ignored their appeal and told them to use the marketplace in Songga Village in Kangdong County, which is under the jurisdiction of Pyongyang.
“Nodong Village in Sangwon County is divided into two neighborhoods. The residents of one area use the marketplace in Songga-ri, Kangdong County, while those of the other area use the marketplace in Sungho Village. The county party committee didn’t pay attention to this when it told people that they could simply use the marketplace in Songga Village,” the source said.
The source added that the county party committee cares little about the quality of life of Nodong Village residents because of their dubious backgrounds: the village is one of the places where North Korean authorities banish social troublemakers.
“The county party committee has yet to take a position on the collective appeal. It is simply telling people to keep up with repairs to prevent loss of life because workers and resources are needed for the many construction projects in the latest state plan, and these cannot be diverted to build a rope bridge that is not part of the plan,” the source said.
Translated by David Carruth. Edited by Robert Lauler.
Daily NK works with a network of sources living in North Korea, China, and elsewhere. Their identities remain anonymous for security reasons. For more information about Daily NK’s network of reporting partners and information-gathering activities, please visit our FAQ page here.
Please send any comments or questions about this article to dailynkenglish@uni-media.net.
