“Special distribution” will be provided for the first time in a number of years to commemorate the 65th anniversary of the founding day of the Chosun Workers’ Party on October 10th.
A source from North Hamkyung Province reported the news to The Daily NK yesterday, saying, “This morning the chairman of my people’s unit announced door-to-door that on the 8th and 9th there would be food distribution for the holiday, so we should get the food allocated to us from the state-run store on these two days.”
Since the ordinary people of North Korea have not been given “special distribution” for a long time, people naturally wondered what was so special this time, the source added, saying that the chairman replied, “We are providing you with liquor and cooking oil because a decree has been handed down by the upper telling us to ‘deliver holiday distribution to the people,’ commemorating the Party Delegates’ Conference and the founding day of the Party.”
According to the source, the chairman added, “Since we have the twin joy of having the General again as Secretary General through the Delegates’ Conference and at the same time having the successor, this is a part of magnificently welcoming the anniversary of the founding day of the Party. As Comrade General Kim Jong Eun has become the successor, this is to arouse a celebratory atmosphere among the people.”
The source reported, “It is a relief that local cadres are going to supply at least cooking oil and liquor to us, reportedly owing to their being intimidated by the need to prepare to leave their positions if they don’t manage to distribute holiday supplies.”
Meanwhile, the source said that the details of the distribution are unclear. “Although the chairman of the people’s unit said they are giving cooking oil and liquor, he did not let us know how much,” he explained, continuing, “In the past, they provided us with 100 grams of cooking oil each, but that is an old story. If they give us 50 grams, it will be amazing. If so, a family of four would receive almost half a bottle of oil and at least a bottle of liquor.”
On February 16th this year, even though the authorities declared a rare four-day holiday since it included the lunar New Year’s Day and Kim Jong Il’s birthday, they provided people with nothing, and military officials and cadres only received a bottle of liquor and a kilogram of meat.
Additionally, over the traditional Korean thanksgiving holiday in September, the authorities issued a decree declaring another four days off so people could “enjoy the biggest national holiday”, and instructing work places and Party organs to distribute special products. However, this was only propaganda; internally the authorities told cadres to deal with the holiday according to their provincial situation, according to the source.
Until the March of Tribulation in the mid-1990s, the North Korean authorities provided people with special products on national holidays such as the birthdays of Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il, New Year’s Day and the founding day of the Party. However, going through the hardships of the late 1990s, holiday distribution slowly but surely disappeared.
Thereafter, with the notable exception of Pyongyang, the authorities left special distribution on national holidays to provincial committees and/or work places. Therefore, in some regions people got corn or potatoes. However, nobody ever received pork, liquor or cooking oil from Pyongyang. Of course, in local Party organs and strategic enterprises, cadres continued to receive regular gifts of this sort.
The Daily NK has also just received news that the authorities also plan to provide a small amount of meat to each household as part of this special distribution.
