Kim Su Gil was named the chief secretary of Pyongyang’s party committee during the Sixth Plenary Meeting of the Eighth Central Committee in late December. Recently, Daily NK has learned that he ordered Pyongyang officials to ascertain how many “food-poor families” live in the city and to provide them food.
It appears Kim is trying to win the hearts of city residents early in his term amid a situation where an increasing number of the country’s households are suffering from food shortages, even in the nation’s capital.
A source in Pyongyang told Daily NK last Tuesday that Pyongyang’s party committee called in party committee and people’s committee officials from the city’s districts and counties on Jan. 2. At the meeting, Kim Su Gil ordered them to thoroughly ascertain how many food-poor families live in the city and provide them with 10 days’ worth of food by the middle of the month.
In particular, the chief secretary called on district party committees to make it a priority to resolve the food shortages of households with two or more young children.
In response to the order, district and county party committees and people’s committees in Pyongyang have begun building a detailed knowledge of the food situation in their jurisdictions, including how food-poor families are putting meals together and how much food they have.
On Jan. 5, officials from the district party and people’s committees visited the homes of food-poor families attached to a single neighborhood watch unitNeighborhood watch units (inminban, people's units) are Nort... More in the Pyongchon-dong neighborhood, in the city’s Pyongchon District, to conduct detailed surveys of their food situation – even opening the lids of rice cookers and inquiring about which side dishes people were eating.
The officials discovered that 10 of the neighborhood watch unit’s 32 families lacked food to eat, the source said.
“Outwardly, Pyongyang may seem well-off without anyone starving, but about four out of 10 households lack enough food to eat,” he said.
“The authorities are unable to properly provide food due to COVID-19 and repeated natural disasters, so even Pyongyang is suffering severe food shortages these days,” the source added.
Kim Su Gil’s order to provide food to Pyongyang’s food-poor families seems aimed at improving improve wavering public opinion by convincing city residents that the Workers’ Party “is always looking after them with benevolence and love.”
Daily NK’s source said that city residents suffering from food shortages are eagerly awaiting food provisions, but “they’ll need to wait and see whether food provisions continue into the future.”
Translated by David Black. Edited by Robert Lauler.
Please direct any comments or questions about this article to dailynkenglish@uni-media.net.
