Some North Korean women have been expressing their discontent with an editorial that ran in the Rodong Sinmun on International Women’s Day (Mar. 8) that urged women to show their devotion to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
“Women in the city of Hoeryong couldn’t help feeling upset about the editorial that ran in the Rodong Sinmun on International Women’s Day on Mar. 8. Women already strive to be faithful and devoted to the state and the family for their whole lives, and now they’re being told to be even more faithful and devoted to the state and to the Marshal [Kim Jong Un],” a source in North Hamgyong Province told Daily NK on Tuesday, speaking on condition of anonymity.
After asserting that “North Korean women today fully enjoy precious lives of happiness under the heavenly love and care of our dear comrade the General Secretary [Kim Jong Un],” the Rodong Sinmun editorial said that “it is the greatest blessing and joy for North Korean women to revere our dear comrade the General Secretary as the father of this great socialist family.” That characterization rubbed North Korean women the wrong way, the source claimed.
The source explained that women were nonplussed to hear the government’s propaganda about “lives of happiness” when women, who have been responsible for their family’s livelihoods amid the economic hardship caused by COVID-19, are engaged in a veritable battle to make a living from the moment they wake up until the moment they go to sleep.
A woman in her 40s in Hoeryong was quoted as saying, “Blessings and joy are the kind of things you talk about when people have enough to eat. They’re not suitable for times like the present when people are floundering in poverty and fainting from hunger.”
“For mothers who weep to see their hungry children growing ever more emaciated, it’s hard not to curse at the false propaganda in the Rodong Sinmun and on the television,” the woman said.
A women in her 50s in Hoeryong said: “We women are plagued not only with our family livelihood but also with economic contributions and social responsibilities. I’m so exhausted when I get up in the morning I sometimes wish I could just sleep forever instead.
“When I get together with other housewives, we often lament our fates and ask how much longer we’ll have to live like this. It’s infuriating to see them spouting all this ridiculous propaganda in feigned ignorance of our suffering,” she added.
“You’d be hard-pressed to find any women who are as faithful and devoted to their state, family and society as the women of North Korea. But considering that poverty and suffering are their only reality, it’s time for the state to stop driving them like beasts of burden and to take action so they can enjoy lives of genuine happiness,” the source said.
The Rodong Sinmun published an editorial titled “North Korean women’s mental fortitude and devoted effort are a powerful drive of our country’s revival and development” on the third page of the Mar. 8 edition.
“The crucial aspect of North Korean women’s revolutionary demeanor is the patriotic devotion with which they gladly sacrifice everything for the strength and prosperity of their country. All women here must be firmly committed to maintaining absolute loyalty to our dear comrade the General Secretary and must resolutely stay true to the path of patriotism,” the newspaper said.
Translated by David Carruth. Edited by Robert Lauler.
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