A young man in Samjiyon recently threw himself in front of the car of a city party committee cadre because he was disgruntled about being transferred to Taehongdan County, Daily NK has learned.
According to a Daily NK source in Yanggang Province on Monday, the young man caused the accident on Jan. 20, right before the Lunar New Year holiday, to protest the inclusion of his name on a list of “petitioners” to be sent to Taehongdan County this year.
Fortunately, the man was not badly hurt since the car was moving slowly at the time, but he was taken to the hospital immediately after the accident, and his family — which learned about the accident only belatedly — was reportedly up in arms about compensation.
However, since witnesses say the young man intentionally threw himself in front of the car, the victim and his family were put in an unfavorable position, and police launched an investigation into what exactly happened.
In the course of the investigation, police learned that the young man had been dishonorably discharged from the military and did not show up for work at the factory to which he had been assigned, creating significant difficulties for the relevant party and youth organizations such as the Socialist Patriotic Youth League.
Because of this, his workplace party organization and Socialist Patriotic Youth League decided to put the young man — who was diligent in neither his organizational duties nor his work — on a list of recommended “petitioners” for rural transfer requested by the party committee of Yanggang Province at the start of the year.
Neither the party organization nor the Socialist Patriotic Youth League listened to the young man, who vowed in tears that he would never go to Taehongdan County, and police believe he intentionally threw himself in front of the cadre’s car in protest.
The source said the man was slightly hurt and is undergoing treatment at the hospital, though his injuries are not life-threatening.
“The city police believe the man intentionally threw himself in front of the party cadre’s car out of discontent and will treat him as a disgruntled element when he is released from the hospital,” he said.
However, the source said locals who heard about the news and other young people caught up in what are essentially forced relocations sympathize with the man, saying he would not have jumped in front of a car “unless the situation was really bad.”
Translated by David Black. Edited by Robert Lauler.
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