Several people who received new homes in Pyongyang’s Songsin and Songhwa areas were recently subjected to an “ideological struggle meeting” after they were caught engaging in illegal real estate deals.
The struggle meeting occurred amid North Korea’s efforts to promote the completion of 10,000 housing units in the two areas as the first accomplishment of its five-year construction plan for the capital city.
A source in Pyongyang told Daily NK on Friday that the three residents of the Songsin and Songhwa areas sold their houses in early May after abandoning efforts to complete their interiors.
“They were then subjected to an ideological struggle meeting attended by members of the city party committee and city prosecutor’s office. The criticism session took place in the meeting room of the Sadong District court office. People ranked inminban [people’s unit] head and above throughout the district gathered to level serious criticism, and the homes were confiscated and turned over to the people’s committee,” the source said.
In North Korea, most new apartments are handed over to occupants without their interiors finished. The new occupants must make the apartments livable by completing the interiors at their own expense.
The source said that people usually need around USD 2,000 to finish the interiors of new apartments in the Songsin and Songhwa areas, though the exact amount may differ depending on what is required.
Daily NK reported in April that many of the scheduled occupants of new apartments in the Songsin and Songhwa areas were struggling to put together the money to complete the interiors of their new homes.
The source said the unlucky occupants subjected to the recent criticism session had also ended up selling their homes because financial difficulties made it difficult to finish their interiors.
In fact, following the completion of the apartments in the Songsin and Songhwa areas, many people sold off their homes, the source said.
“Many people quietly sold their homes without a problem. Just a few who got caught were subjected to the criticism session,” he said.
“Even though the area is considered a special place to live, it is not one of the city’s central districts. That makes it easy to buy and sell homes,” he continued, adding, “Except for a few buildings with finished interiors, people are told that nobody will mind if they quietly sell off the apartments.”
The source said the three people who were subject to the recent criticism session were those who had “fallen out of favor” with their neighbors after engaging in “complicated” financial dealings. In short, people in their neighborhoods filed complaints when they made “unreasonable demands” in the course of their secret apartment transactions.
North Korea bans real estate transactions through several laws, including the Real Estate Management Law, the Homes Law, and the Administrative Punishment Law.
Article 85 of the Administrative Punishment Law, amended in 2020, calls for up to three months of forced labor or a warning or serious warning to be handed down to those caught selling off of real estate illegally. In grave circumstances, it calls for punishments of over three months of forced labor, or even demotion or termination from jobs.
The three people who were caught this time received relatively light punishment, the source said.
“There were fears that the ideological struggle meeting would issue harsh criminal punishments on the offenders given that members of the prosecutor’s office and party committee attended. However, they decided against punishing them heavily, preferring instead to simply reprimand them and confiscate the homes,” the source said.
“[Local authorities] rushed to conclude the matter because there was concern that it would be revealed that they had reported to the party that the interiors of the homes were complete, even though they weren’t,” he added.
The incident has led people in the Songsin and Songhwa areas to avoid making real estate deals for the time being, the source said.
“People are carefully waiting until the incident is forgotten, believing they should be able to begin dealing again this autumn,” he explained.
“Regardless of whether it’s just a house frame, a home with just a door and keys, or a fully finished apartment, it’s hard to get a place to live these days, so [people know] that if they finish their interiors and sell them, they’re going to make money,” the source added.
Translated by David Black. Edited by Robert Lauler.
Please direct any comments or questions about this article to dailynkenglish@uni-media.net.
