Changchun, China — At recent two-day lectures (December 8th-9th) for political cadres and accounting clerks of factories and enterprises in Yangkang Province entitled, \u201cRegarding the Position of Our Republic and the Justification of the Redenomination,\u201d decrees were presented to clear the liabilities of North Korean enterprises and downwardly adjust the monthly wages of each worker to 400 won.<\/p>\n
A source of Yangkang Provicne explained in a phone conversation with The Daily NK on the 11th, \u201cWages of workers used to ranged between 1,300 and 2,500 North Korean won.\u201d \u201cIf this is put into operation, then the wages of the secretaries of the Provincial Committee of the Party would be leveled to approximately 1,000 won.” <\/p>\n
“It was agreed that a precise measure relating to wages was not yet perfect and would be relayed to the accounting clerks at a later time,\u201d the source adds. \u201cUnder the decree, all debt relations among existing enterprises would become \u2018zero\u2019 and foreign currency earning organizations will hereafter undergo adjustments. However, due to the fact that the size of liabilities between enterprises is not so significant, it is essentially a meaningless measure.”<\/p>\n
Unusually, on the morning of the 9th, the lecture broke free from the customary one-sided presentation of the Party decree in favor of audience participation. Attendees stated one after another: “We must establish reasonable prices as soon as possible and stabilize the workers;\u201d \u201cIf the food problem is not resolved, then we will not be able to prevent rising prices;\u201d \u201cThe existing wages and [state mandated] food prices should be adhered to;\u201d and so on.<\/p>\n
In the end, the Yangkang meeting offered a temporary, partial settlement of enterprise wage and debt issues as well as the announcement that more follow-up measures will be introduced in the near future. Authorities also stated that \u201cnational course of action\u201d on price-related matters will be subsequently delivered.<\/p>\n
The only government-authorized pricing to be finalized involved railway shipping charges. A \u201ctemporary\u201d train route table has been posted at the Youth Hyesan Station, with Hyesan-Pyongyang fare set at 46 won and Hyesan-Baegam fare at 18 won.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen judging by distance, it is almost more expensive to operate intra-provincial trains,” the source observes. \u201cFixing the Hyesan-Pyongyang cost at 46 won was based on the temporary trains that ran when university students in Pyongyang would return to their hometowns during the early break. There is no other meaning.”<\/p>\n
But the fact that other price measures were not announced at the cadres meeting helped maintain a sense of confusion among North Korean citizens. \u201cNowadays, even when two or three people gather, they will mutter, ‘Where is our country headed?’\u201d bemoans the source. \u201cThe state should decide on wages or prices, so the markets can run normally.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBut since the authorities have been dragging their feet, ordinary citizens have not been able to regain their senses.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Changchun, China — At recent two-day lectures (December 8th-9th) for political cadres and accounting clerks of factories and enterprises in Yangkang Province entitled, \u201cRegarding the Position of Our Republic and the Justification of the Redenomination,\u201d decrees were presented to clear the liabilities of North Korean enterprises and downwardly adjust the monthly wages of each worker […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":160,"featured_media":10708,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wikipediapreview_detectlinks":true,"footnotes":""},"categories":[645],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10706","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-economy"],"yoast_head":"\n