{"id":65849,"date":"2026-01-08T08:26:52","date_gmt":"2026-01-07T23:26:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/?p=65849"},"modified":"2026-04-07T13:37:16","modified_gmt":"2026-04-07T04:37:16","slug":"north-korea-utility-collection-drive-pits-neighborhood-watch-heads-broke-people","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/north-korea-utility-collection-drive-pits-neighborhood-watch-heads-broke-people\/","title":{"rendered":"North Korea&#8217;s utility collection drive pits neighborhood watch heads against broke people"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]\">North Korea has been collecting unpaid electricity bills and housing fees across the country, sparking friction between neighborhood watch unit heads and ordinary people.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]\">&#8220;In one neighborhood watch unit in Kimjongsuk County, an argument erupted between the unit head pressing a family to pay their electricity bills and housing fees, and the family pushing back, saying they would pay when they could,&#8221; a Daily NK source in Ryanggang province said recently. &#8220;The argument lasted over an hour, with voices growing louder. Eventually, everyone in the neighborhood watch unit came outside to watch.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]\">According to the source, the unit head informed the household that it hadn&#8217;t paid utilities in six months and demanded immediate payment.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]\">The family responded: &#8220;You need money to pay, and it&#8217;s nonsense that you simply take our money when we don&#8217;t properly receive water or power.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]\">Household size determines utility bills, and this household\u2014a mother and daughter\u2014had a relatively small bill.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]\">Still, after months of non-payment, the neighborhood watch unit head personally urged them to settle their debt, triggering the confrontation.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]\">In North Korea, people can pay utilities like electricity bills and housing fees through mobile transfers. Those with phones can transfer money to designated accounts, but those without phones or who miss deadlines get visits from neighborhood watch unit heads collecting in person.<\/p>\n<h4 class=\"text-text-100 mt-3 -mb-1 text-[1.125rem] font-bold\"><strong>Pressure from above creates tension below<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]\">Arguments erupt when unit heads come demanding money. As authorities pressure them to collect unpaid bills quickly, unit heads have no choice but to pressure people.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]\">&#8220;The neighborhood watch unit heads are getting pressed from above, so they have to push families to pay quickly, and people respond that they don&#8217;t have the money right away,&#8221; the source said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]\">Witnesses to such confrontations are divided. Some side with the unit heads, arguing &#8220;it&#8217;s not like they want to pressure families,&#8221; and that it would &#8220;simply be better for families to pay what they owe quickly without starting a fight.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]\">Most people, however, say unit heads should avoid confrontations &#8220;because families would pay if they had money,&#8221; and should be more understanding of those who cannot afford their bills.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]\">&#8220;Electricity bills or housing fees aren&#8217;t high\u2014maybe between 5,000 and 8,000 North Korean won (roughly $3-$5)\u2014but they&#8217;re hard to pay all at once if you&#8217;ve been missing payments,&#8221; the source said. &#8220;These fights between neighborhood watch unit heads and ordinary people will keep happening.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/20260105-4\/\">Read in Korean<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>North Korea has been collecting unpaid electricity bills and housing fees across the country, sparking friction between neighborhood watch unit heads and ordinary people. &#8220;In one neighborhood watch unit in Kimjongsuk County, an argument erupted between the unit head pressing a family to pay their electricity bills and housing fees, and the family pushing back, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":259,"featured_media":65002,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wikipediapreview_detectlinks":true,"footnotes":""},"categories":[67,1360],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-65849","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news","category-society"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.7 (Yoast SEO v28.2) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>North Korea&#039;s utility collection drive pits neighborhood watch heads against broke people - North Korea News \u2014 Daily NK | Latest DPRK Updates 2026<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/north-korea-utility-collection-drive-pits-neighborhood-watch-heads-broke-people\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"North Korea&#039;s utility collection drive pits neighborhood watch heads against broke people\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"North Korea has been collecting unpaid electricity bills and housing fees across the country, sparking friction between neighborhood watch unit heads and ordinary people. &#8220;In one neighborhood watch unit in Kimjongsuk County, an argument erupted between the unit head pressing a family to pay their electricity bills and housing fees, and the family pushing back, [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/north-korea-utility-collection-drive-pits-neighborhood-watch-heads-broke-people\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"North Korea News \u2014 Daily NK | Latest DPRK Updates 2026\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-01-07T23:26:52+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-04-07T04:37:16+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/09\/2019-\ubd81\ub18d\ucd0c_1-\uc0b4\ub9bc\uc9d1-\uc21c\ucc9c-\uc7a5\ub9c8\ub2f9-\uc804\uc120-\uc804\uae30-\uc804\ubd07\ub300-1024x683-1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"683\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Eun Seol\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Eun Seol\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/north-korea-utility-collection-drive-pits-neighborhood-watch-heads-broke-people\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/north-korea-utility-collection-drive-pits-neighborhood-watch-heads-broke-people\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Eun Seol\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/e4bfafdaf27e9f609b2d373ede23cac4\"},\"headline\":\"North Korea&#8217;s utility collection drive pits neighborhood watch heads against broke people\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-01-07T23:26:52+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-04-07T04:37:16+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/north-korea-utility-collection-drive-pits-neighborhood-watch-heads-broke-people\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":421,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/north-korea-utility-collection-drive-pits-neighborhood-watch-heads-broke-people\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2025\\\/09\\\/2019-\ubd81\ub18d\ucd0c_1-\uc0b4\ub9bc\uc9d1-\uc21c\ucc9c-\uc7a5\ub9c8\ub2f9-\uc804\uc120-\uc804\uae30-\uc804\ubd07\ub300-1024x683-1.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"News\",\"Society\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/north-korea-utility-collection-drive-pits-neighborhood-watch-heads-broke-people\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/north-korea-utility-collection-drive-pits-neighborhood-watch-heads-broke-people\\\/\",\"name\":\"North Korea's utility collection drive pits neighborhood watch heads against broke people - North Korea News \u2014 Daily NK | Latest DPRK Updates 2026\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/north-korea-utility-collection-drive-pits-neighborhood-watch-heads-broke-people\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/north-korea-utility-collection-drive-pits-neighborhood-watch-heads-broke-people\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2025\\\/09\\\/2019-\ubd81\ub18d\ucd0c_1-\uc0b4\ub9bc\uc9d1-\uc21c\ucc9c-\uc7a5\ub9c8\ub2f9-\uc804\uc120-\uc804\uae30-\uc804\ubd07\ub300-1024x683-1.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-01-07T23:26:52+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-04-07T04:37:16+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/north-korea-utility-collection-drive-pits-neighborhood-watch-heads-broke-people\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/north-korea-utility-collection-drive-pits-neighborhood-watch-heads-broke-people\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/north-korea-utility-collection-drive-pits-neighborhood-watch-heads-broke-people\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2025\\\/09\\\/2019-\ubd81\ub18d\ucd0c_1-\uc0b4\ub9bc\uc9d1-\uc21c\ucc9c-\uc7a5\ub9c8\ub2f9-\uc804\uc120-\uc804\uae30-\uc804\ubd07\ub300-1024x683-1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2025\\\/09\\\/2019-\ubd81\ub18d\ucd0c_1-\uc0b4\ub9bc\uc9d1-\uc21c\ucc9c-\uc7a5\ub9c8\ub2f9-\uc804\uc120-\uc804\uae30-\uc804\ubd07\ub300-1024x683-1.jpg\",\"width\":1024,\"height\":683,\"caption\":\"FILE PHOTO: An electricity pole in Sunchon, South Pyongan province, in October 2018. (Daily NK)\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/north-korea-utility-collection-drive-pits-neighborhood-watch-heads-broke-people\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"North Korea&#8217;s utility collection drive pits neighborhood watch heads against broke people\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/\",\"name\":\"North Korea News \u2014 Daily NK | Latest DPRK Updates 2026\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Daily NK English\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2026\\\/04\\\/top_logo@1x.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2026\\\/04\\\/top_logo@1x.png\",\"width\":272,\"height\":90,\"caption\":\"Daily NK English\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"description\":\"An independent online news organization based in Seoul, South Korea, reporting on internal North Korean affairs through a network of in-country sources and defector journalists. Part of the Unification Media Group (UMG) consortium.\",\"email\":\"dailynkenglish@uni-media.net\",\"telephone\":\"82-2-732-6998\",\"legalName\":\"DailyNK\",\"foundingDate\":\"2004-12-01\",\"numberOfEmployees\":{\"@type\":\"QuantitativeValue\",\"minValue\":\"1\",\"maxValue\":\"10\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/e4bfafdaf27e9f609b2d373ede23cac4\",\"name\":\"Eun Seol\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2020\\\/05\\\/images-1-e1589857625251-150x119.png\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2020\\\/05\\\/images-1-e1589857625251-150x119.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2020\\\/05\\\/images-1-e1589857625251-150x119.png\",\"caption\":\"Eun Seol\"},\"description\":\"Eun Seol completed her doctoral coursework at the University of North Korean Studies and focuses on education and cultural issues in North Korea. Questions about her articles can be directed to dailynkenglish(at)uni-media.net.\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/author\\\/eunseolenglish\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"North Korea's utility collection drive pits neighborhood watch heads against broke people - North Korea News \u2014 Daily NK | Latest DPRK Updates 2026","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/north-korea-utility-collection-drive-pits-neighborhood-watch-heads-broke-people\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"North Korea's utility collection drive pits neighborhood watch heads against broke people","og_description":"North Korea has been collecting unpaid electricity bills and housing fees across the country, sparking friction between neighborhood watch unit heads and ordinary people. &#8220;In one neighborhood watch unit in Kimjongsuk County, an argument erupted between the unit head pressing a family to pay their electricity bills and housing fees, and the family pushing back, [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/north-korea-utility-collection-drive-pits-neighborhood-watch-heads-broke-people\/","og_site_name":"North Korea News \u2014 Daily NK | Latest DPRK Updates 2026","article_published_time":"2026-01-07T23:26:52+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-04-07T04:37:16+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1024,"height":683,"url":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/09\/2019-\ubd81\ub18d\ucd0c_1-\uc0b4\ub9bc\uc9d1-\uc21c\ucc9c-\uc7a5\ub9c8\ub2f9-\uc804\uc120-\uc804\uae30-\uc804\ubd07\ub300-1024x683-1.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Eun Seol","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Eun Seol","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/north-korea-utility-collection-drive-pits-neighborhood-watch-heads-broke-people\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/north-korea-utility-collection-drive-pits-neighborhood-watch-heads-broke-people\/"},"author":{"name":"Eun Seol","@id":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/#\/schema\/person\/e4bfafdaf27e9f609b2d373ede23cac4"},"headline":"North Korea&#8217;s utility collection drive pits neighborhood watch heads against broke people","datePublished":"2026-01-07T23:26:52+00:00","dateModified":"2026-04-07T04:37:16+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/north-korea-utility-collection-drive-pits-neighborhood-watch-heads-broke-people\/"},"wordCount":421,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/north-korea-utility-collection-drive-pits-neighborhood-watch-heads-broke-people\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/09\/2019-\ubd81\ub18d\ucd0c_1-\uc0b4\ub9bc\uc9d1-\uc21c\ucc9c-\uc7a5\ub9c8\ub2f9-\uc804\uc120-\uc804\uae30-\uc804\ubd07\ub300-1024x683-1.jpg","articleSection":["News","Society"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/north-korea-utility-collection-drive-pits-neighborhood-watch-heads-broke-people\/","url":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/north-korea-utility-collection-drive-pits-neighborhood-watch-heads-broke-people\/","name":"North Korea's utility collection drive pits neighborhood watch heads against broke people - North Korea News \u2014 Daily NK | Latest DPRK Updates 2026","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/north-korea-utility-collection-drive-pits-neighborhood-watch-heads-broke-people\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/north-korea-utility-collection-drive-pits-neighborhood-watch-heads-broke-people\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/09\/2019-\ubd81\ub18d\ucd0c_1-\uc0b4\ub9bc\uc9d1-\uc21c\ucc9c-\uc7a5\ub9c8\ub2f9-\uc804\uc120-\uc804\uae30-\uc804\ubd07\ub300-1024x683-1.jpg","datePublished":"2026-01-07T23:26:52+00:00","dateModified":"2026-04-07T04:37:16+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/north-korea-utility-collection-drive-pits-neighborhood-watch-heads-broke-people\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/north-korea-utility-collection-drive-pits-neighborhood-watch-heads-broke-people\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/north-korea-utility-collection-drive-pits-neighborhood-watch-heads-broke-people\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/09\/2019-\ubd81\ub18d\ucd0c_1-\uc0b4\ub9bc\uc9d1-\uc21c\ucc9c-\uc7a5\ub9c8\ub2f9-\uc804\uc120-\uc804\uae30-\uc804\ubd07\ub300-1024x683-1.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/09\/2019-\ubd81\ub18d\ucd0c_1-\uc0b4\ub9bc\uc9d1-\uc21c\ucc9c-\uc7a5\ub9c8\ub2f9-\uc804\uc120-\uc804\uae30-\uc804\ubd07\ub300-1024x683-1.jpg","width":1024,"height":683,"caption":"FILE PHOTO: An electricity pole in Sunchon, South Pyongan province, in October 2018. (Daily NK)"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/north-korea-utility-collection-drive-pits-neighborhood-watch-heads-broke-people\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"North Korea&#8217;s utility collection drive pits neighborhood watch heads against broke people"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/","name":"North Korea News \u2014 Daily NK | Latest DPRK Updates 2026","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/#organization","name":"Daily NK English","url":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/04\/top_logo@1x.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/04\/top_logo@1x.png","width":272,"height":90,"caption":"Daily NK English"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"description":"An independent online news organization based in Seoul, South Korea, reporting on internal North Korean affairs through a network of in-country sources and defector journalists. Part of the Unification Media Group (UMG) consortium.","email":"dailynkenglish@uni-media.net","telephone":"82-2-732-6998","legalName":"DailyNK","foundingDate":"2004-12-01","numberOfEmployees":{"@type":"QuantitativeValue","minValue":"1","maxValue":"10"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/#\/schema\/person\/e4bfafdaf27e9f609b2d373ede23cac4","name":"Eun Seol","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2020\/05\/images-1-e1589857625251-150x119.png","url":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2020\/05\/images-1-e1589857625251-150x119.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2020\/05\/images-1-e1589857625251-150x119.png","caption":"Eun Seol"},"description":"Eun Seol completed her doctoral coursework at the University of North Korean Studies and focuses on education and cultural issues in North Korea. Questions about her articles can be directed to dailynkenglish(at)uni-media.net.","url":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/author\/eunseolenglish\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65849","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/259"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=65849"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65849\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":65852,"href":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65849\/revisions\/65852"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/65002"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=65849"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=65849"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=65849"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}