{"id":3849,"date":"2018-09-10T11:35:45","date_gmt":"2018-09-10T02:35:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.01.asiapress.org\/rimjin-gang\/?p=3849"},"modified":"2018-09-18T10:18:39","modified_gmt":"2018-09-18T01:18:39","slug":"impoverished-rural-women1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.02.asiapress.org\/rimjin-gang\/2018\/09\/photo\/impoverished-rural-women1\/","title":{"rendered":"\uff1cN.Korea photo report\uff1eA Look at North Korea's Impoverished Rural Women... Though they are producers they live in poverty due to exploitation"},"content":{"rendered":"
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A woman dragging a cow. Photographed in a rural area near Pyongyang in October 2008 by Jang Jeong-gil (ASIAPRESS)<\/p><\/div>\n

While North Koreans are very compassionate, there is one occupation that all North Korean people look down upon. If you ask them to name the most difficult and looked down upon job, they will all answer immediately \u201ccooperative farm worker\u201d.<\/p>\n

Cooperative farm workers produce crops for the state to distribute to the organizations and regions it most prefers to keep well-fed, such as the military, police, bureaucracy, and residents of Pyongyang. Though farmers are allowed to keep any excess crops, they are structurally unable to escape poverty because the targets imposed by the state for crop yields are set far too high.<\/p>\n

The farmers continue to be subjected to exploitation by the state\u2019s high targets and have no possibility of changing jobs or moving to the city. If born in a rural area, one\u2019s entire family is destined to work on a cooperative farm for generations. The only exception is if a woman from the countryside marries a man from the city.<\/p>\n

The cast system still exists in North Korea even today. (ISHIMARU Jiro)<\/p>\n

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A woman carries logs that are twice her size. They seem to have been brought from the mountains to sell as firewood. Photographed by Shim Ui-cheon\u00a0<\/em>in the suburbs of Haeju<\/em>, South Hwanghae Province in August 2008 (ASIAPRESS)<\/p><\/div>\n

Next page: A rural women in North Pyeongan Province washing clothes along the Yalu River...<\/strong><\/p>\n

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A rural women in North Pyeongan Province washing clothes along the Yalu River. Taken from the Chinese side in July 2017 by ISHIMARU Jiro<\/p><\/div>\n

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An elderly woman gathering crops at the field where harvesting was done<\/em>. A frequent sight in autumn. Photographed in the suburbs of Sinuiju City, North Pyongan Province in November 2012 (ASIAPRESS)<\/p><\/div>\n

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A girl guarding a house on a farm in Hwanghae Province. The photographer who visited the city was shocked to see the extent of the village\u2019s poverty. Photographed in August, 2007 by Shim Uicheon (ASIAPRESS)<\/p><\/div>\n

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