{"id":3926,"date":"2018-10-18T10:43:06","date_gmt":"2018-10-18T01:43:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.01.asiapress.org\/rimjin-gang\/?p=3926"},"modified":"2018-10-22T18:13:44","modified_gmt":"2018-10-22T09:13:44","slug":"mobilized-samjiyeon-construction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.02.asiapress.org\/rimjin-gang\/2018\/10\/recommendations\/mobilized-samjiyeon-construction\/","title":{"rendered":"\uff1cInside N. Korea\uff1e Tens of thousands of North Koreans mobilized for Samjiyeon construction project"},"content":{"rendered":"
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(Reference Photo) Women mobilized for maintenance of river banks are carrying stones. Photograph taken in a northern provincial city by Mindulle in June 2013 (ASIAPRESS)<\/p><\/div>\n

Samjiyeon County, visited by President Moon Jae-in in September, was a declared a \u2018sacred site of the revolution\u2019 in November 2016 by Kim Jong-un, when he called for the region to be transformed into a world-class tourist destination. Since then, residents from all over the country have been mobilized for construction work, while locals have been extorted for construction materials and funds. (Kang Ji-won \/ ISHIMARU Jiro)<\/p>\n

\"The entire Party, the entire armed forces, and all citizens should be mobilized for construction at Samjiyeon County,\" the Rodong Sinmun wrote in an editorial on February 22, 2017. Ever since, demands for local residents to provide construction materials and labor for the project have gradually increased, with people all over the country quietly voicing their discontent.<\/p>\n

\"In meetings with local residents, instructions are given once every other day for the preparation of construction materials like gravel and other necessities, such as gloves. Organizations and workplaces are ordered to send their employees to building sites to work as construction \u2018storm troops.\u2019 They are going too far. I\u2019m really sick of it,\u201d said a reporting partner in Yanggang Province.<\/p>\n

Next page: What are the 'Storm Troops'?...<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Storm Troops being mobilized for construction of a dam shown on a Korean Central Television broadcast in September 2004<\/p><\/div>\n

\u25c6What are the 'Storm Troops'?<\/h2>\n

The construction workers mobilized for large-scale national construction projects are called \u2018storm troops'. Workers are selected to be storm troops by superiors at their workplaces or by those within the Party.<\/p>\n

Storm troops are dispatched for the construction of power plants, apartment blocks, roads, and railways. The storm troop units are essentially organized to imitate the army but without providing compensation.<\/p>\n

The storm troop unit for the Samjiyeon construction project was named the '2.16 Division' after Kim Jong-il's birthday and organized to have \u2018brigades\u2019 set up under it in each province- the 'South Pyongan Brigade of the 2.16 Division' for example. These brigades also have battalions set up under them.<\/p>\n

\u201cAccommodation centers are built at construction sites for each province, where storm troops lodge together. Meals are provided, with food requisitioned from across the country. Construction workers sleep and work on-site and rotate out every 6 months. Local housewives, meanwhile, are mobilized frequently for road maintenance but cannot reside at the construction sites. Citizens who want to avoid forced mobilization have to pay a bribe,\u201d explained another reporting partner from Samjiyeon.<\/p>\n

Many people consider the bribery to be unfair because only those who have money can escape mobilization. Those who pay to avoid it can use the freedom to maintain private businesses and earn more money. Meanwhile, those who cannot pay to avoid the service are denied the opportunity to make money through private market activities.<\/p>\n

How many people have been mobilized for the Samjiyeon construction project? Though the exact numbers are unknown, it seems there are tens of thousands of workers mobilized at at any given time. This takes into account the fact that workers are mobilized from all provinces and that construction brigades are also deployed by the military, in addition to the 'storm troops'.<\/p>\n

Currently, authorities are focusing on construction of a railway\u00a0 between Hyesan and Samjiyeon. The construction started during the Kim Jong-il era but completion was delayed considerably due to a lack of materials and labor.<\/p>\n

The Kim Jong-un regime has been pushing to complete the project for the past two years. However, due to low-quality construction, which was criticized by Kim Jong-un during a visit to the site in July, much of the work had to be redone.<\/p>\n

\"In Hyesan City, sections of the project are assigned to each institution and enterprise, where they must place gravel on the tracks and rebuild stone walls. We must also rebuild the roadbed, but progress on that has lagged behind for many years,\u201d said a Hyesan-based reporting partner.<\/p>\n

Next page: 'Storm Troops' hidden from President Moon...<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u25c6'Storm troops' hidden from President Moon<\/h2>\n

On September 20, President Moon Jae-in and his entourage were welcomed by Kim Jong-un in Samjiyeon, where together they climbed Mt. Baekdu. On the way to the mountain, the 'storm troops' would have remained out of site. A local reporting partner said, \"Samjiyeon's \u2018storm troops\u2019 were sent away a few days previous so that they wouldn\u2019t be seen by Moon Jae-in and the other South Korean visitors.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u203b The Rodong Sinmun, on November 28, 2016, reported that Kim Jong-un conducted an inspection of Samjiyeon and ordered for \"Samjiyeon, the birthplace of General Kim Jong-il, to be memorialized as a sacred site of revolution.\"<\/p>\n

\u203b On April 22, 2015, the Party designated the Mubong District of Samjiyeon County as an \"International Special Tourism Zone.\"<\/p>\n

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Map of the Samjiyeon area<\/p><\/div>\n

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A young female member of a storm troop unit working on the construction of a Pyongyang apartment block. Taken by Gu Gwang-ho in August 2011 (ASIAPRESS)<\/p><\/div>\n

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