{"id":4807,"date":"2021-01-13T11:20:08","date_gmt":"2021-01-13T02:20:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.01.asiapress.org\/rimjin-gang\/?p=4807"},"modified":"2022-05-16T18:01:09","modified_gmt":"2022-05-16T09:01:09","slug":"coronas-economic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.02.asiapress.org\/rimjin-gang\/2021\/01\/society-economy\/coronas-economic\/","title":{"rendered":"\uff1cInside N. Korea\uff1e Authorities Ordered to House More Homeless, Internal Documents State, as Economic Paralysis of Coronavirus Worsens"},"content":{"rendered":"
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(Photo) A homeless girl, about the age of a junior high school student is warming herself with briquettes at local markets. Photograph taken in Hyesan, Ryanggang Province in November 2012. (ASIAPRESS)<\/p><\/div>\n

\u25c6The Korean Workers\u2019 Party Document which is Approved by Kim Jong-un<\/h2>\n

The economic decline in North Korea is getting more and more serious. An internal document issued by the Korean Workers\u2019 Party reveals that the number of people who have lost their homes and are wandering around the streets has been increasing in many regions, and the authorities have been instructed to take countermeasures. (Kang Ji-won\/ISHIMARU Jiro)<\/p>\n

The main cause of the economic deterioration is Kim Jong-un\u2019s excessive countermeasures against coronavirus. In addition to blocking the Chinese border since the end of January to prevent the influx and spread of coronavirus, the economy has been paralyzed due to people with cold symptoms being quarantined for 20 days. As a result, many people have lost their cash income.<\/p>\n

The document obtained by ASIAPRESS was produced by the Workers\u2019 Party Propaganda Department and is entitled \u201cReport on Representative Trends and Measures Raised during August.\u201d The report is subtitled \u201cDear Leader Kim Jong-un\u2019s September 4, 2020 ratification policy.\u201d Ministries proposed policies and received approval from Kim Jong-un for them to be given as orders to administrative organizations, police and other public security agencies across the country.<\/p>\n

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(Photo) The Korean Workers\u2019 Party Document that we obtained. Photographed by ASIAPRESS.<\/p><\/div>\n

\u25c6An increase in the number of wandering beggars is clearly acknowledged<\/h2>\n

Let's examine the contents of the document.<\/p>\n

The headline of the article is \"The Trend of Increasing Wanderers\u201d and the following is the opinion on how to deal with them.<\/p>\n

\"The people's committee (local political unit) and security agencies (police and other public security organizations) will ensure that all wanderers in their own areas are rounded up in their local area and sent to aid stations to build up strength and recover so that they will not cause problems for emergency quarantine projects.\u201d
\nNext Page: \u25c6The word \"wanderers\" in the document refers to vagrant people in North Korea...<\/strong>
\nThe \"wanderers\" in the document refer to vagrants, or homeless people, known in North Korean dialect as \u201ckochebi.\u201d We have received reports from our reporting partners in various parts of the country that the number of such people has been increasing since the middle of April, when Kim Jong-un strengthened measures to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.<\/p>\n

According to our reporting partners, vulnerable groups in urban areas who have lost their cash income are selling their houses as a last resort to pay off their debts and have started living as \"kochebi.\" There are also many cases of children who are wandering on their own because their parents can no longer look after them, and the number of children and elderly people begging in the market has also increased significantly since Spring.<\/p>\n

\u25c6Deaths are also occurring.<\/h2>\n

There are also many reports of death due to starvation. In late December, a reporting partner from the north part of Musan, in North Hamgyong Province, reported the following,<\/p>\n

\u201cOn the morning of December 20th, 2 children were found dead hugging one another in an embraced position in the Chuchow Workers\u2019 Area. People are saying that they must have frozen to death because of the cold weather. More and more housewives are leaving their homes since there\u2019s nothing more they can do, and abandoned children are wandering around.<\/span>\u201d<\/p>\n

The internal documents we obtained include a request to send all \"non-resident people\" who are living outside the area they originally come from back to their original areas. This suggests that the number of people who are living outside the system is increasing due to the recent economic deterioration.<\/p>\n

\u203bASIAPRESS contacts its reporting partners in North Korea through smuggled Chinese mobile phones.<\/p>\n

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\uff1cRelated Article\uff1e<\/div>\n