North Korean workers in Kyongwon County are being forced to fund upgrades to poorly run “technology distribution offices” after a recent party inspection found them lacking. Local organizations are scrambling to modernize these offices, shifting the financial burden onto their already disgruntled members.
Speaking anonymously, a North Hamgyong province source told Daily NK recently that on Aug. 5, party inspectors found problems with the technology distribution office at a Kyongwon township sauce factory. The office had few production technology notices posted, and those present were deemed perfunctory, leading inspectors to conclude the office was failing its duties. Another problem was the few computers at the office.
Typically, the county people’s committee would be responsible for carrying out various inspections of factory management. But because this inspection concerned the execution of party directives for the operation of technology distribution offices, the county party committee was put in charge.
The factory called out by inspectors rushed to launch a modernization project that involves repainting the office’s walls, posting more notices and acquiring more computers.
However, the factory party committee, concluding that the factory lacks the budget to fund the modernization project, ordered cell secretaries to come up with the funds needed to renovate the technology distribution office.
“Creative solutions can be found for everything else, but more computers will require hard cash. The factory party committee eventually decided that the best way to raise the necessary funds was to split up [the cost] between the cell secretaries,” the source said.
Workers unhappy with “donation” demands
After deciding to acquire ten more computers for the technology distribution office, the factory party committee ordered each cell to contribute 400,000 North Korean won, noting that the funds should be donated voluntarily.
In order to raise the requisite funds, the cell secretaries have asked cell members to contribute as many funds as dictated by their conscience — and their party loyalty — even if the sums are as low as 10,000 or 20,000 won.
“While the requested donations are described as voluntary, they may as well be mandatory. If you don’t pitch in, you’ll be labeled as delinquent in carrying out the party’s orders and ideologically suspect. The cell secretary will also label you a shirker in every meeting for the rest of the year,” the source said.
The factory committees of the General Federation of Trade Unions of Korea and the Socialist Patriotic Youth League have also given members donation quotas for the modernization project. Members feel unable to object overtly, but are quietly grumbling that “loyalty is for sale nowadays” and that “we’re apparently at the factory not to earn money but to hand money over,” the source said.
Factory workers are particularly upset that their donations will be used to renovate the technology distribution office, which is poorly run.
“As the name suggests, the technology distribution office was set up to distribute advanced technology. But there’s little technological information to be given to the workers, and even if there were more computers, they couldn’t be used given the lack of power. As a result, factory employees are lucky to step into the office once a year,” the source said.
“Workers object that the technology distribution office is completely pointless, just a total waste of money.”
Daily NK works with a network of sources in North Korea, China, and elsewhere. For security reasons, their identities remain anonymous.
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