People are forced to clean compost in January every year. Middle aged ladies who gather to clean composts in bitter cold (Taken by Kim Dong-cheol, Asia Press)

People are forced to clean compost in January every year. Middle aged ladies who gather to clean composts in bitter cold (Taken by Kim Dong-cheol, Asia Press)

 

Q: How is the life for ordinary people in North Korea, as the government has done nuke tests twice which cost heavily during the four years of Kim Jong-un’s era.
A: Life here is so gloomy. Nothing changed from the past. The state means nothing to us. We have to survive with our own means. The state does not provide anything.

Q: It is said that there would be a party’s conference this year. Isn’t there?
A: They say that they would hold the party’s conference at a long interval. The preparation of the event are on the way.

Q: What did the government give you as a present for Kim Jong-un’s birthday?
A: They gave a bag of presents for children, but nothing for adults. It would have been better for us to receive 1 kg of rice rather than what they had spent for the nuke test. The holidays are for those with money. The poor like us always struggle to make ends meet everyday....

Q: What do they say around you?
A: We feel the same. There is no festive mood here!

*Rimjin-gang/ASIAPRESS smuggles Chinese carrier mobile phones into North Korea. Using these, our North Korean reporters and reporting partners communicate with us on the latest developments.

 

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