Recent deterioration of water quality due to inadequate water treatment facilities in North Korea's northern Ryanggang Province has reportedly caused major problems, with many people who drank tap water developing severe diarrhea. The number of people hospitalized with colitis is said to be surging. (KANG Ji-won)
◆Diarrhea patients occurring throughout the city
"People are contracting colitis one after another from drinking tap water, and many are being hospitalized with severe diarrhea. Sometimes parasite-like things come out when you turn on the tap. When patients began appearing throughout Hyesan, authorities added excessive amounts of disinfectant to the tap water, making the smell so strong that it's undrinkable."
This is what a reporting partner living in Hyesan told us in early September.
Authorities only say they are "conducting construction at the water source" and have not prepared any measures other than adding disinfectant, providing no explanation. The reporting partner said, "There was an order from the people's unit to pay 2,000 won each for the construction of new purification facilities."
※ As of September 2025, 1,000 North Korean won is approximately 0.0357 USD.
◆Water delivery business suddenly booming
Even though tap water cannot be used, water is still necessary. How are people coping?
"There are long lines at the springs. Water delivery is thriving, and poor people are all starting water delivery services. A 50-liter tank used to cost 3,000 won, but competition has intensified and some people now accept 2,500 won. Notably, elderly people living alone without income are participating. They go around house to house asking people to 'let them deliver water.'"
Although the Kim Jong-un regime has strictly restricted individual money-making activities such as trading and delivery services in recent years, it is reportedly not regulating water delivery at all.
North Korea's provincial cities have long neglected the maintenance of water and sewage systems. The Kim Jong-un regime has been negligent in investing in living infrastructure in provincial cities, and all of ASIAPRESS’s reporting partners say that electricity and water conditions have not improved at all over the past 10 years.
※ ASIAPRESS communicates with its reporting partners through Chinese cell phones smuggled into North Korea.
