◆ Bribing Your Way to "Present" Is Getting Harder
Until now, the standard practice in North Korea has been for each work unit to report daily attendance to the Anjeongbu, which then handled punishment for unexcused absences. During the social upheaval of the mid-1990s — the period known as the "Arduous March" — workplace attendance became largely meaningless in practice, and many people began bribing their way out of their jobs to survive through trading.
Over the past several years, the Kim Jong-un regime has imposed increasingly strict controls on private economic activity while compelling residents to attend their assigned workplaces. Those with poor attendance records face penalties including cuts to their food rations or restricted purchasing allowances at the ryanggok pansomso — state-run grain stores.
According to the reporting partner, bribing one's workplace to be marked "present" has also become harder.
"If you use a bribe to dodge punishment and get caught, they send you somewhere physically grueling," the reporting partner said. "And once you're sent there, there's apparently no coming back any time soon."
As enforcement jurisdiction has shifted from police to local government, the aggressive round-up tactics of the past have eased — but the mechanisms keeping people tethered to their workplaces have grown more systematic. The space available for residents to earn cash through trading or outside work, beyond the reach of state control, is shrinking steadily.
ASIAPRESS was unable to investigate regions outside the northern area, and it has not been confirmed whether these measures are being implemented nationwide.
※ ASIAPRESS communicates with its reporting partners through Chinese cell phones smuggled into North Korea.
