＜Inside N. Korea＞ "Donate to the Fund!" Certificates Issued as Cover for Illegal Economic Activity — The State Siphons Money from Private Citizens

◆ Authorities Turn a Blind Eye to Illegal Activity

As noted above, authorities strictly control private economic activity, including commercial transactions. An ordinary North Korean worker earns only 35,000 won (approximately 0.5 USD) to 50,000 won (approximately 0.7 USD) per month. The fact that individuals are donating the enormous sums of $1,000 to $5,000 is itself firm evidence that they have been accumulating wealth through illegal means.

Yet the authorities appear to be deliberately looking the other way.

"If you have a certificate, the authorities acknowledge that you've handed over money earned through past illegal activity to the state, and they let it go. That's why people making money illegally are pooling funds to make offerings. Among those who donated money to the Korean People's Army this time around, there was an official who embezzled timber through connections with a forestry protection station. He immediately put money into the fund to avoid getting into trouble." (Reporting Partner B)

In other words, the arrangement appears to be a calculated strategy: the cash-strapped state absorbs a portion of privately accumulated illegal wealth in exchange for turning a blind eye. That said, the authorities cannot offer unlimited pardons for the embezzlement of state property. When someone is caught in the act, they are sometimes made an example of and punished.

"A road construction official in Samjiyon who embezzled building materials was stripped of his party membership and sentenced to three years of kyohwa (reform through labor). He had donated to the fund, but once you're caught on the spot, that's it."

◆ The State and the Donju: A Deepening Alliance

The authorities are said to be publicizing donors through lectures and the No. 3 Broadcasting System, praising them as contributors to national development. Ordinary workers, no matter how hard they try, are in no position to donate. How do residents view this situation?

"Regardless of how the money was made, in the end it's going to those in need or contributing to the country — so even if people have complaints, most seem to think it's not a bad thing." (Reporting Partner B)
※ No. 3 Broadcasting (3방송): A propaganda wired-broadcast system installed in every household in North Korea.

ASIAPRESS has previously reported that the Kim Jong-un regime fundamentally transformed its governing approach in the wake of the COVID pandemic. This latest development can be analyzed as yet another example of the deepening collusion between the state and the donju — an effort by the state to harness private capital for its own ends.

※ ASIAPRESS communicates with its reporting partners through Chinese cell phones smuggled into North Korea.