{"id":4649,"date":"2020-07-22T12:31:44","date_gmt":"2020-07-22T03:31:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.01.asiapress.org\/rimjin-gang\/?p=4649"},"modified":"2022-05-16T18:01:09","modified_gmt":"2022-05-16T09:01:09","slug":"economic-crisis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.02.asiapress.org\/rimjin-gang\/2020\/07\/recommendations\/economic-crisis\/","title":{"rendered":"\uff1cInternal Survey of N. Korea\uff1e Coronavirus Economic Crisis Forces Married Women into Prostitution, Urban Poor into Foraging, and Orphans into Begging"},"content":{"rendered":"
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(Photo) A boy wanders the streets carrying a sack. Photographed in Pyeongseon, South Pyongan Province, in September 2013. It is said that many such children can be seen on the streets of North Korea. Photographed by ASIAPRESS<\/p><\/div>\n

\u25c6 Vulnerable groups face humanitarian crisis<\/h2>\n

In North Korea, where the economy is rapidly worsening due to the effects of the coronavirus, vulnerable groups are facing a humanitarian crisis. Reports from across the country point to an increase in the number of kojebi (homeless children), beggars, prostitutes. In addition, many are leaving their lives in the city to forage and plant vegetables in the mountains. Orphanages are facing difficulties as well, with even those sponsored by Kim Jong-un unable to properly provide meals to their charges, many of whom have run away. Average North Korean citizens are also facing extreme difficulties. (Kang Ji-won \/ ISHIMARU Jiro)<\/p>\n

\u25c6 Rising numbers of elderly beggars and kojebi<\/h2>\n

With the help of reporting partners in North Korea, ASIAPRESS surveyed the living conditions in the country, investigating from June to early July in Sinuiju, Hyesan, Musan, Hoeryong, and Chongjin.<\/p>\n

In every city surveyed, there were reports of a noticeable increase in the number of kojebi and beggars congregating at markets and railway stations.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe first thing you see when you go to the market is about 10 kojebi. They\u2019re probably about 13 to 16 years-old. They say to you, \u2018I haven\u2019t had a meal for days, my younger brother is sick, please give me 1,000 won.\u2019\u201d (Hyesan City)<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cThere are more adults than children begging at the markets. They\u2019re not dressed in rags so they\u2019re not homeless. The number of elderly beggars has increased in particular. The authorities do not crack down on the begging and leave them alone, saying \u2018If we place them under arrest, we won\u2019t be able to feed them.\u2019\u201d (Sinuiju City)<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cThere are many of kojebi in all of the markets. They only ask for small sums of money but most people ignore them. This is because everyone is having a hard time and can\u2019t afford to spare any change. There are less jobs going around for those who usually make their cash income by carrying cargo to and from the markets. All they can do is fight between themselves for the few jobs.\u201d (Cheongjin City)<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u25c6 The situation facing the urban poor<\/h2>\n

A reporting partner who sells clothes at Hyesan market on the border with China said the following about the business situation:<\/p>\n

\u201cSince the border was sealed off, Chinese products have not made it to markets and, with movement of people and goods controlled to decrease the risk of coronavirus infection, there are no jobs transporting and unloading cargo. The factories and mines have almost all halted operations. Everyone is having to make do with a severely reduced cash income. There are many days when I come to market but can\u2019t sell any clothes because, in times like this, food comes first.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cThere are more vendors than customers in the market these days. When a customer does come by, all the merchants compete for their attention. Hyesan is a distribution hub for Chinese products to be sold on to other cities, so it is not doing as badly. Cities in the south are said to be doing much worse.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

North Korea\u2019s food distribution system all but collapsed in the 1990\u2019s. Food and other rations are currently distributed to just the Workers Party, government agencies, and to priority state-ran companies. With no rations provided, most residents are therefore forced to secure food and other necessities for themselves.<\/p>\n

However, as previously mentioned, many people have lost their source of cash income due to the economic impact of the coronavirus. This quickly created a crisis for vulnerable groups such as the elderly, widowed, and disabled. In addition, many parents could no longer support their children, leading to an increase in the number of kojebi.<\/p>\n

The urban poor are also facing extreme difficulty.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn May, when fertilizer for cooperative farms was brought in by train, there was chaos as poor people, including adults and children, attempted to steal it and sell it on to merchants.\u201d (Hyesan City)<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cLast year, among market traders, there were about 10% who were living hand to mouth. This year, I think it is about half. Gathered at the market they say, \u2018If it goes on like this, we will starve to death.\u2019\u201d (Cheongjin City)<\/strong><\/p>\n

On the other hand, markets are not facing food shortages. According to reporting partners, grains, potatoes, and food are in high supply at markets. However, as people have less cash, they are favoring corn and potatoes over the more expensive white rice.
\nNextPage: \u3000\u25c6 Married women going into prostitution and people foraging in the mountains as a last resort\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Messages exchanged in late June with a reporting partner living in North Korea. Photographed by ASIAPRESS<\/p><\/div>\n

\u25c6 Married women going into prostitution and people foraging in the mountains as a last resort<\/h2>\n

Across the country there is an increasing number of people who are giving up their lives in the city to forage and plant vegetables in the mountains.<\/p>\n

A reporting partner in Hoeryong City said, \u201cA couple that I know were earning a living by transporting cargo with a handcart. But, as business slowed down and there was no cargo to transport, they sold their handcart and housewares. They bought vinyl sheets and went into the mountains [to plant vegetables]. It\u2019s just like when there was the famine of the Arduous March.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

A similar report came from a reporting partner in Sinuiju.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are many people who dispose of their housewares, buy vinyl sheets and potato seeds, and go into the mountains to clear space for a field. For city people, going into the mountains is the last resort. It was a phenomenon that occurred during the famine in the 1990's. Now it's happening again.\"<\/strong><\/p>\n

In addition, a growing number of women are being forced into prostitution due to worsening economic difficulties. It is not just young, unmarried women but married women as well who make their way to the cities for sex work. According to a reporting partner in Sinuiju City, \"the authorities would normally crack down on prostitution very strictly but, recently, police have been letting these women off if they are caught.\" It is said that this is because the police are unable to provide meals to those that they detain.\"<\/p>\n

In April, the North Korean authorities began surveying neighborhoods to determine each household\u2019s level of poverty. A reporting partner in Hoeryong City described the authorities\u2019 efforts as follows:<\/p>\n

\u201cAccording to the authorities\u2019 survey of one inminban (local political unit) in the Kumsaeng Labor District, 39 of 69 households were determined to be extremely poor. Most of these households had been supported by people working in the marketplace or transporting cargo for a living. The results of the survey, however, were not used by the authorities to support these households directly. Rather, they were used to collect financial support from other residents.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u25c6 Running away from Kim Jong-un\u2019s orphanages<\/h2>\n

More and more children are running away from orphanages as, according to a reporting partner speaking from Hyesan in July, meals were still not being properly provided.<\/p>\n

From around 2014, Kim Jong-un ordered the construction of orphanages around the country, starting in Pyongyang. In the North Korean system, children are split according to age and taken care of in facilities known as nursery schools, elementary academies, and secondary academies. Brought in off the streets and markets, the kojebi are forced to adapt to organizational life.<\/p>\n

What prompted Kim Jong-un to order the construction of the orphanages was the Japanese and South Korean reporting on smuggled video footage of kojebi in North Korea. As the orphanages were built under the direct orders of Kim Jong-un, the facilities were generously provided with white rice and snacks. Provincial governments were in charge of administration and the financial burden was placed on government agencies and local state-run companies.<\/p>\n

However, the economic turmoil caused by the coronavirus has made it difficult for these institutions to continue bearing the costs.<\/p>\n

According to the reporting partner in Hyesan, \u201cthe \u2018secondary academy\u2019 of Ryanggang Province is an excellent building constructed near the Hyesan University of Technology. However, there are more and more children running away from the institution. It is said that out of the original 150 orphans, there are only about 60 left. They can sleep outside in the summer, so they are homeless and spend their days begging. I don\u2019t think they liked the strict rules of organizational life.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u25c6 Coronavirus Chaos<\/h2>\n

In North Korea, it can be said that there is a \u201ccoronavirus economic crisis.\u201d<\/strong> What\u2019s different from previous economic recessions is that the epidemic measures have almost entirely halted trade, investment, and tourism from China. In addition, domestic distribution has ground to a stop, dealing a heavy blow to the fragile, young market economy.<\/p>\n

Until the coronavirus pandemic in East Asia truly subsides, the North Korean economy will continue to face immense difficulties.<\/p>\n

\u203b ASIAPRESS contacts its reporting partners in North Korea through smuggled Chinese mobile phones.<\/p>\n

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Map of North Korea (produced by ASIAPRESS)<\/p><\/div>\n

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