It has been reported that North Korean authorities have limited the amount of grain that residents can carry when leaving their residences and moving to other regions to 3kg per person.
According to a source in North Hwanghae Province of NK Times on the 10th, North Korea has been conducting intensive crackdowns on new grains by dispatching local security agents, inspection teams, and even security forces to each province, city, county, and farm since mid-August. The intensive crackdown period will be from August 13 to December 15, and residents cannot move to other regions with more than 3kg of grain.
This is a 40% reduction from last year’s allowance of 5kg, and North Korea requires residents to receive a confirmation stamp from the local management committee, ri (substation) safety agent, work team leader, team leader, and people’s unit leader when moving to other regions with more than 3kg of grain, proving that the grain was harvested from their own gardens.
As North Korea is suffering from chronic economic and food shortages, it appears that it has moved to adopt stronger grain control in order to secure reserves necessary for running the country.
It has also been reported that North Korea has declared that anyone in possession of grains that have not gone through this process will be confiscated without compensation, regardless of the reason, and that punishment by labor training camps will be applied depending on the severity.
In fact, on the 3rd, a woman named Kim (40s) from Yeontan County ignored this fact and was trying to visit her son attending Sariwon Agricultural College, but was caught by security forces and had all of her belongings confiscated.
Also on the 2nd, a woman named Choi (50s) from Yeontan County was caught by the inspection team while going to the market to sell 10kg of corn and had all of her belongings confiscated.
As news of this spread within Yeontan County, residents are said to be increasingly dissatisfied with the grain crackdown. In particular, some residents are said to be expressing strong dissatisfaction with the authorities’ measures, saying that they will not carry grains until the crackdown period ends.
The source said “For farmers, the strengthened grain crackdown has made it difficult to even purchase daily necessities,” and “Furthermore, in order to prepare food for ancestral rites ahead of Chuseok, they have to sell grains, but since the amount they can carry is limited, the residents’ dissatisfaction is bound to increase”
He added “This measure seems to be a signal that the food situation will worsen even more next year,” and “Some residents are even concerned that they will not be able to carry grains at all starting next year”
***This article is a translation by Google, so the content may differ from the Korean article.
