A North Korean informant in Beijing conveyed
Shockingly, the Jangmadang generation led the riot
There is a rumor of similar riot accordance in Africa
In January, North Korean authorities reportedly arrested and swiftly repatriated over 200 dispatched workers who led a riot at a clothing and seafood manufacturing factory in Helong, Jilin Province, China, due to wage non-payment issues. Given the severity of the situation, it is almost certain that these individuals will face harsh punishments, including execution or being sent to political prisoner camps.
As dispatch workers, north Korean Women work in Helong, Jilin Province, China. It is not strange that any uproar that the North Korean regime is concerned about occurs at any time. / An anonymous user of Zhihu, Social Media
According to reports from Beijing diplomatic sources on the 26th, these individuals were among thousands of workers dispatched by a company under the North Korean Ministry of Defense. They actively led the situation when the initial riot occurred, resulting in embezzlement. At the time, North Korean authorities promised to pay the workers their delayed wages and dispatched a large number of secret police to investigate factory executives and riot participants.
Naturally, the investigation involved torture and was carried out harshly. As a result, some workers are known to have made extreme choices. A North Korean informant in Beijing, Mr. Chen, stated, “The fact that workers caused the riot itself was certainly shocking. However, what shocked the North Korean authorities even more was the fact that the so-called Jangmadang generation of young people around 30 years old led the riot. They are different from the previous generation.”
The Jangmadang generation Mr. Chen refers to are those who were born during the Arduous March period in the late 1990s when hundreds of thousands starved. These individuals relied on markets, called Jangmadang, for their livelihood without receiving distribution benefits. Therefore, not only is their loyalty to the North Korean regime weak, but they are also a generation relatively familiar with the market economy. This can be seen in the fact that in February, following the incident in January, about ten dispatched workers at a clothing factory in Dandong, Liaoning Province, China, carried out a group action, demanding repatriation and refusing to go to work.
Currently, North Korean authorities are strictly controlling information about these riot incidents. However, rumors about the first riot have already spread among the approximately 100,000 dispatched workers working in other regions in China and Russia. It seems the rumor is plausible that dozens of dispatched workers at a construction site in the Republic of Congo in Africa revolted in a riot when their return, scheduled last month, was postponed. It seems safe to say that the era of North Korea strictly controlling its residents is slowly coming to an end.
Most Commented