{"id":111248,"date":"2026-08-06T17:54:08","date_gmt":"2026-08-06T17:54:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/111248\/"},"modified":"2026-08-06T17:54:08","modified_gmt":"2026-08-06T17:54:08","slug":"north-korea-farm-workers-caught-between-contradictory-orders","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/111248\/","title":{"rendered":"North Korea farm workers caught between contradictory orders"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"North<\/a>The Rodong Sinmun, the official newspaper of the Workers’ Party of Korea, reported on June 13, 2023, that “capabilities and means must be concentrated to complete weeding on time and with quality.” The photo shows Jangkyo Farm in Kangnam county, Pyongyang. Photo: Rodong Sinmun-News1<\/p>\n

Farm workers in North Korea are voicing complaints after getting caught between two contradictory directives amid record heat. One directive calls for preventing crop damage. The other calls for preventing heatstroke cases.<\/p>\n

A Daily NK source in South Hwanghae province said Wednesday that authorities issued a high-temperature advisory on July 29. The advisory covered most areas south of the central region, and directives soon followed for the agriculture sector. Farm workers have been pouring out complaints about instructions that contradict each other, the source said.<\/p>\n

The heat-related directives for agriculture focus on minimizing damage to farmland and paddy-fish farms, key bases for food production, according to the source. The heat wave threatens national food production, which has made crop protection an especially urgent goal<\/a> at farms in major grain-producing regions like South Hwanghae province.<\/p>\n

Authorities have given farms in Pyongsan and Bongchon counties strict orders. Farms must report daily, without exception, on water management at farmland and paddy-fish farms. Midday temperatures in the area have soared close to 40 degrees Celsius, or 104 degrees Fahrenheit.<\/p>\n

Farms are mobilizing farm workers and their children alike<\/a>. Together they water scorching crops and drying paddy-fish farms, the source said.<\/p>\n

\u201cGrueling labor continues from dawn, with people carrying water buckets back and forth across the fields,\u201d the source said. \u201cPeople are dropping like flies.\u201d<\/p>\n

Contradictory orders on health reporting<\/p>\n

At the same time, authorities have ordered farms to set up a strong emergency monitoring system<\/a> for outdoor laborers. The goal: prevent heatstroke cases. If a heatstroke case does occur, farms must report it immediately to higher authorities. They cannot conceal or downplay it, according to the directive.<\/p>\n

Authorities have pushed workers to focus all their energy on crop management, which makes it difficult to protect people\u2019s health and right to rest. At the same time, the directive demands that no heatstroke cases occur at all. Farm workers are said to be anxiously weighing whether to report conditions as they truly stand.<\/p>\n

\u201cFarm workers are voicing exhaustion,\u201d the source said. \u201cThey say, \u2018The weather is bad enough, but the harsh directives and reporting system are what\u2019s really killing people.’\u201d<\/p>\n

North Korean state media has reported heat and high-temperature advisories<\/a> across the country, including in Pyongyang, as the heat wave continues. Authorities issue a heat advisory when daytime highs reach 33 to 35 degrees Celsius, or 91 to 95 degrees Fahrenheit, with daily average humidity of 70% or higher. They issue a high-temperature advisory <\/a>when daytime highs reach 35 to 40 degrees Celsius, or 95 to 104 degrees Fahrenheit, regardless of humidity.<\/p>\n

Read in Korean<\/a><\/p>\n

Reporting from inside North Korea<\/p>\n

\n Daily NK operates networks of sources inside North Korea who document events in real-time and transmit information through secure channels. Unlike reporting based on state media, satellite imagery, or defector accounts from years past, our journalism comes directly from people currently living under the regime. We verify reports through multiple independent sources and cross-reference details before publication.\n <\/p>\n

\n Our sources remain anonymous because contact with foreign media is treated as a capital offense in North Korea \u2014 discovery means imprisonment or execution. This network-based approach allows Daily NK to report on developments other outlets cannot access: market trends, policy implementation, public sentiment, and daily realities that never appear in official narratives.\n <\/p>\n

\n Maintaining these secure communication channels and protecting source identities requires specialized protocols and constant vigilance. Daily NK serves as a bridge between North Koreans and the outside world, documenting what\u2019s happening inside one of the world\u2019s most closed societies.\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Rodong Sinmun, the official newspaper of the Workers’ Party of Korea, reported on June 13, 2023, that…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":111249,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[5471,6105,5470,31,34,17669],"class_list":["post-111248","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-north-korea","tag-children","tag-farming","tag-food","tag-korea","tag-north-korea","tag-south-hwanghae-province"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111248","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=111248"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111248\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/111249"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=111248"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=111248"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=111248"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}