{"id":40576,"date":"2026-06-03T20:52:35","date_gmt":"2026-06-03T20:52:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/40576\/"},"modified":"2026-06-03T20:52:35","modified_gmt":"2026-06-03T20:52:35","slug":"north-korea-mobilizes-workers-for-flood-prevention","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/40576\/","title":{"rendered":"North Korea mobilizes workers for flood prevention"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"North<\/a>The Workers’ Party of Korea’s official newspaper, Rodong Sinmun, reported July 3, 2023, that efforts to clear and reinforce rivers and waterways must continue. Photo: Rodong Sinmun\/News1<\/p>\n

North Korea is rushing to survey and reinforce flood-prone areas ahead of the summer<\/a> rainy season, mobilizing factory<\/a> and enterprise workers<\/a> for large-scale repair work<\/a> at rivers, embankments, and mountain slopes across North Pyongan province.<\/p>\n

A Daily NK source in North Pyongan province said Monday that the Land and Environmental Protection Management Department of the Unsan county people\u2019s committee \u2014 a local administrative body responsible for land use, environmental protection, and infrastructure \u2014 conducted field inspections in early May targeting areas at high risk of flooding<\/a> and landslides along the county\u2019s rivers, streams, and hillsides.<\/p>\n

From mid-May onward, workers from local factories<\/a> and enterprises<\/a> were mobilized to carry out embankment repairs, drainage channel maintenance, and riverbed clearing. Work-site inspections have been conducted frequently throughout, with officials<\/a> applying steady pressure<\/a> on those overseeing the repairs.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the past, the work amounted to reinforcing riverbanks and tidying up the surrounding area,\u201d the source said. \u201cNow the approach involves detailed pre-season surveys to identify specific high-risk stretches, and the intent is to carry out large-scale repairs using heavy equipment.\u201d<\/p>\n

The intensified effort reflects the political fallout from flood<\/a> damage in recent years. Officials in Unsan county and other cities and counties across North Pyongan province have received formal party<\/a> notifications of cases in which local Workers\u2019 Party of Korea and people\u2019s committee officials were punished for failing to put adequate flood prevention measures in place. Those cases appear to have concentrated minds at every level.<\/p>\n

Workers bear the cost as officials focus on inspections<\/p>\n

As a result, preventing rainy season damage has become the top priority for officials across the province, and repair and reinforcement work is being pushed more aggressively than in previous years.<\/p>\n

The burden, however, falls heavily on the workers mobilized to carry it<\/a> out. The scope and duration of work assignments have expanded compared to prior seasons, while the frequency of oversight inspections has also increased. Compounding the frustration, the state is not supplying the heavy equipment needed for the work. Factories and enterprises are expected to source their own machinery, and workers must provide their own basic protective gear such as gloves and arrange their own meals<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe workers mobilized for the repair work say they are being given more to do, for longer, under closer inspection<\/a>, while the authorities refuse to supply the equipment they need and just keep issuing orders and sending inspectors,\u201d the source said. \u201cThey say things just get harder every year.\u201d<\/p>\n

The source noted that while the grievances are real, some workers have expressed a cautiously positive view of the more substantive approach. \u201cSince they have to be mobilized anyway, some people say it is better to do it properly than just go through the motions,\u201d the source said.<\/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<\/a> through secure channels. Unlike reporting based on state media<\/a>, satellite<\/a> imagery, or defector<\/a> 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<\/a> offense in North Korea \u2014 discovery means imprisonment or execution. This network-based approach allows Daily NK to report<\/a> on developments other outlets cannot access: market<\/a> 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<\/a> 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 Workers’ Party of Korea’s official newspaper, Rodong Sinmun, reported July 3, 2023, that efforts to clear and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":40577,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[77,24538,4638,31,9393,34,9392,11622,6103],"class_list":["post-40576","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-north-korea","tag-environment","tag-flooding","tag-infrastructure","tag-korea","tag-mobilization","tag-north-korea","tag-north-pyongan-province","tag-punishment","tag-workers"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40576","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=40576"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40576\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/40577"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40576"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40576"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40576"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}