The Marmot’s Hole

Very interesting (and the most viewed) piece over at the Korean-language edition of the Chosun Ilbo — apparently, the family members of North Koreans security forces have been told to start trading in order to overcome the food crisis. What makes this really surprising is that this was told to a Chosun reporter in a phone conversation with a mid-level managing official of the North Korea’s State Safety & Security Agency (!) who is on visit to China. Anyway, the official said that orders have come down from high that family members of security officials should start trading in order to obtain food. He said the order warned of difficulties since Russia stopped providing grants in February and China may cut off grants starting this month, and it commanded security officials to make advanced preparations to overcome “temporary difficulties.”

The piece also talks about how China may be putting the screws on the North, how North Korean miners are selling their materials in China rather than bringing it to the North’s steel mills and how North Koreans are becoming ever more resentful as starving security officials (who are apparently not getting their rations) confiscate property in a bid to survive.

For English speakers, I’ll translate the piece for the Chosun Ilbo’s online English edition tomorrow.