Over Half of North Korean Residents Dissatisfied with Power Succession... Nearly 40% Have 'No Hospital Experience'

First Publication of Report on North Korea's Economic and Social Conditions
Declassification of Level 3 Secret for Interviews with 6,351 Defectors

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Since Kim Jong-un assumed power as Chairman of the State Affairs Commission of North Korea, nearly 60% of residents have given negative evaluations of the economic situation. More than half of North Korean residents also viewed the hereditary succession of power negatively.

The Ministry of Unification announced on the 6th that it has published the 'Report on the Perception of North Korea's Economic and Social Conditions' for the first time, compiling in-depth survey results accumulated over the past decade from North Korean defectors. The in-depth interview survey results of defectors from 2013 to 2022, previously classified as level 3 secret, were disclosed this time.

Rationing System Virtually Collapsed... Reliance on Markets

According to the report, the state-level rationing system in North Korea has virtually collapsed, with the proportion of residents receiving no wages or rations from official workplaces continuously increasing. In fact, 72.2% responded that they had no experience receiving food rations, and nearly 50.3% said they received neither wages nor food rations.

Responses indicating no experience with hospital treatment reached 39.6%, suggesting that the healthcare system, which claims to provide free medical care, has also effectively collapsed. Additionally, 70.6% of respondents were unaware of the doctor-responsible-area system.

With the failure of the state-run economy, North Korean residents largely depend on markets for household income, food, and daily necessities.

Informal private economic activities such as trading, small-scale land cultivation, and smuggling have become the main sources of income for residents, and most food and medicine purchases were made at 'comprehensive markets.' Even household electricity is increasingly self-supplied (53.9%) through batteries and solar cells as government supply decreases.

Housing Transactions Flourish in North Korea... Location Near Stations Also Considered

As trust in the North Korean won declines, the use of the Chinese yuan has increased about fivefold since Kim Jong-un took power, and housing transactions are thriving while evading legal restrictions.

The total percentage of respondents who had experience with housing transfer or sales while living in North Korea was 10.7% before 2000 but rose to 46.2% between 2016 and 2020. Similar to South Korea, factors like proximity to train stations ('yeoksegwon') play an important role in housing prices, and intermediaries exist in housing transactions.

The report explained, "Residents' market activities are gradually diversifying in type and expanding in scale, centered on the service industry. The spread of such marketization is also presumed to affect factor markets such as labor and capital, leading to the gradual expansion of private employment and private finance usage."

In particular, exploitation of residents by the ruling class has intensified, and since Kim Jong-un's rise to power, experiences of bribery have nearly doubled, indicating widespread corruption.

41.4% of respondents reported being extorted of more than 30% of their monthly income through bribes and extra-legal burdens, and 51.3% had experienced surveillance or home searches at their residence.

Improvement in Women's Status... Dissatisfaction with Power Succession

Consciousness among North Korean residents appears to be gradually changing.

Over 90% of respondents said life would be impossible without markets, and as marketization has activated women's economic activities, responses indicating an improvement in women's status in North Korean society (45.9%) are on the rise.

Negative evaluations of the economic situation since Kim Jong-un's rise to power increased to 58.9%. Particularly, critical public opinion regarding the hereditary succession of power through three generations reached 56.3%. This is interpreted as a gradual increase in negative perceptions among North Korean residents toward the 'three-generation succession' or 'Baekdu bloodline succession.'

67% of North Korean Residents Have Watched Foreign Videos

Despite crackdowns by North Korean authorities, interest in the outside world, including watching foreign videos, has steadily increased. According to the report, 67% of defectors had experience watching foreign videos while in North Korea.

Among foreign videos, 'Chinese movies and dramas' (71.8%) were most commonly viewed, followed by 'Korean movies and dramas' (23.1%), indicating significant interest in Korean culture.

This report is the result of compiling survey data accumulated by the Ministry of Unification over more than ten years from over 6,000 North Korean defectors. It covers more than 1,100 questions across economic, social, and resident consciousness fields, providing broad and systematic findings on North Korea's economic and social conditions.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.