North Korea is mobilizing students from the northern border province of Ryanggang to bring rocks to build flood walls daily while the region accumulates for the seasonal monsoon rains, after devastating floods last year, sources at Radio Asia said.
Last July, large areas along the Amnok or Yalu river, near the border of North Korea with China, underwent many damage, which prompted the authorities to accelerate flood prevention measures this year before the monsoons which generally start in June and last until September.
Last year, the South Korean media reported that more than 1,000 people had been killed or missing due to the floods, and that North Korea may have executed a certain number of officials who have been held responsible.
Korea in North Korea, Korea’s central news agency said that more than 5,000 people who had been blocked, had been saved by on -site instructions relayed by leader Kim Jong Une, who was represented, the emergency efforts against floods.
Multiple sources in the province of Ryanggang, also known as Yanggang, told RFA that the embankment was underway, and that young students – in terms of primary, college and secondary – have been mobilized to collect rocks daily in the last two weeks without any break, including Sundays.
The ordinances of mobilization of the North Korean authorities are a common practice of local governments to ensure that citizens give labor to public projects.
“Each student must contribute five stones the size of a football ball to the construction site every day,” said a source that works in the education sector in the Ryanggang province.
He, like other sources interviewed by RFA for this story, asked for anonymity for security reasons.
Students from the Yeond-Dong, Yeonpung-Dong and Songbong-Dong regions in the Hyesan City Wiyeon district come together every day from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m., after finishing their morning lessons to “collect rocks in the size of football balls”, said a second source in RFA province.
Students are required to bring the rocks they collect on the construction site of an embankment in the upper part of the Geumsan river, which flows in the AMNOK, said the source. Last year, the Geumsan river was also flooded and caused a lot of damage, he said.
The construction period of the embankment of Geumsan River takes place until the end of June, but delays are expected due to the shortages of stones necessary for the walls, sources said.
To respond to the deficit, students from numerous districts, including Seonghu-Dong, Hyesan-Dong, Hyemong-Dong and Yeonbong-Dong, the afternoon of stones in the old career in Yeonbong-Dong, while those of the search for quarteries in Hyesan Youth, Chun-Dong.
The rock collection exercise has caused accidents and health problems to students, which promoted parents’ protests in schools, sources said.
“There are a lot of accidents where people injure their hands and feet while exploiting rocks, and there are also students who get nose bleeding while sleeping at night due to exhaustion,” said the first source that works in the education sector.
The growing dissatisfaction of the parents led to demonstrations in school offices, some families keeping their children at the school house rather than allowing them to participate in the work of collecting stones, he added.
On Saturday, the North Korean state media reported strong precipitation in the capital Pyongyang and several provinces of the North and the Center, which prompted the weather authorities to issue alerts in several regions.
Pyongyang recorded 140 millimeters of rain between 5 p.m. Thursday and 8 p.m., local time on Friday, according to KCNA, Reuters reported.
Written by Tenzin Pema. Edited by Mat Pennington.