Provincial and municipal managers

overseeing the allotment of electricity have been supplying the donju [new

affluent middle class] in North Korea with power supplies in exchange for cash.

Though relatively inexpensive, state power line supplies are intermittent at

best, prompting the donju to pay hefty sums of money in return for steadier power streams.

“Handing over 100 RMB to regional

electricity distributors can get you connected to nearest industrial

electricity hub,” a source in Gangwon Province reported to Daily NK on March 17th.

“Then a monthly fee of approximately 50,000 KPW [6.3 USD] provides you with 10 hours of

electricity per day for around 20 days.”

She added, “The steady, regular

supply of electricity intended for enterprises is being rerouted to

individuals. Selling electricity to the donju has yielded substantial profits

for staff supervising power centers. The fee guarantees a personal visit by

these managers every two or three days to ensure that the electricity is

reaching the homes paying for the service.”

This illegal

“electricity tax” is entirely distinct from general electricity fees, paid by

residents to the inminban [people’s unit] every quarter for spotty, if any,

electricity. Those fees come to about 100 KPW [0.01 USD] per quarter [33 KPW, or 0.004 USD, per month];

the donju are basically paying 1500 times as much for reliable electricity,

according to the source.

“Everyone is yearning for a steady supply

even if it means paying a prohibitive sum of 100 RMB, but the additional 50,000

KPW [6.3 USD] every month and plying the managers with drinks when they visit residents’

homes is too much too bear,” she went on. “Some are wary that they might be duped in the process.”

According to the source, provincial,

county, and municipal distributors oversee the nationwide electricity

distribution network. State-run enterprises receive power supply plans

from the National Planning Commission and are supplied with power through the

regional distributors, who monitor residential areas as well as factories. They

have the authority to terminate electricity supply if they spot any faulty

electrical cords or distribution boards.

Those caught surreptitiously cutting into

power cables to connect to a steady power supply–like, say, an

enterprise–without paying to do so results in fines and confiscation of the

line.

”Those who get their cords confiscated

would then have to go to the market to get new ones, which are manufactured and

China and run around 300-500 KPW [0.04 -0.06 USD] per meter,” she said, adding that purchasing a

cord a few hundred meters long, the length necessary to connect to a power hub,

is exorbitant.

This system has vexed workers at the

hydroelectric plants the most, who produce the very electricity that they must

pay kickbacks to use. “It enrages us to see power plant distributors acting as

if electricity is their private property,” they have pointed out, according to

the source, who added that most have been rather blunt in voicing their

disaffection.



“The majority of residents agree that it would be better if they just charged for power at a high

price like a capitalist society. That way, people wouldn’t have to obsess and could

at least get a steady stream of electricity,” she concluded.