In order to take care of loyal inner

circle, Kim Jong Un is building luxurious apartments and private housing in

Pyongyang. However, this is causing serious resentment from those who do not

stand to benefit from the exclusive provisions.

In a telephone conversation with the Daily

NK on December 1st, an inside source from Pyongyang said, “Lately, people have

been using the word ‘economic stratification’ more frequently. This frustration

and discontent stems mainly from the high-cost construction projects occurring

around Mirae (future) Scientists’ Street. The brunt of this criticism is that the regime

has stopped the public food distribution system, yet continues to cater to the

rich and politically connected class.”

Daily NK crosschecked this information with

an additional source in the capital.

“Residents who live on the outskirts and

suburbs of central Pyongyang do not receive electricity in a reliable manner.

They are forced to exist in pitch black darkness. Some people are saying things

like, ‘The cadres exist in a separate world from us,'” he said, adding that one residents “cursed the regime while

lamenting his hard fate.”

“Cadres who are in the Central Party or

work in foreign currency-earning companies show off their wealth by blowing

through US $1000 in a single meal. An entire family of ordinary people could

survive off that amount for a whole year. That’s why people feel animosity

towards high-level cadres.”

According to our source, Pyongyang is

designated as a ‘Special Supply Region’ and was therefore the first to receive

public distribution. It also means that Pyongyang plays host to spas, health

clubs, cafes, and fancy restaurants. The living standard in Pyongyang has

improved markedly over the years.

However, compared to the skyrocketing

standards of central Pyongyang, North Korean authorities have neglected and

cast aside the needs of residents on the outskirts of town. Development of

these areas has slowed as a consequence. New buildings shoot up in the city

center all the time, but according to residents in the outer regions, “nothing

much has changed in over a decade.”

“The monthly salary for a worker in

Pyongyang’s textile factory is anywhere from KPW 300,000(about US $36.00) to

KPW 1,000,000(about $121.00). At companies in fringe areas, the going rate is

between KPW 3,000 (US 0.36) and KPW 4,000(us 0.48). In this sort of situation,

the residents are forced to go to the markets and sell in order to make a

living,” he explained.

By the source’s estimation, high-level

cadres such those in the Korean Workers’ Party and Ministry of People’s Armed

Forces account for 10% of the population but hold most of the country’s wealth.

Below them are the donju (masters of money, or new moneyed class), who occupy

about 20-40%. The remaining 50% is made up of “normal folks, who really do

struggle to get by and provide for their family.”

“A while ago, it was said that even though

we were subsisting on corn meal soup and scraping to get by, those in Pyongyang

weren’t much better off. But things have changed. Now there are residents who

say they’d prefer to farm in the countryside rather than watch the cadres show

off their extravagant wealth,” the source concluded.