With annual payments of “loyalty

funds” to the North Korean authorities coming up, senior workplace Party officials are reportedly pressuring laborers to earn additional “August 3rd Money

(8.3 Money)” to make up shortfalls.



A source in Yangkang Province reported to Daily NK on

July 2nd, “It’s the last minute now for workplaces to hand over their contributions

to the Party. Not surprisingly, many are facing serious shortages and can’t

make good on these obligations. So they are pushing their workers

to go out and make 8.3 Money.”

The term “8.3 Money” is related to a program of limited enterprise autonomy put in place by Kim Jong Il in 1984. As part of the plan, workers are encouraged to earn money outside their state-mandated workplaces and present de facto tax payments back to their employers. Such contributions are not necessarily defined in monetary terms: wild edible greens and valuable medical herbs (some of which fetch a high price in China) can also be contributions, for instance.





The source went on, “These measures have brought an

ambivalent response from workers. In the past people might have prioritized

this type of fund as an expression of fidelity to the Party, but you’d struggle

to find that kind of loyalty now.”

According to the source, the demand is made problematic by the fact that traversing the Sino-North Korean border has become more difficult since the death of Jang Song Taek last December. Therefore, those in the border region who would ordinarily support themselves and family

through smuggling or cross-border trade are having a harder time than normal.



According to the Daily NK source, “A lot of the time, companies used to solve this problem through trade, but recently there’s

been a preference for putting the onus on workers to deal with it privately.

This, combined with strict control over smuggling and other private money-making

activities, is making it very hard for people.”





“The reality of our situation remains that smuggling

is the only good source of money. You make that impossible and the number of

angry people rises,” she concluded.

Most of the money received by the Party is funneled into departments responsible for the slush funds of the ruling Kim Jong Eun regime, which are used to maintain the coalition that supports the Kim family’s power. In principle any resident over the age of 17 is obliged to contribute when called upon, and failure to do so can be regarded as a political and ideological problem.