Read a version of this story in Korean
A party with free drinks and food for North Korean county officials has landed them in hot water with supreme leader Kim Jong Un, who ordered they be punished -- and called for a sweeping investigation into this kind of abuse of power, residents told Radio Free Asia.
Many party officials exploit their positions to get free food and drinks at restaurants and other eateries, so this news has made them nervous that they too could get in trouble, a resident of the northwestern province of North Pyongan told RFA on condition of anonymity to speak freely.
“These days, party officials who used to rush to restaurants to eat for free at lunch time have completely disappeared,” he said. “My friend who works as an officer in the county party organization department has been bringing lunch to work for several days now. This is the first time he has done this.”
The officials are hoping that their past does not catch up with them when it is time for periodic reviews.
But for ordinary people, the news is music to their ears, the resident said.
“They feel like the officials are too powerful, so many are saying it is a good thing that they are being punished,” he said. “After all, they broke the law.”
Crackdown on corruption
The crackdown happened after it was revealed at a meeting of the ruling Korean Workers' Party Secretariat last month that about 40 officials from the Onchon county party committee held a drinking party to commemorate their successful completion of a government project, .
Kim drew attention to the abuse of power within the party and ordered that corrupt officials be exposed and punished, the first resident said.
Onchon county is within to the city of Nampo, west of the capital, Pyongyang.
“After the Onchon county incident was reported, party officials everywhere are being particularly careful about their conduct,” a resident of the northeastern province of North Hamgyong told RFA Korean. “It is obvious that a party-wide ideological inspection and internal review of party officials will follow.”
Authorities even went so far as to disband the county-level government body in question that organized the drinking party, he said.
Onchon would not be the first institutional or regional party committee to be eliminated at the central government’s whim, the North Hamgyong resident said.
In 2020, the party committee at the Kim Il Sung Advanced Party School was disbanded due to rampant bribery, he said.
“When a party committee is disbanded, high-ranking officials including the responsible secretary disappear somewhere,” he said, without elaborating. “The officials involved in the incident are expelled from the party, and the rest go to rural areas, coal mines, and things like that.”
Expulsion from the party
Expulsion from the party is a huge blow to a family’s social standing, and without party membership they will lose the perks that come with it, like access to better housing, education, jobs and food rations. Exile from the city to the countryside, meanwhile, is a serious downgrade in terms of standard of living.
The North Hamgyong resident said that it would be almost impossible for any of the people involved in the Onchon incident to avoid punishment because it was specifically cited by Kim.
“Some officials are saying Onchon county was just really unlucky,” he said.
The Onchon incident happened after a completion ceremony for a new factory, which was built without central government funds, meaning the officials had to raise money for it themselves.
So the county party secretary wanted to treat his subordinates for successfully carrying out the government’s orders to build the factory without any central government support, the North Hamgyong resident said.
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This kind of party is very common in North Korea, so the resident said there must be a hidden reason why Onchon was singled out.
“Maybe it was because they did not invite the party committee officials from the provincial or central government, or maybe someone reported them,” he said.
Until now, most high-ranking officials have come to expect that they don’t have to pay at restaurants and stores because of their status, the North Pyongan resident said.
“Some party officials even get all of their meals packed from restaurants rather than their own homes even when they go on business trips,” he said.
It’s a burden on the businesses, but if they don’t ingratiate themselves with powerful party officials, they will have to endure consequences like surprise inspections, or other types of punishment, he said.
So ordinary people are secretly happy to see this crackdown, he said.
Translated by Claire S. Lee. Edited by Eugene Whong and Malcolm Foster.