Reports have emerged that the leadership is suffering from a ‘headache’ as young people who have been put into construction projects in Pyongyang as a priority project by North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, become engrossed in love.
On the 17th, Daily NK, a media specializing in North Korea, quoted a source in Pyongyang and said that the courtship of young storm troopers sparked at the construction site in Pyongyang’s Seopo district interfered with their work, and that a Committee The Central Youth League (Socialist Patriotic Youth League) was close recently, and it is said that the men’s and women’s dorms are far apart.
There are said to be many cases where young men and women who leave their hometown and come to Pyongyang to focus on building houses rely on each other in difficult and lonely situations and then develop into lovers. In an assault brigade in South Hwanghae Province, a man in his late 20s and a woman in her early 20s were dating until midnight, and they were caught by commanders and judged. Additionally, in a situation where already married male stormtroopers live far away from their wives, there are even cases of inappropriate relationships with virgin stormtroopers on construction sites and getting them pregnant, which has become a problem.
Recently, a report was received from the Central Committee of the Youth League that the romance of these workers is hindering the progress of the construction project. The Central Committee of the Youth Union is said to have removed the young men who caused the problem from the construction site and separated the men’s and women’s accommodation as a measure to solve the problem. The day after the order was given, the work of moving the male cavalry quarters to a place 1km away from the female storm trooper quarters was undertaken.
A source told the media, “The unmarried young stormtroopers are complaining, saying, ‘It’s bad for a married man to seduce a maiden, but should virgins and bachelors like us be banned from dating?'”
Kim Jong-un has set a goal of building 50,000 houses in Pyongyang by 2025 and is proceeding with construction projects. Construction projects are underway in Seopo, Hwaseong, and Gangdong districts. In mobilizing young workers, North Korea has advertised that they are providing a voluntary workforce. On the 10th, Labour’s Newspaper, the official newspaper of the Labor Party, addressed the young people in charge of building the Seopo area, saying, “Today’s struggle, which is the most dynamic unit in society and the protagonists of the future, is developing a new turning point in capital construction, very meaningful for the times.” he said
Analysts say this is an attempt to manage the agitation of the younger generation amid economic difficulties and unstable circumstances. In a situation where it is difficult to produce clear economic results due to sanctions against North Korea, he seems to be focusing on construction projects that can produce results relatively easily.
