As the North Korean economy worsens, factory workers steal more parts, tools and other items to sell elsewhere for a little more income. Others are bribing their bosses to take time off work so they can earn more money doing other side jobs.
The authorities have noticed and are installing security cameras to monitor their activities, say sources in the country.
In the past, these closed-circuit television, or CCTV, cameras were used only in high-priority areas, such as busy intersections and government buildings, and almost exclusively in the capital, Pyongyang. But starting in March they began to appear in factories and other workplaces.
“Earlier this month, CCTV was installed at all factories in the Tokchon Motor Complex. The cameras work for 24 hours,” a source from South Pyongan province, north of Pyongyang, told the FRG Korean Service on condition of anonymity to speak freely.
The complex is the largest auto parts and auto parts production facility in North Korea and employs about 25,000 people.
“The Central Committee supplied CCTV imported from China,” the source said. “The cameras are used to monitor who is stealing materials from the factory and who is spending their working hours outside of their job.”
side jobs
Although most men in North Korea are assigned government jobs to which they must report, the pay is well below the cost of living, to the point that most people have to earn money from other ways to make ends meet.
In most cases, this means that they have to start their own business, often selling goods or services in local markets.
Most companies will take bribes from their employees who want to seek their fortunes elsewhere, the sources say. But now the cameras will reveal who really shows up to work.
“CCTVs are installed at the front gate of each factory and at the workplaces of each factory,” he said. “Workers are uncomfortable with cameras revealing who goes to work at what time and who chats during the workday at the daily work review session every night,”
rampant robbery
It’s the same situation at the Chongju bearing factory in the northwestern province of North Pyongan. Cameras were installed to stop theft, which is rampant at the factory, a source there told RFA on condition of anonymity for security reasons.
“Due to the lack of food received from the rations, the factory workers secretly steal bearings and pieces of material produced in the factory in their pockets,” he said. “They are going to later sell them in the market to earn a living.”
Since the cameras were installed, several employees have been caught.
“Now if they put even a small piece of iron in their pocket, they are publicly disgraced as thieves who steal state materials,” he said. “The workers are very unhappy about this.”
The source said that the CCTV cameras have also changed the way daily production reviews are carried out.
Previously, the head of the work team reported the production totals. But since the cameras were installed, the team leader must also report who worked a full eight hours and if anything was stolen.
Stealing some items from factories is rampant in North Korea, and the perpetrators are rarely punished beyond public criticism. But if the scale of the theft is large, those responsible may be punished as criminals under the law.
Installing cameras in factories is highly unusual, said a source using the pseudonym Kim Yong-il, who was once an administrative official in the North before escaping and resettling in South Korea.
“It seems that cameras are not for small factories. They should go to the bigger ones first,” Kim said. “CCTVs allow the management of discipline. The other intention is to crack down on the leakage of materials and equipment from inside the factory.”
He said that if North Korea did nothing to increase wages and rations in factories, using the cameras to force employees to come to work and prevent them from stealing would result not only in higher productivity, but also in their dissatisfaction.
Translated by Claire Shinyoung Oh Lee. Written in English by Eugene Whong. Edited by Malcolm Foster.