Daily NK
Kang Jae Hyok
12/21/2006
Inside source from North Korea said each house in Musan, Onsung, Hoeryong in North Hamkyong Province, would receive electricity from the December 19th to 24th, commemorating Kim Jong Il’s mother, Kim Jong Suk’s birthday (Dec. 24).
In a telephone interview with the Daily NK, thirty-eight years old resident of Musan, North Hamkyong “K” said electricity supply was resumed on Tuesday. “Public service workers visited each house and asked them to use only one light bulb per household.”
K said with delightful voice “I’m so happy that I could eat in a bright house, and I could watch TV and VCR, too.”
In this year, North Korea’s electricity production has been worsened than ever that only army barracks, strategic facilities and rice mills were provided electricity.
Lack of electricity has been common since the mid-1990s economic collapse. And it becomes worse in winter, because hydro-electric power plants, which comprise most of North Korea’s electricity-production, cannot produce energy in arid season.
Therefore, North Korea in winter is once described as a “wilderness” by a Korean-Chinese visitor.
Some wealthy North Koreans are equipped with own electric generators, including Chinese solar-light collectors.
In North Korea, electricity is supplied on holidays such as Kim Il Sung’s birthday April 15, Kim Jong Il’s birthday February 16, or Party Foundation Day. Since 1997, Kim Jong Il’s mother, Kim Jong Suk’s birthday has become an official holiday.
