Food grown for starving North Koreans ‘shipped to Kim Jong-un’s ‘elite’ instead’
A North Korean food project that promised to give residents in a rural province more vegetables than they would ever need has actually been given to the country's elites, according to sources.
The greenhouse farm project, which was created by authorities and was the first of its kind in North Korea, features 300 greenhouses in a 490-acre farm.
It was started in Jungphyong village, which is part of Kyongsong county in the northeastern province of North Hamgyong, Radio Free Asia reports.
“The authorities loudly propagated that the residents of North Hamgyong and Kyongsong county would greatly benefit from the greenhouse construction project, but the vegetables ended up not being for people like us,” a resident of the county told RFA’s Korean Service.
“Last week, the Rodong Sinmun newspaper reported that the Jungphyong Vegetable Greenhouse Farm had produced about 10,000 tons of fresh produce, including cucumbers, tomatoes, lettuce and crown daisy,” said the source.
In the newspaper report, it says the vegetables were delivered to the people in the province last year, but the source claims this never actually happened.
"But in actuality, ordinary residents of Kyongsong county have never been given a single vegetable grown from those greenhouses,” he said.
To make things more unfair, the authorities allegedly relied on residents of the county to build the project in the first place.
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“They worked for over a year. Not many people complained because they had the hope that they would be able to eat their fill of vegetables in the very near future,” the source said.
“None of the vegetables went to the province.
"I heard from a friend who works at the greenhouse farm that most of the vegetables were selected as a No. 9 product and loaded onto the train to Pyongyang,” he said.
More greenhouse farm projects are planned in North Korea and one is already underway in nearby South Hamgyong province's Hamju county, RFA reported.
“The residents of Hamju county have been mobilized for the construction work. Even when they complete their new greenhouse farm, they will never have a chance to eat any of the veggies,” said another source, who also requested anonymity for security.
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“When they were building the greenhouse farm up here in Jungphyong, the local housewives supported the construction effort, even sending in homemade soil for use in the farms.
"Despite their personal sacrifices, the housewives never received any vegetables,” she said.
The source went on to say that high-ranking officials come and take the vegetables as they please.
“They never lifted a shovel, but they are taking full advantage of the farms. Even in the middle of winter, a car will come to their house every few days loaded with fresh cucumbers, crown daisy and lettuce from the greenhouses,” she said.
“Occasionally, if you pass in front of a greenhouse farm, you will see vehicles with license plates from powerful organisations.
"As with everything in North Korea, the greenhouse farm wasn’t really for the local people as they said. It is only for the privileged and the elite,” the second source said.
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