NORTH KOREAN TRENDS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP83-00418R006800240002-8
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: C
• Document Page Count: 14
• Document Creation Date: December 21, 2016
• Document Release Date: February 19, 2008
• Sequence Number: 2
• Publication Date: September 17, 1956
• Content Type: REPORT

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FIELD INFORMATION REPORT
NORTH KOREAN TRENDS
DATE OF REPORT:
17 sepeuiber 1956
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C O N F I D E N T I A L
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C 0 N F I D N T I A L
NORTH Kt; MEAN TREID REPORT
First Stage Fishing Period;
Tine dispooal of fish was entirely up to the fishers n's choice. They
were allowed either to put their fish on free sales or submit some of
the catch to the fishing anion. Even in the latter case, the purchase
price by the union was quilts favorable for the fisherman with i i ttvle
S O H F I D E N T I A L
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CONF:DENTIAL
difference from the market prices except for a small cnar ge xor ; uu-
mission procedures. None of the urion regulations called for azy
forced submission of a fish catch,, Thus, during the period, the more
they caught, the better it provided for earning a living.
Second Stu Le Wishing 1eriod:
The production quotas were est4blished and food items were put on
ration. The daily quotas, which were too large for the individual
workers, were as followst
Item
Fishing Period
Daily Quotas
Tangle
April -> May
150 Kilograms
Tangle
75 Kilograms
Atka Mackerel
July - September
60 K llog]~-a;as
Alaska polllack
October - April
200 Kilograms
However, the daily
total =:~. act by individuals, was as follows:
I temi
Fi.saing Period
Daily Catch
Tangle
April - may
37,5 Kilograms
Tangle
June
18.? Kilograms
Atka mackerel
J ul.yy - September
30 (fishes)
Alaska pol.lack
October - April
80 (fishes)
The daily amount of rationed food for those fishermen., who were
successful in fulfilling their daily individual quotas, and their
dependents was .72 Liters per worker and .36 Liters per dependent,
which consisted of 30 percent yellow millet, 10 percent barley, 10
percent black millet, 30 percent beans, and 20 percent rice. `sus,
the fishermen had to submit all of their fish to the fishing cooperative
for the free distribution of food items. Once there were some fisaermen
in the cooperative, who tried to conceal fish behind the offic:..ls,
which was designed for the exchange of farm products to help out with
their food shortages. However, such secret dealing was not, 0 matter
easy to do, as it was easily discovered by the of i eials; who 7iouli
rain words of criticism on the unveiled dealers before the pubic and
place on them a punishment of 10 days to one month' s suspensions from
work with no food for that period. This, the fishermen became the
slaves of the cooperative.
Third Stage Fishing Period;
During the period from the founding of the Fishing Cooperative to
November 1954, both the production quota system and the food ration-
ing system as described in the second stage fishing period remained in
effect for the cooperative members.
cooperative members worked under the following regulations.
The daily fishing quotas for the individual members were as fo:1_l.ows:
Dairy Quotas
Alaska pollack
250
Octopus
200
Sea weed
12.2 kilograms
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All of the production was submitted to the cooperative, for which
the agency set up fixed purchase prices. The price of alaska pollack
was 20 Won per fish, the price of seaweed was 9 Won per Kwan (3.75
Kilograms) However, the
prices were no psaa in cash, but taken down on the purchase-book as
nominal price figures. The daily amount of rationed grains for those
fishermen, who were successful in fulfilling their daily quote..s, and
their dependents was 600 grams per worker and 300 gramns per dependent.
For prices of these food items, see Item 4.
By comparison with the previous fishing union and the
fishing cooperative, the present fishing cooperative is far more
severe and strict with its members in keeping watch on their activities,
especially on secret dealings in fish for farm products.
the food rationing regulations for the
eparxien o military servicemen were revised. Until that time,
all the dependents of servicemen were equal under the benefit of
the food ration. Howevev, tho rcvi--ed --^ationing re ulatiors . c uc :d
the scope of beneficiaries to expectant mothers and women with children
under three (3), However, the revised system has a proviso that the
Win- exvgoverrmmnt employees are frtee from suon age .tlm:Lts
on distribution, even though they may be over four (Li). in this
particular case, according to the proviso, a serviceman's wife
a child over four (4) ., is required to submit a copy of her husband's
employment certificate, to be made out at the government establish-
ment concerned to the district (Hi) people's committee for contin-
uous distribution of food -tems.
an examp there was a ouse a wi a child over
five (5), whose husband had worked for the Songjin Steel Mill
before his military enlistrient. Under the proviso, the woman went
over to the SSngjin Steel Mill to obtain a copy of her husband} a
employment certificate, which was then submitted to the T'owon-ni
People's Committee for further distribution of grains. Thus,
-according to the new regulations, children over four M is of en-
cooperative members and of ex-farmer servicemen were left out of
the food ration.
h The followings are the blackmarket prices of food items., which
prevailed
Rice .... a ........ 950 116n per small vial (2.9851 gallons)
Yellow millet .... 750 Won per anaU Mal (2.9851 gallons)
Since the latter part of October 1955, the blackmarket prices of
grains have been reduced as follows:
Rice ............. 7a0 Won per small Mal (2.9851 gallons)
Yellow Millet .... 500 Won per small Mal (2.9851 gallons)
others (unknown)
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The cooperative prices of rationed grains are as follows:
Rice ............... 770 ,Jon per small Mal (2.9851 gallons)
Yellow Millet ...... 650 Egon per small Mal (2.9851 gallons)
Others (unknown)
The unchangeable cooperative prices of rationed items, as against
the decline in the blaokmrket prices, roused complaints by the
cooperative members.
The following are the prices of items served at the Hwmnnam br mh
stogy 162187) of the Hwadae-gun Consumers' Guild
Cigarettes (Taedong mun) ............... 20 Ikon per package
Cut tobacco (Subok) .................... 30 W"on per package
Cigarettes (Chebi) ...... -1
A) Sometimes d;..-)t consisted of fish and fish soup, which
were served for five (r;) days each month,
B)
A)
B)
menu,, twice a dayp, consitted of duel with yellow millet,
black millet, bare or beans and various sea weed as side
dishes, collected at the sea shore. The names of
sea weeds, given in the amg?yong-bukto dialect, and heir :growing
period are as follows-z
Kandulgi
Chirdubal
Korunae
Chin
Growing Period
January -> April
January
November .- January
December - February
the better meals of rice for breakfast and gruel for supper
were also served for some days at intervals with rationed grains,
which were distribute. every ten (10) days.
C) the fishei':rien, while on board their fig;; in ;
boats, ate an unsatisfactory amount of cooked rice for th. it two
r, als a day, which they carried with them for this purpas fr a
their respective home,;, and during the x?,inter, the rice was added
to hot soup,, privided aboard the boats.
D) The side dishes for each meal consisted of Kimch' i, and various
sea Tr7eeds which lasted for the period of November and April.,
itoweve the non-side-dish period, in all
averaf;e, covers the length of fifteen days ea(-'.,- r onthG
the people in T t otw?x -ni ca- 11 Kimch} i Nemmal)
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C O N F I D E N T I A L
18. A)
Trousers for females were made by housewives at the household
with old pairs of People's Armed Forces unifona, which were on
sale at the Hwadae market.
B) In the Huri village., the clothing for males is sewn by a house-
wife,, who charges for her sewing machine, The fee is 200 Won
a--- - - - - - , + r- _ _- - -
C)
D)
Committee., visiting Huri
coat and khaki trousers.
the Chairman of the TVowon-ni People's
was wearing a white closed-collar
19. 01d uniforms 'f the People's Armed Forces are freely worn by the people.
There is no restriction covering the wearing of old military uniforms.
However, the villagers, when they shop at the Hwadae market or the
Hasp'yong market, usually wear cotton-cloth clothing of their own or
their fell.owst
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200 It is about one (1) kilometer from Huri to the Hwangam branch store
of th
H
d
e
wa
ae-gun '
' e Hwangam Fishing Cooperative
is located in Huri Open markets are located in
Hwadae and Hasp'yang, w re there is no grain. The villagers in
wadae
H
market. g a e
?'" '"?? "??,c~~
fish for grain. People generally -purchase clothin
t th
23 A) Man's pocket items., in general, consist of tobacco (cut tobacco
for farmers and fishermen) and his citizenship certificate, which
is usually kept in the upper pocket of his coat. No lighter is
available for smoking`
B) Woman's pocket, inserted on the right in her trousers (known as
which is only hopping.
211.
A) The oil of alaska Pollack, squeezed out from its entrails (known
as Yae), is the only item availa or household lighting.
However, the people spend most evenings without
light,, which is designs o save this scarce oil for fishing and
other unfore seen circumstances.
C O N F I D E N T I A L
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are covered with sporadic and relatively small s. The people
have been forbidden. by the. authorities from cutting these smau
and scarce pine-trees in the mountain or willows in the fields.
However, they are overlooked ?. owing
in the area. a
man cuts a pine tree., lie w be Jailed for three (3) years.
are collected by the women. The mountains
B) Firewood is also used in lighting fishing boats at the sea,
C) Summer fuel for the household consists of various weeds and
grasses,, collected by housewives in the nearby mountains,
For autumn and winter cooking and heating, pine-tree needles
sometimes, women frarrn other villages came
LtM
it pine needles, 90 - 1.00 Wore. per bundle.
r o : as i re i obtainable fuels for the
pine needles and grasses, collected by housewives
people can not afford to buy those
2 3
29.
3o.
without heat, o fool rationing is available
for the hou eho .
needles from woman dealers, and thus very often spend winter days
3l b, I the tax-in kind for fishermen consistoof 15 percent
the actual-fish catch, which is paid by the fishing cooperatives
concerned, and those for farmers consist rcent of the actual
crop yield. Howeve the actual volume
of taxes in crops exceeds the 50 percethactual yield.
The payment of taxes for fishermen is performed by the individual
fishing cooperatives concerned, which pay in kind to the fira.ncial
department of the county (Nuts) people: s committee,, and the taz,~av
for farmers are collected in kind the Proper district ts
ittee.
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the fishermen
Uis s were not converted into money but changed
C O N F I D E N T I A L
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Into rationed food items which were too small to maintain a livin
govorrmen onds.
were forced to buy 500-Won
people i a
demands for 1 were me exr usawives, who
collected pi. es and grasses from the mountains, and expenses
for daily commodities and other items were derived from secret deal
inga in fish.
househo:d.
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Pencil .............a 5 - 30 An each
others (unknown)
3.i The denominations, in which North Korean Won are printed, consist
of 50 Chan, 1 W?on, 5 Won, 10 Won, and 100 Won, and of these, irhe
denominations of 5 Won and 10 Won are in the greatest use; )DC Won
3'1. There was no blackmarketting in currency
Drugs and rice are the most valuable easiest items to convert into
cash and of tbese, medicine is the most reac.i3
convertible into cash or rice.
:he Farmera' Bank is
Oo
41a
42.
located in the seat of the 11wadae-gan Government (EA 1814) , some
four (1,) kilometers fro Hurl (EA 462179).
a yongster of the Haep'yong Village EA , was a ppe
the Soviet Union for forced labor shortly after the liberation, and
who returned home sometime in w mmr 19516,
some ten (10) residents were forced
to join 'Gals military service by internal affairs sUtlon personnel,
and besides this, two (2) out of five (5) households that left the
area moved to the . angjin Steel 10.11. The destination of the remain-
ing three (3) households is unknown. during the war,
a total of eight (8) young villagers also left
sometime in autumn 19513
in the Chongho village (EP 1161175), a People's Armed Forces deserter
was taken to a coal mine under the guise of labor mobilization.
population figures:
Hurt village (FA 1162179) e ........... 700 (approximate)
li tin village ...e.......eaee.. ss.so 100 ( If )
70 (
)
Hwang= village (EA 46218-0 0 ......... 1600 ( If
Chongho village (EA 162175)
groups of beggars are wondering in Kflchu-yip,
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b9. In the area of the Hwadae-gun goverranent, a large-scale
irrigation project being implemented by groups of Is f om the
villases. this project, started in 1952
50.
51.
large number of woman-farmers and villagers
were mobilized In shifts for the above mentioned irrigation project
in Hwadae-gun.
all
villagers were mo for an Irrigation prc ec , starting at
1000 hours in the morning until sun set (around 1800 hours).
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fact
some Soviet matttriala were delivered to a
53. In abstract but exact insulting language, people call Soviets
"currish guys", and ChineJserjads "barbarians".
various sea weeds; octopus, and ti pangs
55.
a6.
57. It takes four (4) to five (5) days to receive mail from a locality,
some 40 kilometers aw .
58.
59.
60.
6;1.
62.
63.
63~. In the Hwangam village (EA 262187), the farmers
millet, black millet, potatoes, and barley.
65.
were shipped out to Communist countries (Communist satellites).
grow rice, yellou
The Farm Cooperative in the angam village., which was
established in 195 consists of less than 50 rcent of the total
fanner-villagers. ember-farmers of
two (2) families br with their cooperative.
Most of the farmers are against the current cooperative farming,
which gives member-farmers neither a break on taxes nor an increase
in fertilizer or implements.
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67. Farmers pay to the government 25 percent of their field crops
(such as yellow millet and black ,Millet) and 27 percent of their
paddy crops (rice). However, the situation is that the actual
percentage of crops delivered to the government covers more than
half of the actual yield. Every autumn, following the harvest,
farmers carry their tax crops to the district (Ri) peopls'a
committee office.
69.
which existed during the Japanese rule. there
were no new devices eak of, or rented implements for the farmers.
according to hearsay, in some other areas..
Soviet tractors are available for farmers.
70. A large number of students and non-farmer women are mobilized for
farming, which is due to the shortage of farm labor.
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manure is the only fertilizer avail--
able for farmers, for which all farmers and women are mobilized in
weeding.
the farmers use cattle-driven farm a rA
fishermen usually fish at four
shore in groups of five (,) to six (6) each.
7 Y. Daytime fishing ends before sunset, and night fishing ends
before dawn. there are no regulations restricting
the location g.
14- Dogs and chickens are raised
75 .
barley suffered from a disease
which resulted in the destruction of much barley
were animal diseases to speak of ic::~iilage.
Owever, here
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neither doctors nor medical care were
avai.l.able to the people patients
therefore must be carried ox-carz to the ieaxW Hwadae area
for treatment.
15. A Peo lees Hospital is located in Hwadae and Haeplyong.
79. Once, after the armistice, the people in
immunized for an unknown purpose.
80.
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village were
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82. No drugs are available to the people on the market,
83-
84.
36.
8?.
38.
69,
The Hurt villages, which consists of of
neighborhood (Pan), has a total population of about 100.
the neighborhood chief,
was a Labor Party member.
the chief enjoyed better house furniture, than nom-party
HAN In 1 ?on ; r'TA) L I an ex scildier:
the obief is a nat ve angaz.
1i v? ng in Mai gam, was the chief party official
~ the people harbor ilk.-feelin ; toward
organizations and groups. The suer . of each neighborhood de ends
largely upon local conditions.
IM T ' o4tak (NIA Chairman of the
Iel s coimnnittee c
90. The district (Ri) peoples a committee, which comes under the county
(Kun) peoples committee, controls all the neighborhoods in the
district.
91. J
e average North Korean addresses a stranger
as ttThngcnut' (comrade, lower level).
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93.
among the most popular songs area t"Barmy breeze , Ilospital ..~ o ,
and and the "Song of General KIM Il-sung", which is very popular
among students.
Barmy Breeze
Barmy Breeze%
Come to the earth,
And blur my words far back to my home,
To home, my beloved home,
Where lovely maidens played among the bean.:ty.
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Hospital Life
ai kinds of religious worship is prohib; te`
95.
Easy hospital life,
Incurable patients,
Be not art :sous, Cc Er de Doctor,
Be not in grief, you patients,
May you recover9, some fine day.
ups reaaing newspapers, such as the Haatbuk
Ilbo (Hamgyong bukto Daily) and the Nodong Sinnun (Labor Press).
May Day and the August 15th Day.
school athletic meets marking the public holidays of the
1-0)A. Both new resident and visitor have to appear at the neighborhood
chief for registration. Otherwise, They will be in trouble at the
internal affairs station, which undertakes this registration control.
1.,3?
104c
curfew s-&arts from 2200 hours.
the haep! yang Police Unit of the Hwadae Internal
Affairs S ation had the most immediate effect *e unit
1 5. People have grievances against the current living standards, the
rehabilitation work, and the tax in-kind.
1 ~~ - The people Sect the Co itunist regime, because
of the shortage of food --!'Lams.
7 7 fore the Korean wax, there was an anti-
Commu dst resistance group of young students (between 15 and 16
years of age), who were all rounded up by the authorities.
3.08. Source does not know of ax passive resistance groups in North Korea.
1(S9. Most of the people
Caamunist regime.
have grievances against the
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