Chuseok, a time for family reunions and honoring ancestors, is particularly poignant in North Korea this year due to recent hardships. The country recently experienced severe floodings, a worsening food crisis and the execution of officials for their failure to prevent the disasters. These events have significantly impacted the traditional celebrations for its people to thank their ancestors for an “abundant harvest” during the two Koreas’ thanksgiving season.

FOOD AND WATER SHORTAGES

The devastating floods in North Korea have left thousands homeless and caused extensive damages to its infrastructures, further exacerbating an already dire food situation. With crops destroyed and food supplies dwindling, many families struggle to rebuild their lives and put food on their tables, let alone prepare the customary Chuseok feast for their loved ones. To support flood recovery efforts, North Korean authorities have reportedly ordered workers in China and Russia to donate a significant portion of their salaries. Laborers in various industries, such as clothing factories, seafood companies and electronic plants, are deeply affected, as some who receive monthly salaries of 2,500 to 3,000 yuan (around $350 to $420 USD) were required to pay 80 percent of their earnings to the Party back home. Meanwhile, trading companies in China rushed to show loyalty to Kim’s regime by competing to contribute the most (out of their workers’ salaries) to the flood recovery efforts, leaving the workers with minimal living expenses and greater hardships.

According to DailyNK, citizens were seen collecting rainwater with plastic buckets and washbasins in Sinuiju, North Pyongan province, an area that is currently undergoing post-disaster reconstruction efforts. It is reported that tap water supply has not been restored even after a month has passed since the flood. North Korean authorities have mobilized fire trucks to try and solve the water shortage problem, but clean water supply remains insufficient. A local resident jokingly told DailyNK that “When it rained a lot, people would say ‘More tap water came to my house today.’ The tap water referred to here is rainwater that falls from the sky.” Other residents also complained that since they were forced to participate in reconstruction work “under the hot sun every day” on top of their daily house and work duties, water scarcity poses a great threat to their well-being. With sources revealing that a 10-liter bucket of rainwater costs 2,000 won (around $2.2 USD), it is difficult to imagine how people would choose to use this precious resource to cook traditional Chuseok dishes like songpyeon (half-moon rice cakes) and jeon (Korean pancakes) this year.

BARRIERS TO CELEBRATION

Ahead of the festival, usual travels to ancestral graves for rituals like charye (ancestral rites) and beolcho (grave maintenance) are likely hindered by transportation issues due to extensive damages to infrastructures, particularly in the provinces of North Pyongan, Ryanggang and Jagang. Roads and bridges have been washed away, while landslides have blocked key transportation routes around the country. Satellite images also show the widespread damage of the country’s electricity supply as a result of the flood, with many areas experiencing power outages. Comparing satellite photos of Sinuiju, which lies across the Yalu River from the Chinese city of Dandong, taken on June 26 and August 23 this year, the area shown in the latter appears to be significantly darker. The famous Hwasong district in Pyongyang, known for the site of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's major housing construction project, also embraced darkness. Bruce Songhak Chung, a researcher at the Korean Institute for Security and Strategy, suggested that “the power situation in Pyongyang may have suddenly worsened recently, or perhaps that construction workers may have been mobilized for flood recovery in Sinuiju.”

Many families lost their homes and loved ones in the floods, with thousands of people unable to return to their hometowns. As the nation prepares for Chuseok, the combination of grief, loss and fear overshadows the celebrations. Accordingly, the government’s response to the flood disaster by imposing harsh measures to execute 20 to 30 officials with an aim to project an image of strict accountability only draws further international attention and criticism.