From darkness to light: North Koreans experience abundance of electricity for first time

Posted on : 2019-01-14 17:38 KST Modified on : 2019-10-19 20:29 KST
The emergence of nightlife and evening activity under Kim Jong-un
Pyongyang residents enjoy beer and snacks in street markets during nighttime in front of Kaeson Youth Park. (provided by Unification TV)
Pyongyang residents enjoy beer and snacks in street markets during nighttime in front of Kaeson Youth Park. (provided by Unification TV)

Before the Kim Jong-un era, nighttime in North Korea was a time of darkness. After coming to power, Kim ordered for streetlights to be turned on. Previously pitch-black cities were lit up at night, and lifestyles changed as an evening culture emerged. People began going out into the streets and traveling to markets, restaurants, and recreation facilities in the evening. Young couples and friends now meet under streetlights and go out to eat, drink, and shop together. For many North Koreans, these experiences have been a first.

“Many defectors, including myself, remember North Korea as a place where 24-hour blackouts were a routine occurrence,” explained Ju Seung-hyeon, professor at Incheon National University and a North Korean defector who now studies North Korea and the division of the Korean Peninsula.

“The blackouts would sometimes go on for months, with electricity being provided only once every few months. After evening fell, there wasn’t anything you could do. Since Kim Jong-un came to power, the people who used to live that way are now getting electricity for longer and longer periods of time. Karaoke rooms, pool halls, and other recreational facilities are opening at night even in the small provincial cities, and bowling and table tennis centers are operating in Pyongyang. Residents are really getting the sense that their lives are improving, and their hopes have risen.”

Another 20-something defector who recently arrived from Pyongyang described the changed landscape.

“The electricity situation has improved enough that households in central Pyongyang receive it for about 22 to 23 hours a day,” the defector said.

“Before, you never saw people on the street at night because there were no lights and patrolling was poor. Since the Kim Jong-un era arrived, all of the streetlights have been turned on and safety patrollers do rounds at the night, so you can be on the street until 1 or 2 in the morning and have nothing to worry about.”

The same defector noted, “Support for Kim Jong-un is fairly high among residents of Pyongyang. They think, ‘There really is a difference under their young leader.’”

Kim’s urban beautification campaign

Since his early days in power, Kim stated the goal of making North Korea a “civilized socialist country” and undertook large-scale urban beautification efforts. Soon after coming to power, he was pulling up weeds from public parks and berating the officials in charge during one of his on-the-spot inspections. In another sign of his commitment, he established a grass research institute and ordered efforts to improve strains of turf. As the urban beautification efforts began in earnest, streetlights began going on around 2014, chiefly along main thoroughfares (referred to as “No. 1 roads”) in major cities.

The brightened evenings led to the arrival of once-unimaginable night markets in front of train stations; more and more street vendors began bringing their wares on small carts and setting up portable lights to sell the items. These days, people visit the markets and chat with friends at night, drinking beer on the streets and having conversations and dates under the street lamps.

A night view of Pyongyang from the Juche Tower observatory in June 2018. The building illuminated by green lights is the 105-story Ryugyong Hotel
A night view of Pyongyang from the Juche Tower observatory in June 2018. The building illuminated by green lights is the 105-story Ryugyong Hotel

The emergence of personal space

In addition to helping create a “country of hope” in previously darkened cities, the streetlights also heralded the emergence of personal space. Hong Min, director of the North Korea research office at the Korea Institute for National Unification (KINU), described the change as “going beyond beautifying the cities to change the very way residents go about their lives.”

“Before, the only spaces North Koreans had were in their organizations, groups, and workplaces. The only ‘personal spaces’ to speak of were secret places like the river banks where young people would go to smoke cigarettes on the sly,” Hong explained.

“Residents have begun using the physical nighttime spaces that have emerged since the arrival of the Kim Jong-un era as places for creating a new form of everyday culture,” he continued.

“On the streets and in markets and restaurants at night, we’re now really seeing the establishment of personal spaces where people can have anonymity. People who used to be confined to their workplaces, homes, and groups have now gained spaces for daily living.”

The changes to the North Korean nighttime would not have been possible without historic improvements in the availability of electricity since Kim Jong-un came to power.

During the mid-1990s, deepening economic woes under the Kim Jong-il regime resulted in state-run facilities entering a state of near collapse – including those related to electricity.

“One time, there was a disturbance when residents picked apart the Hwanghae Steel Complex, and the authorities sent in tanks to stop them,” explained Hong.

“Electricity infrastructure was also in ruins. The smaller power plants in provincial cities were all neglected, and they didn't have the infrastructure or capabilities to repair them.”

Young Pyongyang residents and couples enjoy a relaxing evening with drinks in front of the Kaeson Youth Park fountain. (provided by Unification TV)
Young Pyongyang residents and couples enjoy a relaxing evening with drinks in front of the Kaeson Youth Park fountain. (provided by Unification TV)

Possible support from China behind electricity boost

As the process of establishing markets under the Kim Jong-un regime progressed, the state invested resources from those markets into restoring electricity, focusing its attention on electricity production in various ways. Analysts suggested support from China has played a major part in relieving the electricity shortage, with China building lignite-powered plants on the outskirts of Pyongyang as bilateral ties have improved. Sanctions barring coal exports have ironically contributed to improving the electricity situation as well, with the North channeling large amounts of its coal into domestic power generation.

Another major impetus has been a boom in solar power generation. In the wake of the 2008 financial crisis in the US, global solar panel prices plummeted, and Chinese businesses began selling the surplus items to North Korea at a steep discount. These days, nearly every home in central Pyongyang has at least one affixed to its roof, defectors and experts reported.

“Originally, they were importing Chinese panels. But when they took them apart, they found that they were really easy to make,” explained Ju Seung-hyeon.

“So now a lot of the solar panels are produced in North Korea. Even the worse-off households have a solar panel in place, while the better-off ones have six or so.”

Increase of private power generation

The developments suggest that market development has proven an effective solution for the electricity shortage as well.

“The amount of power supplied by the state hasn’t increased all that much during the Kim Jong-un era, but private power generation has made a big difference,” said University of North Korean Studies professor Yang Moon-soo.

“Independent supplies of electricity have increased, with companies importing batteries to supply their own power and a huge increase in solar panels for individual households. It’s a case where not only livelihood issues but energy issues as well have been solved through markets.”

The exterior of the Ryugyong Hotel in downtown Pyongyang – first begun in 1987 but not fully finished until 2011 amid the collapse of the Eastern Bloc and North Korea’s Arduous March – was fitted last year with over 10,000 LED bulbs, which now shine slogans and images every night over a vastly changed city.

By Park Min-hee and Noh Ji-won, staff reporters

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