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The
Daily Life of North Koreans:
Cows are the Property of the State - Severe Punishment For
Unauthorized Slaughtering
Written
by PAEK Chang-ryong, a defector reporter (2014/February/23)
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In North Korea cows are
indispensable for agricultural tasks
and ordinary people have never tasted
beef.
Oxcarts can be seen everywhere in
North Korea. It is one of the most
important means of transportation
in the country, next to bicycles.
Trucks and cars, as a form of private
transport, are not common for the
majority of people, and trains are
unreliable, services often delayed
or suspended due to electricity
shortages, especially in the countryside.
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An
oxcart at the roadside. Behind the
ox, the slogan reading "Forward
toward the future with full of courage"
can be seen. (Taken by our reporting
partner in South Pyongan Province,
March 2013.)
ASIAPRESS
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Interestingly,
the state does not allow oxcarts to be
privately owned. Every oxcart belongs
to the "Oxcart establishment office"
located in each city and county. In North
Korea, oxcarts are not only used for transporting
heavy loads, but also for carrying out
agricultural projects. These beasts of
burden are vital instruments in the farming
collective, where tractors often run out
of gas because of the fuel shortage. For
these reasons, oxcarts are managed and
supervised by the state, and individuals
are not permitted to sell, trade and dispose
of them.
However, this does not mean that any "special
treatment" is given to cows. It is
well known that in the North there are
many people suffering from malnutrition
and there is no special food rations allocated
for the animals.
In North Korea, it is strictly prohibited
to capture and slaughter these animals.
It is a common understanding in North
Korea that the illegal slaughtering of
a cow is likely to bring upon the guilty
party the death penalty. If such strict
measures were not taken by the state,
cows would most likely have entirely disappeared
during the mid-1990s, when mass starvation
gripped most of the country.
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An
oxcart passes in front of what is
presumed to be a state facility. The
slogan on the left reads "Long
live the General Kim Jong-un, the
sun of the Military First Korea!"
On the right "Long live the great
Military First Policy". (Taken
by our reporting partner in South
Pyongan Province, March 2013.)
ASIAPRESS
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Pork
and chicken can be seen in the ordinary
marketplace, but not beef. It is because
the authorities strictly control the trade
and circulation of this animal. Beef circulates
among the elite class of households belonging
to Workers' Party officials, ranking officers
in the military; it is also available to
foreigners. For
the majority of people, beef and even beef-bones
are considered a very precious product.
Broth soup decocted from beef bones is treated
as a "nutritional supplement".
Exceptions to this are when cows die of
old age or in accidents. These become "authorized
beef", declared officially consumable
by a veterinarian or a 'slaughtering supervisor'.
In these cases it is often proposed that
the meat be delivered to a 'Goodwill home'
or orphanage as a gift. However, in reality,
a considerable amount of beef is embezzled
during the course of transportation ending
up on the black market. |
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![](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/untcsid/20140912102250im_/http://www.asiapress.org/rimjingang/english/report/2014-02-23/image/20140223_R_asiapress03X450.jpg) |
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A
man leads a cow pulling a heavily
loaded oxcart. (Taken in Sinuiju,
North Pyongan Province, September
2012.) ASIAPRESS
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Only
a select few in North Korea can experience
having this near-sacred animal on their
plate, for ordinary North Koreans it is
inconceivable. When I lived in North Korea,
I had a unique opportunity to eat beef.
I found it to be a tough meat, even after
it was cooked. After I defected the country,
I realized that the beef I had tasted in
North Korea was far different from that
which people enjoy in foreign countries.
***
Rimjin-gang |
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