Homeless people have been congregating nightly at Sinanju Station and other major train stations in South Pyongan province since late January, prompting authorities to order station attendants to guard entrances around the clock and screen out vagrants, a Daily NK source in the province said recently, speaking on condition of anonymity for security reasons.
As the first station on the Kaechon line, which connects the Pyongui line on the west coast with the Manpo line in the interior, Sinanju Station sees heavy traffic at all times. The station’s walls are lined with heating panels, but the source said these are rarely switched on due to fuel and hot water shortages, making them little more than decoration.
“The homeless don’t come to Sinanju Station because of the heating but because of the warmth of human bodies,” the source said. “The crush of bodies at a train station can make winter nights feel a little less cold. So at sundown, vagrants gather to Sinanju Station and lean against the wall or stretch out on cardboard boxes or plastic sheets.”
Security tightened ahead of Party Congress
Station attendants, whose normal duties involve checking tickets and announcing arrivals and departures, have been reassigned to guard station entrances in the evenings. Their task is less about validating travel documents than filtering out people hoping to spend the night inside.
Locals say the scene is nothing new. “This feels pretty routine since it repeats every winter,” one resident remarked. The source struck a more somber note: “My heart goes out to people who are yelled at and run off just trying to stay warm. Quite a few people are discouraged by this grim reminder of our society, which is nothing like the ‘socialist wonderland’ described in propaganda.”
Some observers believe the crackdown is linked to heightened security ahead of the Ninth Party Congress. “Station managers are tightening security because there’s a greater risk of an incident occurring in crowded places,” the source said, adding that restrictions are likely to remain in place through Feb. 16, the anniversary of Kim Jong Il’s birthday.
Smaller stations with lower passenger volumes are less affected, the source noted.
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