N. Koreans bribe officials to escape mandatory Mount Paektu winter expeditions

North Koreans are bribing officials to remove their names from “voluntary” winter expeditions to Mount Paektu, complaining that the trips force them to spend up to $200 to endure temperatures as low as 20–30 degrees below zero.

A source in North Pyongan province told Daily NK recently that branches of party and workers’ organizations in the city of Sinuiju had started organizing winter expeditions to Mount Paektu last month.

While the regime portrays attendance on these expeditions as being “voluntary” and motivated by “a high degree of political fervor,” North Koreans view “nominations” for the expeditions as a form of political mobilization that they dare not refuse.

“Nobody actually sees this as being voluntary. If you’re recommended (for an expedition), it’s impossible to decline because of its political nature. The only way to avoid going is to take on extra work, creating the strong impression that attendance is all but mandatory,” the source said.

On top of that, the expeditions present considerable challenges for their participants. The area of Ryanggang province where Mount Paektu is located gets frigid in the middle of winter—as low as 20–30 degrees below zero. The regime’s promotional language about experiencing “the spirit of the bracing winds” basically means braving extreme cold on the ascent up the mountain.

“When the wind whips by your frozen face, it feels like your skin is peeling off. Mount Paektu in the winter is not so much an expedition as a military exercise,” recalled a young person who returned from one such trip last month.

Youth League officials from Sinuiju also attended an expedition last month.

“Ascending Mount Paektu wasn’t that hard when I did that in the summer during my military service, but the winter is a different matter altogether. Back then, we were all soldiers, so nobody was uptight about money matters. But now there’s a distasteful sense that people were being judged over how much they spent and what they wore. I couldn’t deal with the cold or the condescension, so I’d rather not go back,” one of the Youth League officials reportedly told their friends.

“This isn’t just the story of a handful of people. Nearly everybody who has gone is candidly sharing the same impressions. Anybody who volunteers for an expedition after hearing these stories either has a skewed view of reality or has some ulterior motivation,” the source said.

The cost of going to Mount Paektu is the chief source of complaint for North Koreans. Individual participants are expected to pay for their group outfits, sack lunches and transportation. The basic expenses are around $100, the source said. But considering that expedition members also eat out at local restaurants and buy souvenirs or local specialties, the actual expenditure is closer to $150–$200.

“Many people don’t see the point of spending so much on a grueling experience and observe that under the circumstances, the best option is not to go. It’s not like this is the Wonsan Kalma Coastal Tourist Area,” the source observed.

But organizations at all levels are enthusiastically organizing expeditions as they race to prove their loyalty.

“Given the increasing focus on political projects nowadays, an expedition to Mount Paektu is becoming another yardstick for assessing a unit’s loyalty and political posture. As the higher-ups try to hold expeditions, the lower ranks are scrambling for reasons not to go,” the source said.

It has even become common for people to slip bribes to the organizing officials to have their names removed from the list of people recommended for an expedition.

“If not for the compulsory nature of organizational life, I honestly doubt anybody would want to go to Mount Paektu in the winter. The expeditions to the mountain used to be focused on learning revolutionary traditions. But now they’re mostly about units competing to prove their loyalty and members anxious to avoid being nominated,” the source said.

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