State media painted an inspiring picture of patriotic students braving harsh weather, eating frozen rice, and ignoring supervisors’ worries about their health in order to work harder on the huge building site. Kim has visited Samjiyon, near the Chinese border, at least five times for inspections over the past year. “Nobody would go there if not for a party membership or education, which helps you land a better job. Open North Korea, a Seoul-based rights group, estimated the total brigade workforce at 400,000 as of 2016. A landmark 2014 UN report on North Korean human rights put it at between 20,000 and 100,000 per municipality, depending on its size.

Source: Taipei Times February 18, 2019 15:56 UTC