North of the DMZ by Andrei Lankov

Author:Andrei Lankov
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: General Fiction
Publisher: McFarland
Published: 2012-03-18T16:00:00+00:00

Personal Identification:

It’s on the Cards...

EVERY NORTH KOREAN MUST HAVE PROOF of his or her identity and produce it when required. I understand that this may give rise to a degree of sarcasm among the lucky inhabitants of democratic countries. But—wait a minute! Aren’t Americans or West Europeans sometimes required to produce this very same proof? In our automotive age, the driver’s license has become the most prevalent form of ID in most developed countries. Needless to say, this is not the case in the North.

The existence of an obligatory form of identification which must be carried on one’s person does not necessarily transform a country into a police state. Nonetheless, dictatorships make good use of this device in their relentless quest for data about their subjects.

Like many other North Korean institutions, its ID system was initially designed to be a carbon copy of a Soviet prototype. The major ID is called the kongminchǔng, or “citizen’s certificate,” and until recently it looked pretty much like a passport: a small booklet with 12 pages, in a plastic cover, with the bearer’s black-and-white picture on the first page. It was actually patterned after the Soviet ID of the 1940s. This is not surprising: the “citizen’s certificates” were first introduced as early as September 1946, at a time when the Soviet military held almost complete control over North Korea.

From 1972 the “citizen’s certificate” was issued when a North Korean reached 17 years of age, and it was renewed every ten years. This was the task of the Public Security Department, the North Korean police, the body which also handles any other changes to one’s ID.

The small book contained a wealth of information about its bearer. Naturally it indicated birthplace, place of residence, and date of birth. But it also specified marital status. Upon marriage, a special stamp was placed in one’s kongminchˇung, to record this important event. In the case of divorce, a further stamp announced the change in marital status.

In 1998 a new type of “citizen’s certificate” was introduced. It contained basically the same information, but its appearance demonstrated a decisive break with the Soviet tradition. The present-day “citizen’s certificate” is a small plastic card, reminiscent of its South Korean analogue. It is adorned with the picture of the Paektusan Mountain where Kim Jong Il was allegedly born (in fact he was born in the Soviet Union, where his father was in exile in the early 1940s, but that is another story).

An interesting peculiarity of the North Korean ID system is the clear distinction made between the “certificates” of Pyongyanites and the humble dwellers of other towns and villages. The right to live in Pyongyang has always been an important privilege because it offers access to a number of important perks, notably the much superior supply of foodstuffs and consumer goods. At the same time, the government has always limited migration to Pyongyang from the countryside. Therefore, all Pyongyang residents have a special type of “citizen’s certificate” which indicates their right to reside in the capital.

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