Things could be worse

N. Korean parents gather firewood for classrooms as prices more than double

Students take days off to collect quota as green wood fills classrooms with smoke, while forest rangers mostly look the other way

North Korean parents are taking turns gathering firewood to heat their children’s classrooms after prices more than doubled from $28 to $69 per cubic meter, with only eight of 27 families at one Hamhung middle school able to pay cash upfront.

“Parents at some schools in Hamhung and other parts of the province have been roaming through the woods to gather firewood. Parents are responsible for providing the firewood needed to heat their children’s classrooms,” a source in South Hamgyong province told Daily NK recently.


Bad Kim Jong Un he looked out,
from his feast this evening,
When the snow lay round about,
deep and crisp and even;
Brightly shone the moon that night,
tho’ the frost was cruel,
When poor parents came in sight,
gath’ring winter fuel.