Provincial resentment grows across North Korea following state media footage of Kim Jong Un and his daughter touring a pet shop in Pyongyang. The Hwasong District Phase 4 service complex opened recently in the capital. A Daily NK source in North Hamgyong province reported on April 10 that the broadcast had set off heated conversations in Hoeryong city. These days, people in Hoeryong are all talking about pet animals, the source said.
North Korean state media reported that Kim inspected the operational readiness of multiple service facilities in the Phase 4 zone. The broadcast reached the general public through state television. Of all the facilities shown, the pet shop drew the most attention. Footage showed Ju Ae stroking a cat and references to veterinary medicine production. We can barely feed ourselves, one person said. Who has the luxury to worry about dogs and cats? There are not even enough medicines for people, let alone pets, said another. Only wealthy families could afford such things, a third remarked.
Even owning a pet remains a privilege for better-off households in provincial areas. For the majority of North Koreans struggling to meet basic needs, keeping a pet is an extravagance. The broadcast provoked a sense of alienation among many viewers. Food prices and general consumer prices have reportedly risen to record highs in recent months. Vulnerable groups are bearing the brunt of these price increases. Consequently, a state-of-the-art pet shop in Pyongyang struck many provincial viewers as painfully disconnected from their own lives.
The disparity between Pyongyang and the provinces emerged as a recurring theme among viewers. Pyongyang feels like a different world from where we live, one person said. Another noted that while Pyongyang’s people were thinking about feeding their pets, people in the provinces focused solely on earning enough to survive. It sounds like a story from another country entirely, the source said. Provincial people have long felt the gap in living standards between themselves and Pyongyang, the source added. Recently, word has come back from people who visited the capital that conditions there keep improving. Meanwhile, life in the provinces only gets harder.
Reactions in Hamhung, the capital of South Hamgyong province, followed a similar pattern. A second Daily NK source reported that the Hwasong District service facilities are now a major topic of conversation. Some expressed genuine interest or aspiration about visiting the facilities. If I ever get to Pyongyang, I would want to visit the Hwasong District hair salon, one person said. However, skepticism was equally evident. It is just something we can look at but never touch, said one person. In the end, it is a place built for people who are already well-off, said another.
Not all reactions were negative. Some viewers expressed national pride and amazement at what they saw. It seems like our country is developing just like other countries, one person said. Pyongyang looks no different from a foreign country now, one person remarked. Provincial people want comfortable lives too, the source said. But when basic food needs go unmet, facilities like those in the Hwasong District can only be seen as places that have nothing to do with us. Consequently, provincial resentment grows as the regime celebrates luxury while citizens struggle. Kim’s pet shop tour may have aimed to showcase progress, but it highlighted inequality instead. The gap between Pyongyang and the provinces will likely continue widening under current policies. The pet shop has become an unintended symbol of a system that serves the few at the expense of the many.
