Image Credits - The Guardian
After declaring intentions to enhance North Korea’s nuclear capabilities during the Eighth Congress of the Workers’ Party of Korea in early 2021, Kim Jong Un vowed in June 2021 that scientists working in the country’s nuclear weapons facilities who meet their research objectives would be rewarded with performance bonuses four times higher than those received by researchers at other defence research institutions. Additionally, he disclosed plans to allocate payments directly from the party’s resources to optimize productivity within the nuclear weapons laboratories.
In June 2022, a ceremony was conducted in the primary chamber of a nuclear weapons laboratory to distribute performance bonuses as instructed by the Central Committee of the party.
A visual representation displaying each researcher’s progress toward accomplishing technical objectives in both 2021 and 2022 was exhibited at the hall’s entrance, utilizing red bars and percentages to illustrate the extent of each researcher’s achievements over the preceding year.
The event, which aimed to assess and recognize the accomplishments of researchers in nuclear weapons research during the past year while distributing performance bonuses, was treated as a customary political affair.
During the ceremony, bonuses varying from KPW 8 million to KPW 400,000 were awarded to the top 20 researchers based on their research contributions, determined by their position on the list. While the bonuses were denominated in North Korean won, the actual envelopes contained fresh USD 50 bills.
A visual representation displaying each researcher’s progress toward accomplishing technical objectives in both 2021 and 2022 was exhibited at the hall’s entrance, utilizing red bars and percentages to illustrate the extent of each researcher’s achievements over the preceding year.
The event, which aimed to assess and recognize the accomplishments of researchers in nuclear weapons research during the past year while distributing performance bonuses, was treated as a customary political affair.
During the ceremony, bonuses varying from KPW 8 million to KPW 400,000 were awarded to the top 20 researchers based on their research contributions, determined by their position on the list. While the bonuses were denominated in North Korean won, the actual envelopes contained fresh USD 50 bills.
Following the event, the 20 individuals who received bonuses promptly submitted detailed spending plans. Because these bonuses were sourced from party funds, the researchers were obliged to meticulously plan and document their expenditures, providing evidence such as receipts or transaction records endorsed by three or more witnesses.
In essence, the researchers were restricted from freely utilizing the bonuses, despite their dedicated efforts to earn them over a year. Nonetheless, the bonuses were met with immense joy by the researchers and their families. Other defence laboratory researchers and ordinary citizens who learned about the bonuses regarded the nuclear weapons researchers with envy. Some even expressed that they and their families were living in a state of luxury. Undoubtedly, the significant bonuses were valued by these researchers and their families.
In essence, the researchers were restricted from freely utilizing the bonuses, despite their dedicated efforts to earn them over a year. Nonetheless, the bonuses were met with immense joy by the researchers and their families. Other defence laboratory researchers and ordinary citizens who learned about the bonuses regarded the nuclear weapons researchers with envy. Some even expressed that they and their families were living in a state of luxury. Undoubtedly, the significant bonuses were valued by these researchers and their families.
However, when Kim Jong Un announced the bonuses, he also indicated that future generations of their descendants would be expected to work at the nuclear weapons laboratory, a responsibility likely to weigh heavily on the researchers’ minds. In reality, the children of these researchers may be compelled to relinquish their aspirations and pledge allegiance to the state by following in their parent’s footsteps as obedient research workers. It is worth considering whether the lives of nuclear weapons researchers and their families are as idealistic as commonly perceived.