culture

A new street was inaugurated in the Hwasong area of Pyongyang, which was followed by another joyful event of moving into new houses. 

Modern houses built at state expense were allotted to working people free of charge. Ordinary working people merrily sang songs and danced after becoming masters of the new street and new houses.

Amid their joy, all of them were surprised to hear that last year the price of ordinary house rose to a record high of US$ 427 000 on average in the US. The price of house keeps jumping while jobs decrease day by day and wages also do with the passage of time. So many people live in rented houses. In recent years, reportedly, living expenses have continued to rise, making it difficult to raise money for rented house, far from having one’s own houses.

It is said that living in a place with no elementary welfare facilities, unable to collect exorbitant money to buy houses, is a kind of “comfort”  and that it is commonplace for a whole family to live separately as they are not provided with such a place.     

“In our country all the best things are for ordinary working people. Besides, the state puts in great efforts to provide the people with even what they have never dreamed of. We live in the dreamlike reality which nobody can believe unless they personally experience it,” said Kim Myong Hwa, a woman whose family moved into building 10 of block 12 of the new street.