What does N.Korea do for its seniors? | NK News

What does N.Korea do for its seniors? | NK News

What does N.Korea do for its seniors?
To make a long story short, it doesn't do much; they have to work
Kim Yoo-sung March 23, 2016

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NK News/Catherine Salkeld


Every week we ask a North Korean your questions, giving you the chance to learn more about the country we know so little about.

Translation has been delivered by LingPerfect which is a professional translation company in New York. LingPerfect provides services including document translation and website localization.

This week’s question is: What happens to elderly people in North Korea – pensions, etc?

To tell you the conclusion first, I think there is no such thing as welfare for the elderly in North Korea. Actually, I had never heard of the term “welfare” when I was living in North Korea. I learned about the term “welfare” and the definition of it only after I came to South Korea. Only then did I realize that there was such a thing as welfare that exists for the elderly and minorities in some societies.

Of course, the North Korean government puts up a façade and says it has welfare system for its people. However, the North Korean government cannot afford to provide welfare benefits for its own people in need. In South Korea, everyone who is 65 and over can ride the subway for free and they get a monthly stipend from the government. But as far as I know, the North Korean government provides none of those benefits for elderly people.The community may try to help them, but their ability to do so is limited. Just like everywhere else, both sympathetic people and selfish people exist in North Korea. Some nice people would do something to help the elderly who get sick or injured but since many people in North Korea are starving, it is not possible for everyone to do so.


Since there is no government support nor welfare for the elderly or the disabled in North Korea, it is only wise for people to save up for their retirement.

Also, people in North Korea try to save up for retirement. Since there is no government support nor welfare for the elderly or the disabled in North Korea, it is only wise for people to save up for their retirement.

I have my maternal grandparents still living in North Korea and they had to make a living by themselves without receiving any such government support even though they were in their 80s. My grandparents had been making a living by running a small shop on the street while still in their 80s because the North Korean government didn’t provide any pension for them. Life isn’t very different for other elderly people in North Korea as far as I know.

In South Korea, people who are 65 or over are entitled to free rides on the subway but the elderly in my North Korean hometown weren’t entitled to such welfare benefits. I’m not certain whether the elderly in Pyongyang can benefit from free transportation over there. But, people in my hometown had never heard of such welfare benefits. In regions outside Pyongyang, public transportation hardly exists. You don’t see a subway or buses in those regions outside Pyongyang. My mother is highly satisfied with South Korea’s welfare system. She always says, “I would bring your grandparents to South Korea if they were 10 years younger.”


North Korean people in their 60s and older still have to work either on the farm or at the market in order to make ends meet

I will admit, South Korea doesn’t have the best welfare system in the world. Still, I think its welfare system for the elderly is good. Not every elderly person in South Korea gets to live a luxurious life. Yet, they receive a monthly stipend at least. In the meantime, North Korean people in their 60s and older still have to work either on the farm or at the market in order to make ends meet. Just like I told you, my maternal grandparents are still running a shop on the street to put food on the table even though they’re still in their 80s.

It is a widely known truth that the North Korean government spends an immense amount of money on the development of nuclear weapons while its people are starving. A good government would take care of its people. But the North Korean government spends a large amount of money on its nuclear program while neglecting the welfare of its people.

As I’m writing this column, I wonder what my grandparents are doing up there, where they don’t even have electricity. I wonder if they’ve already eaten their dinner. When I was still a college student in the North, my grandparents gave me a bunch of 1,000 won notes, telling me not to skip a meal. It was their hard-earned money and they gave them to me because they were worried I might miss a meal or two while in college.

It’s getting so cold these days and it must be a lot colder up there in North Korea. I wonder if they’re still working such long hours. I would like to get a job as soon as possible so that I can give help to my grandparents, even if its a small amount. When the unification of Korea comes, I hope all elderly people in North Korea can benefit from same welfare system as the elderly in South Korea.

The above is the perspective of the author, and may not be representative of all North Korean defectors.

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Editing by Rob York and translation by Elizabeth Jae





Kim Yoo-sung

Kim Yoo-sung is an Ask a North Korean contributor who left Gil-joo County of Hamkyungbuk-do, DPRK in 2005