North Korea to Import Solar Power to Give Soldiers TV
Agence France-Press, Tokyo /May 7, 2007
Source: DefenseNews.com
http://www.defensenews.com/story.php?F=2739807&C=asiapac
North Korea’s rulers are to import solar power from the West so that its soldiers can watch television and use computers when in barracks, a press report said May 6. The energy-poor nation has acted after communist leader Kim Jong-Il toured a military unit last year and found that power shortages were stopping soldiers from watching programs, the Japanese newspaper Mainichi reported.
Under Kim’s instigation, Pyongyang’s leadership ordered the People’s Army in around March to “install recreational facilities at military units without fail,” said the Mainichi quoting a source close to the North Korean regime. As a result, the authorities have decided to buy solar power generation systems in large quantities from Western countries, the daily said.
The decision will make television available “for more than five hours a day and [allow soldiers to] use computers at military facilities,” it added. Kim’s regime has favored soldiers over other workers in deciding who benefits from solar power. The die-hard communist state has been hit by dire energy and food shortages in recent years with electric power stoppages witnessed daily even in Pyongyang, according to foreign residents and visitors.