North Korea’s rural transit gap leaves a daughter unable to say goodbye
A woman in North Korea lost both parents in a traffic accident in Kumya county, South Hamgyong province, but was unable to attend their funeral because of the country’s poor transportation infrastructure, a case that highlights the harsh realities of rural North Korea’s transit system in
Daily NK
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A woman in North Korea lost both parents in a traffic accident in Kumya county, South Hamgyong province, but was unable to attend their funeral because of the country’s poor transportation infrastructure, a case that highlights the harsh realities of rural North Korea’s transit system in 2026.
A source in South Hwanghae province told Daily NK on Thursday that a couple in their 60s died in a traffic accident in Kumya county in mid-June, and their daughter, who lives in South Hwanghae province, was unable to attend the funeral even after hearing the news. “Even if she had left immediately, she would only have arrived after the funeral was already over,” the source said.
According to the source, the couple, who had long struggled financially, received word from their daughter that she could give them about 20 kilograms of rice if they visited. Their daughter had married a soldier and settled in South Hwanghae province. The couple headed to Hamhung station to board a train to see her, but the train derailed and they were killed instantly.
The daughter, who was not well off herself, had reached out hoping to help her struggling parents even in a small way. Instead of being able to help them, she was unable even to see them off on their final journey after they died in the accident.
When she learned of the accident, the daughter was unable to attend her parents’ funeral at all. She lives in a mountainous area where the nearest train station is more than three hours away by car, and there was reportedly no reliable way for her to reach it.
Even if she had been able to borrow a vehicle from her husband’s military unit to reach the station, the trip to her parents’ home would have taken at least three days, meaning she realistically could not have arrived before the funeral ended.
Poor transit leaves families unable to reach weddings, funerals
Missing family milestones such as weddings and funerals because of poor transportation is not uncommon in North Korea. Military families living in remote, hard-to-reach areas and women who marry far from their hometowns often find it difficult to return home even when a parent is gravely ill or has died, according to the source.
Public transportation is concentrated in large cities such as Pyongyang, making it largely inaccessible to people in rural and mountainous areas. Long-distance travel depends mostly on trains, but simply reaching a train station can be difficult in itself. As a result, the source said, people repeatedly fail to reach parents in time, even when they are gravely ill or have died.
“In the cities, you can catch a taxi if you have the money, but for rural people, taxis and city buses are things that happen to other people,” the source said. “It has become common for daughters who married far away to be unable to go to their parents even after hearing they’re in a critical state.”
“With transportation this blocked off, the reality here is that people can’t freely travel to their parents when they die, or to their children when they’re sick,” the source added. “Even when word comes that a parent is gravely ill, people can’t bring themselves to attempt the trip and can only hope for the best.”
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