ID :
67660
Thu, 06/25/2009 - 19:30
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/67660
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N. Korea vows 'do-or-die' labor campaign to revive economy
By Kim Hyun
SEOUL, June 25 (Yonhap) -- North Korea on Thursday vowed a do-or-die labor
campaign to build a strong, prosperous nation by 2012 under the baton of leader
Kim Jong-il, amid growing outside skepticism about the North's economic plans.
North Korea has been dependent on international food aid, mainly from South Korea
and China, to feed its 24 million people. But the conservative Seoul government
cut off its decade-long rice and fertilizer aid to the North last year, which
also faces new U.N. sanctions over its recent nuclear test.
State media said Kim has visited about 100 places over the past six months since
Dec. 24, when he revived an aged labor movement with a trip to a steel factory.
The so-called Chollima movement was launched in 1958 by his father and North
Korean founder Kim Il-sung to rebuild the country out of the rubble of the Korean
War and continued through the early 1970s.
"The forced march of Great Comrade Kim Jong-il ... is a great journey (showing)
his endless devotion to the nation, the revolution and the people," the Korean
Central Broadcasting Station, a state-run radio, said, calling the labor campaign
an "all-out do-or-die battle of the entire people."
North Korea seeks to build a "strong, prosperous and powerful nation" by 2012,
the centenary of Kim Il-sung's birth and when Kim Jong-il turns 70. Some analysts
in Seoul speculate the North Korean leader may plan to officially declare his
successor in that target year, amid reports that his third and youngest son,
Jong-un, is being groomed.
Adding to the labor campaign, North Korea has set a span of 150 days -- from late
April to September -- to further labor productivity. State media regularly report
how workers in machinery factories, coal mines and farms are outpacing their
production plan under the so-called "150-day battle."
"In the flames of the all-out battle, the movement of socialist competition is
gearing up with vigor and energy to achieve the production goals commissioned to
each unit by all means," Radio Pyongyang said.
According to the Unification Ministry, Kim has made 77 public outings so far this
year, compared to 50 during the same period of last year. The increase was
notable in economic and art-related areas, it said.
Analysts see few good signs for the North's economy, with the fall in outside aid
and new U.N. sanctions, which entirely banned North Korea from weapons exports as
well as related financial transanctions. Some say the financial pressure made
North Korea think again over an industrial complex jointly run with South Korea,
which it might have considered shutting down as a means of retaliation for
Seoul's conservative policy. South Korean firms operating at the park paid more
than US$26 million in wages last year to the North Korean government.
North Korea's gross national income in 2007, the latest data available from South
Korea's central bank, was $26.7 billion, a mere 2.5 percent of South Korea's $1.5
trillion.
hkim@yna.co.kr
(END)
SEOUL, June 25 (Yonhap) -- North Korea on Thursday vowed a do-or-die labor
campaign to build a strong, prosperous nation by 2012 under the baton of leader
Kim Jong-il, amid growing outside skepticism about the North's economic plans.
North Korea has been dependent on international food aid, mainly from South Korea
and China, to feed its 24 million people. But the conservative Seoul government
cut off its decade-long rice and fertilizer aid to the North last year, which
also faces new U.N. sanctions over its recent nuclear test.
State media said Kim has visited about 100 places over the past six months since
Dec. 24, when he revived an aged labor movement with a trip to a steel factory.
The so-called Chollima movement was launched in 1958 by his father and North
Korean founder Kim Il-sung to rebuild the country out of the rubble of the Korean
War and continued through the early 1970s.
"The forced march of Great Comrade Kim Jong-il ... is a great journey (showing)
his endless devotion to the nation, the revolution and the people," the Korean
Central Broadcasting Station, a state-run radio, said, calling the labor campaign
an "all-out do-or-die battle of the entire people."
North Korea seeks to build a "strong, prosperous and powerful nation" by 2012,
the centenary of Kim Il-sung's birth and when Kim Jong-il turns 70. Some analysts
in Seoul speculate the North Korean leader may plan to officially declare his
successor in that target year, amid reports that his third and youngest son,
Jong-un, is being groomed.
Adding to the labor campaign, North Korea has set a span of 150 days -- from late
April to September -- to further labor productivity. State media regularly report
how workers in machinery factories, coal mines and farms are outpacing their
production plan under the so-called "150-day battle."
"In the flames of the all-out battle, the movement of socialist competition is
gearing up with vigor and energy to achieve the production goals commissioned to
each unit by all means," Radio Pyongyang said.
According to the Unification Ministry, Kim has made 77 public outings so far this
year, compared to 50 during the same period of last year. The increase was
notable in economic and art-related areas, it said.
Analysts see few good signs for the North's economy, with the fall in outside aid
and new U.N. sanctions, which entirely banned North Korea from weapons exports as
well as related financial transanctions. Some say the financial pressure made
North Korea think again over an industrial complex jointly run with South Korea,
which it might have considered shutting down as a means of retaliation for
Seoul's conservative policy. South Korean firms operating at the park paid more
than US$26 million in wages last year to the North Korean government.
North Korea's gross national income in 2007, the latest data available from South
Korea's central bank, was $26.7 billion, a mere 2.5 percent of South Korea's $1.5
trillion.
hkim@yna.co.kr
(END)
