N. Korea trumpets success of labor drive, but watchers skeptical

By Kim Hyun
SEOUL, Sept. 16 (Yonhap) -- North Korea trumpeted the success of a crucial
150-day labor campaign that wraps up on Wednesday, but outside watchers were
divided over its impact on the country's frail economy.
The so-called 150-day Battle, launched on April 20, ordered North Koreans to work
harder and put in longer hours to help revitalize the state's moribund economy.
Similar labor drives have been typical of the North's strategy for economic
growth and cementing the regime's control in the isolated country, where access
to international assistance is strictly limited.
A construction equipment factory in Sariwon, south of the capital Pyongyang,
"accomplished its production goal by 128 percent with a technology innovation
movement," while a cement factory in the town of Seoheung "increased output 1.2
times more than planned with a revolutionary spirit of self-reliance," the Korean
Central Broadcasting Station, a state-run radio network, said.
North Korean media earlier boasted increased production in electricity plants,
farms and mines. The country is also building 100,000 new homes in Pyongyang, in
what appeared to be a dramatic economic package reminiscent of the U.S. New Deal
program in the 1930s.
The nationwide drive is part of the country's larger goal of building a "great,
prosperous and powerful" nation by 2012, the birth centennial of its late founder
Kim Il-sung.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-il has voiced confidence, saying the goal of
increasing the nation's prosperity is "sure to be successfully accomplished."
But many watchers in South Korea were skeptical of the North's success.
Chang Yong-seok, a North Korea expert with the Institute for Peace Affairs, a
non-governmental think tank in Seoul, said the labor drive may yield short-term
growth by concentrating the country's resources into selected areas, but overall
development is unlikely. Energy and food aid from South Korea and the U.S. have
been drained, and the country now faces U.N. sanctions over its nuclear test in
May, which limits cash flows into the North.
He noted a similar campaign launched in 1958, called the Chollima movement, which
yielded unbalanced development and prompted factory closures for machinery
repair.
"North Korea has no other choice but to resort to its internal resources when
external input remains suspended," Chang said.
"This intensive growth strategy, not an extensive one, makes it difficult to
yield comprehensive results. Its economic impact is meek, although there will be
political benefits to internal unity," he said.
But Pyeonghwa Motors Corp., a South Korean automaker in Pyongyang, claims to be a
major beneficiary of the North Korean campaign. Over the last 150 days, its 400
North Korean workers worked night shifts until 11 p.m., instead of leaving at 6
p.m., and have produced 1,500 units so far this year, said spokesman Roh
Byoung-chun. Sales reached 1,000 units, compared to 653 sold during the same
period last year, he said.
"You need a car to do 'battle.' You can't do that on foot," Roh said.
"And we have no problems in bringing raw materials from China. The U.N. sanctions
may be affecting munitions firms, but they are few, and ordinary ones like ours
have nothing to do with them," he said.
The 150 days officially end on Wednesday, but the Choson Sinbo, a Tokyo-based
paper that conveys North Korea's official position, said last week that there
will be a renewed "100-day Battle," which will stretch the labor drive through to
the end of December. North Korean media have yet to confirm the new campaign.
According to the Bank of Korea, the central bank in the South, North Korea's per
capita income last year was 1.17 million won, which converts roughly to US$1,065.
The amount was 5.5 percent of South Korea's per capita income.
By 2012, North Korea aims to raise its per capita income to $2,500, according to
a Seoul expert who attended a recent international forum with North Korean
scholars in China.
hkim@yna.co.kr
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