A Japan-based pro-North Korea newspaper has released news that the “150-Day Battle,” the North Korean mass-mobilization productivity drive which was launched in late-April, has been extended for a further 100 days. The new “100-Day Battle” will take the total length of the mobilization period up to the end of the year, and possibly even into early 2010.
Rumors of an extension to the period of mobilization have been going around inside North Korea since June, but only now have they been officially confirmed.
A publication of Chongryon (General Association of North Korean Residents in Japan), Chosun Shinbo, claimed that during the 150-Day Battle “many units have been achieving fruitful results. Without slowing down a bit, (the North Korean people will) keep up their vigor during the 100-day Battle.”
However, experts conclude that any extension to the Battle must be because original goals have not been met. An anonymous defector, who arrived in Seoul in 2007 explained, “In 1993, when the third seven year economic plan was coming to an end, the authorities expanded it by one and half years, while the 200-Day Battle in 1988 was also expanded by 50 days because its initial goals had not been accomplished and they had not found any outstanding results about which to boast. This time, the situation must be the same.”
This point of view has been born out by recent Daily NK reports, in which North Korea-based sources have exposed the failings of the battle.
For example, in one August 10th report, a North Hamkyung Province source described the situation in Hoiryeong, “The only factories operating now are the Hoiryeong Goksan Factory, which produces cigarettes to distribute to soldiers, and the Essential Food Factory, which produces soy sauce and soybean paste for the army and the Shock Brigade for the Propagation of Party Ideology. Other factories cannot work due to a lack of raw materials and resources, let alone electricity.”
The situation in Yangkang was no better, “Hyesan Shoe Factory, Essential Food Factory, Hyesan Textile Factory and Hyesan Chemical Factory are partially operating, all others have ground to a halt.”
Another report noted that some of the methods being used in the Battle are doing more harm than good. For example, back in early July in Hyesan; “They have been attempting to convert the apartments in the city to Pyongyang-style ones by forcibly breaking glass and plastic windows which have been set up on apartment verandas by residents to block out the wind. The citizens are extremely unhappy about this.”
In yet another negative report, this one dated June 22nd, an inside source summed the situation up concisely; “Since April, when the decree launching the 150-Day Battle was handed down by the Central Committee of the Party, resident mobilization orders have been increasing in number, and regulations have also been strengthened. Therefore, grievances about this situation are growing, but improved productivity is nowhere to be found.”
It therefore seems highly unlikely that a further 100-Day Battle will bring about the transformation into a strong and prosperous country that the authorities are officially striving for, while the additional difficulties for the people will undoubtedly be extremely unwelcome.
