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2017.06.28
| Won | Pyongyang | Sinuiju | Hyesan |
|---|---|---|---|
| Exchange Rate | 8,070 | 8,050 | 8,095 |
| Rice Price | 5,800 | 6,000 | 5,900 |
Kim Passes Buck for Light Industry Failure
- [Defector Analysis of Kim's Speech]
Choi Song Min |
2013-03-20 03:59
North Korea’s decision to hold a ‘national meeting of light industrial workers’ even as the country is simultaneously undertaking wide-ranging military exercises was an extraordinary one.
The front page of Rodong Sinmun was used on March 19th to introduce news of the meeting, which took place in Pyongyang on Monday. In it, the publication of the Chosun Workers’ Party revealed the full contents of a speech delivered to the meeting by Kim Jong Eun. It was entitled, ’On a Number of Problems in Developing Light Industry to Meet the Demands of the Construction of a Strong Socialist State.’
In the process, the event monopolized five of the six pages of Tuesday’s Rodong Sinmun, clearly reflecting the regime’s desire to construct the image of a state working hard to improve the lives of its ordinary citizens.
In his speech, Kim noted: ▲ the need to improve the people’s economy through light industrial development; ▲ the need to modernize the light industrial sector; and ▲ the need to stimulate production of more, and better quality, consumer goods. In many ways, he was reiterating the contents of his televised January 1st speech.
Kim was critical of the way Kim Jong Il’s decrees and policy decisions have not been successfully implemented in the sector: for example, he said, “Now, light industrial factories are unable to accomplish the great General [Kim Jong Il]’s last instructions on normalizing production,” and, “Now, one of the most serious problems in the light industrial sector is high reliance on the importation of fuel and materials.”
Also, “One problem that is becoming one of the greatest is that our workers do not feel a sense of responsibility for the success of their work, they are mired in defeatism and are not making any effort.”
The speech was partially noteworthy for the fact that Kim did point unequivocally, and publicly, to areas of concern in this way. This was in stark contrast to the Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il eras, where results were inflated and reported as propaganda to the public alongside almost no public dialogue about problematic issues.
However, the speech also focused primarily on passing the buck for the current absence of development in the sector onto the workers in it; it did not address the fundamental problems of North Korean light industry. In particular, Kim did not refer to the fact that since the beginning of the 1960s the authorities have adhered to a policy of channeling a disproportionate quantity of their available material resources into military channels.
In other words, the problem is not with the workers in the light industrial sector, as Kim claimed; conversely, the problem is that the military sector is explicitly prioritized at the expense of light industry, and has been for decades.
One defector, Park Cheol Jin dismissed the speech in an interview with Daily NK today, saying, “The speech by Kim Jong Eun contained no basic policy to improve matters; all it did was pass the buck for the leader’s mistakes in light industry onto the shoulders of workers in the sector.”
“In the past, Kim Jong Il said, ‘Even if there is no candy, there must be bullets’,” Kim pointed out. “He encouraged everyone to tighten their belts and poured light industrial budgets into the military. It was this that actually made the people’s lives harder.”
The front page of Rodong Sinmun was used on March 19th to introduce news of the meeting, which took place in Pyongyang on Monday. In it, the publication of the Chosun Workers’ Party revealed the full contents of a speech delivered to the meeting by Kim Jong Eun. It was entitled, ’On a Number of Problems in Developing Light Industry to Meet the Demands of the Construction of a Strong Socialist State.’
In the process, the event monopolized five of the six pages of Tuesday’s Rodong Sinmun, clearly reflecting the regime’s desire to construct the image of a state working hard to improve the lives of its ordinary citizens.
In his speech, Kim noted: ▲ the need to improve the people’s economy through light industrial development; ▲ the need to modernize the light industrial sector; and ▲ the need to stimulate production of more, and better quality, consumer goods. In many ways, he was reiterating the contents of his televised January 1st speech.
Kim was critical of the way Kim Jong Il’s decrees and policy decisions have not been successfully implemented in the sector: for example, he said, “Now, light industrial factories are unable to accomplish the great General [Kim Jong Il]’s last instructions on normalizing production,” and, “Now, one of the most serious problems in the light industrial sector is high reliance on the importation of fuel and materials.”
Also, “One problem that is becoming one of the greatest is that our workers do not feel a sense of responsibility for the success of their work, they are mired in defeatism and are not making any effort.”
The speech was partially noteworthy for the fact that Kim did point unequivocally, and publicly, to areas of concern in this way. This was in stark contrast to the Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il eras, where results were inflated and reported as propaganda to the public alongside almost no public dialogue about problematic issues.
However, the speech also focused primarily on passing the buck for the current absence of development in the sector onto the workers in it; it did not address the fundamental problems of North Korean light industry. In particular, Kim did not refer to the fact that since the beginning of the 1960s the authorities have adhered to a policy of channeling a disproportionate quantity of their available material resources into military channels.
In other words, the problem is not with the workers in the light industrial sector, as Kim claimed; conversely, the problem is that the military sector is explicitly prioritized at the expense of light industry, and has been for decades.
One defector, Park Cheol Jin dismissed the speech in an interview with Daily NK today, saying, “The speech by Kim Jong Eun contained no basic policy to improve matters; all it did was pass the buck for the leader’s mistakes in light industry onto the shoulders of workers in the sector.”
“In the past, Kim Jong Il said, ‘Even if there is no candy, there must be bullets’,” Kim pointed out. “He encouraged everyone to tighten their belts and poured light industrial budgets into the military. It was this that actually made the people’s lives harder.”
