Cattle deregulation brings beef to the masses


A photo spread in a May issue of Rodong Sinmun featured Kim Jong Un at a cattle farm
under the Chosun People’s Army [KPA]. Image: Rodong Sinmun

North Korea is loosening its tight grip on
livestock in the country, specifically cows, to allow the sale of them as
opposed to simple rearing. This comes as part of Kim Jong Un’s efforts to build
up an image of a benevolent leader, who provides for his people by giving
the livestock industry a lift, local sources told Daily NK. 

“You could only breed cows on collective
farms in the past, but now individuals can privately rear them” a source in
North Pyongan Province told Daily NK on Wednesday. “Also, measures have been put
in place to allow those individuals to buy and sell the cows.”
 

This same information has been
cross-checked by sources in another province of North Korea, whose locations
and identities must remain undisclosed for their safety.
 

“The move closely follows the Marshal’s
(Kim Jong Un) orders to feed people beef,” he said. “He probably
believes that offering people more things to eat will boost his image.”
 

Cows on collective farms that are
registered as “work cattle” (used for farming) with the state cannot be used
for other purposes, according to the source. Being state property, they can
neither be traded nor slaughtered; however, the new policy change allows residents to import cows or purchase offspring of existing cattle.

In North Korea, cows are considered one of
the most important assets in farming, second only to land itself. Frequently labeled
‘weapons’ to allow people to fight against enemies during times of war, cattle are treated as essential state assets. This is why those slaughtering cows for personal use were likely to be prosecuted as economic criminals and dispatched soon thereafter to a
re-education camp, according to the source.
 That is, until now.

However, despite officially being banned
from slaughter, cows were frequently traded as bribes. Party cadres would forge paperwork declaring healthy cattle as being diseased and cull them ahead of major
national holidays– such as New Years or Chuseok– in order to present higher ranks
with beef. 
Such artifice is an application of the
exception in law, which permits cows to be slaughtered and given to the
military or cadre only if the animals are sick.

“The culture of eating beef among Party
cadres is already pervasive, so it looks like that’s why they’ve allowed
ordinary people to eat it as well,” the source said. It was also rather inevitable, he added, considering that the state lacks means to feed work cows and will gain far more by breeding cows with investment from the donju [new affluent middle
class].

“Allowing individuals to raise cows will
get them a lot plumper than [state-fed] work cows,” he speculated, adding that it could also lead to more beef in circulation, stored in freezers like pork to be sold down the line.

*The content of this article was broadcast to the North Korean people via Unification Media Group.