As North Korea heads into peak agricultural
season, the authorities have ordered trading companies to procure and donate
fertilizer. According to inside sources, the State Planning Commission is using its
authority to grant or withhold annual import/export licenses to demand
contributions from companies in the form of fertilizers. Companies that are
unable to meet the demand are in danger of losing their trading rights.
The authorities are under pressure to put
on a spectacular show for the 7th Party Congress coming up in May. However, a
number of financial lifelines have been lost since international sanctions came
into effect. It is for this reason that trading companies are being ordered to
contribute fertilizer in addition to loyalty funds of US $3,000.
In a telephone conversation with Daily NK
on April 22, a source in South Pyongan said, “Right now, all trading
companies have been instructed to import large quantities of fertilizer and other
agricultural products. The authorities have sent official notification forms to
trading companies of various sizes stating that if they do not fulfill the
request, their trading privileges will be revoked.”
Additional sources in the same province and North Pyongan Province corroborated this news.
Because of this
order, he added, trading companies are now engaged in hurried efforts to fulfill the
request before the end of the “70-Day Battle” [a mobilization effort composed
of construction projects and other tasks ordered by the authorities in
preparation for the May Party Congress.] Trading company managers are traveling
to China directly to enter into negotiations with Chinese merchants and are also
putting their relatives and connections to work in pursuit of the deals.
In towns near the border, such as Sinuiju
or Namyang, trading company managers are pouring in and urgently requesting
their Chinese relatives to send any quantity of fertilizer they can. There are also
reports of border guards connected to the traders turning a blind eye as the
fertilizer is smuggled across the border into North Korea.
In connection with these efforts, on April
20, the North Korean state-run publication Rodong Sinmun reported that the
Namhung Youth Chemical Complex exceeded its “70-Day Battle” goal by producing a
daily average of 640 tons of fertilizer. The source refuted this claim, noting,
“This is nothing but propaganda. If massive amounts of fertilizer weren’t
imported into North Korea this year, farming efforts would be seriously
compromised.”
Speaking on wider conditions within the
country, the source continued, “The fertilizer shortage is obviously a problem,
but there are other pressing concerns as well. For instance, the collective
farms are making seedbeds for crops such as corn. However, since there are a
lack of plastic sheets to cover them, they are in trouble. So the authorities
have ordered every family to contribute one pyong (3.3 square meters) worth of
plastic cover. Even school children are being mobilized and have resorted to
collecting scraps.”
The source concluded, “The authorities did
not stipulate an exact amount [of fertilizer] for the trading companies to
contribute. In doing so, they are attempting to incite a “loyalty competition”
in the hopes of increasing total yield. The reluctant companies are reportedly
bringing in the cheapest fertilizer available, prompting farm managers to remark
that much of it is virtually useless.”
