The Workers’ Party has ordered cadres to make “a diary of the 150-Day Battle.”
A source from Yangkang Province said on Tuesday in a telephone interview with Daily NK, “A decree, ‘On keeping a diary of the 150-Day Battle,’ came down to every level sub-organization of the Party from the Central Committee of the Party on May 2.”
In the diary, every detail should be recorded from start to finish; about what workers did, the workers’ spirit for the battle, problems in the private lives of workers and other details. These diaries will be the standard by which members and cadres of the Party and candidates who are waiting to join the Party will be evaluated.
According to the source, cadres are discontented by the decree, “Now, are they trying to publicly make an observation record?”
The North Korean authorities handed down an internal document about the 150-Day Battle on April 20th and subsequently instructed minor sub-organizations of the Party to organize oath meetings in support of the campaign.
When North Korea carried out the “70-Day Battle” in the late 1960s, the “100-Day Battle” in the 1970s, and other similar public renovation campaigns, they wrote diaries to encourage workers to work competitively.
The source explained, “The battle diary is, in a word, an observation record of every worker’s actions at every time of day. They have to make and record the battle diary in every factory and enterprise, while also making and recording it in every social organization to which everyone has to belong, like the General Federation of Korean Trade Unions, Kim Il Sung Socialist Youth League or Union of Democratic Women. Then the authorities can watch people from multiple directions.”
The source said that the most confused people are cadres of the local provincial committee of the Party and factories. “The cadres already have to make a 150-Day Battle plan, let alone the diary,” he said, “In addition to that, they could be promoted or, in a bad case, be punished according to the diary record!”
Cadres have to submit a plan to their superior organizations and afterward report the actual results.
However, local cadres are encountering difficulties even making a plan, because most local factories are open but have not been operating properly for a long time.
The source explained the practical situation in local factories, “Despite the lack of electricity and materials, cadres are driven to produce results, so such difficulties are flowing down to workers.
Local cadres of the Party and factories mobilize their workers to construct houses and roads or repair railroads, just like during farm support activities. During that time, workers cannot get wages or any provisions from the state because they are supposed to get rewards only for production activities in factories or other work places where they belong, while other kinds of activities are considered voluntary “social mobilization.”
The source pointed out, “When we are mobilized for social construction, we have to prepare our meal for lunch by ourselves. Therefore, this campaign hits us hard two or three times.”
“Local factories, which used to run normally in the 1980s, are mostly stopped and they don’t offer any provisions.”
The source described the general atmosphere, “Cadres have been driving workers to construction sites for the 150-Day Battle, the unemployed have got caught and regulation of the jangmadang has begun since the Battle was publicized. Therefore, people are full of complaints about this situation.”
