During a visit to the Central Tree Nursery
in Pyongyang, Kim Jong Eun laid out plans to turn “the whole country into a
thick woodland and greenery,” according to a Rodong Sinmun report published on
November 11th.
“[T]he forest resources of the country
shrank in bulk during the Arduous March, the forced march and the state of
forest denudation is very serious,” Kim stated, calling on residents, the
Party, and the army to mobilize and fight as part of this “war with nature.”
 Image: Rodong Sinmun |
This is first mention by the leader of the
famine and deforestation of the 1990s that wreaked so much havoc on the nation.
Pointing out problems occurring during his father’s [Kim Jong Il] rule, about which residents still harbor blame and resentment, is seen as an
attempt by the young leader to demonstrate his ability to improve on the past.
Noting that his father left the nursery as a legacy, he called for afforestation efforts to start immediately, “bearing deep in mind the aphorism of Kim
Jong Il that we should live not merely for today but for tomorrow.”
Kim went on to urge “mass movement
as a movement for winning the titles of socialist patriotic woods and
model-forest county” referring to the planting and protecting of the trees as
“our noble duty and a supreme patriotic work for the future of the country and
its eternal prosperity.”
Also present during the visit were Choe
Ryong Hae, Choe Thae Bok, O Su Yong, Han Kwang Sang and Ri Jae Il.
 Image: Rodong Sinmun |
