In a push to ratchet up productivity, North Korean authorities have been ordering residents to “live as if under wartime conditions” in political lectures. This is seen as a maneuver to boost solidarity while continually mobilizing people for the ongoing “200-Day Battle.”
“From July 1 there have been frequent lectures ordering residents to be on ‘war footing,’” the source in North Hamgyong Province said. “We’ve been told to live with the same sense of self-restraint one would during wartime; on the production front, we’ve been ordered to pull ourselves up by our bootstraps just as we did following the Korean War.”
The more effort the authorities put into rallying support for the “200-Day Battle,”–visible in related signboards and posters plastering major cities, and audible in propaganda performance troupes–the more negative public opinion turns, not least because of the difficulties presented by the annual lean period that occurs before the rice and corn is harvested in July and August.
State factories keep “combat logs” to document “dedication to exponentially increase production” as proclaimed by state media reports featuring Kim Jong Un touring various factories. To keep complaints in check and participation up, compulsory self-criticism sessions have been initiated daily for the duration of the “200-Day Battle.”
The call to boost output extends beyond production, according to a source in Ryanggang Province: the state-enterprise workforce has been divided up to keep half on top of “200-Day Battle” mobilization matters while sending the other half off to military training.
This is especially trying for local reserve forces, comprising approximately 600,000 soldiers, already weary from prevailing mobilizations. Encumbered by full combat gear in blistering heat and sweltering humidity, reserve forces are engaged in military marches and training alongside the Worker and Peasant Red Army, a reserve force with 5.7 million members.
