[imText1]North Korea has loudly proclaimed and mobilized for the “150-Day Battle,” but citizens have noticed that only the regulatory measures have been strengthened while production capacity has not been improved.
According to the source, the 150-Day Battle pales in comparison with the 70-Day or 200-Day Battles of years past.
For victory in the “150-Day Battle,” propaganda posters and slogans have been posted all over key cities such as Pyongyang, mobile performing arts propaganda units have been organized in each factory. Further, production targets have been proposed for each place of business and the drawing up of a separate diary for the battle has been decreed, but it is clear that actual progress in production activities has been relatively insignificant.
More than anything else, there has been a setback in achieving production targets due to transportation not operating properly due to a lack of fuel oil and electricity.
A Shinuiju source who visited Pyongyang by train around the 12th said, “On the way to Pyongyang, there was a six-hour blackout at Seoksan in Jeongju and an all-day blackout at Mundeok in South Pyongan Province. We could not move for two days inside the train. But the 150-Day Battle has at least begun, so the inspection of permits and regulation of trains have been toughened up, making it more comfortable be on the train.” Most of the trains that citizens take in North Korea are electrically operated.
In North Korea most electricity is hydroelectrically generated but, due to the drought which began last year, the power plants have been operating at reduced capacity. This has resulted in the failure of factories to operate normally, so the production targets set at the time of the onset of the 150-Day Battle have stopped well short of the slogans.
The source relayed, “With the winter drought continuing until this spring, the production of electricity has not improved and there has also been a shortage of water for irrigation. In Pyongyang, electricity is only provided around three hours a day to residential homes.”
The North Korean authorities have been stressing that a “revolutionary surge” should be incited in all of the people’s economy during the “150-Day Battle,” including the iron and steel industry, but the consensus among sources is that the movement has actually been focusing on the areas of “agriculture and reconstructing old homes” due to the fuel and electricity shortages.
At the outset, the rationale was that due to the lack of electricity and raw materials, the only thing that could be done in rural areas was to build residential homes and continue farming. But this has also failed to produce results fitting with the battle slogans.
For example, a source from Yangkang Province stated, “In Hyesan, there was a plan to build new homes for 4,000 households between April 20th and October 10th of this year. Not only factories and enterprises, but also people’s units have been mobilized for this project, but only 400 homes have been built so far.”
The walls and roof of the single-story residential homes have mostly been constructed using wood and mud, while brick has hardly been used.
The source said, “Since the beginning of construction, the price of gasoline has risen from 4,000 to 5,000 North Korean won, and even if logs are ferried and gasoline obtained, the speed of lumbering has not risen.”
The authorities have also stepped up regulation of the market under the pretext of the 150-Day Battle, but there have been unwanted side effects, such as an increase in the price of rice and the expansion of alleyway markets.
On this, a Shinuiju source said, “The 150-Day Battle has supposedly begun, but markets were completely shut for two days on May 2nd and 3rd, which resulted in the price of rice jumping from 2,000 to 3,000 won in a day. Since then, the decree has been eased so that officials in Shinuiju only inspect the markets in the afternoons.”
Further, he noted, “In Pyongyang, the jangmadang was only supposed to open in the afternoon from the beginning, but merchants working in the markets began expanding into the alleyways, making shopping more convenient.”
According to Open North Korea Broadcast, a radio broadcast on North Korea, “After the start of the 150-Day Battle, passage through the streets between 9 in the morning and noon has been prohibited and the opening time of the jangmadang has been delayed from two to four in the afternoon.”
