With North Korean authorities mobilizing every age group and all means to weed agricultural fields this year, even 59-year-old members of the Socialist Women’s Union of Korea are being forced to take part in farm work.
A source in North Hamgyong Province told Daily NK on Thursday that members of the Socialist Women’s Union have been “semi-forced” to pull weeds in the province’s fields. “Even grannies close to 60 years old who should be at home watching their grandkids are being forced to weed the fields,” he said.
The source said that in previous years, members of the Socialist Women’s Union up to the age of 55 were mobilized for agricultural work such as sowing and weeding fields. This year, however, women up to the age of 59 are being pressed into service.
This indicates that North Korean authorities intend to boost the country’s harvest by fully mobilizing all available manpower. The move reflects a sense of crisis on the part of government officials, who feel they must overcome food shortages that even North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has acknowledged.
However, mobilizing such elderly members of society runs counter to a letter Kim sent to the Seventh Congress of the Socialist Women’s Union held from June 20 to June 21. In the letter, the North Korean leader stressed that “[p]arty organizations and government organs should never give women’s union organizations in their relevant regions social and other burdensome tasks under the belief that their members are a spare labor force.”
Going forward, members of the Socialist Women’s Union are likely to be mobilized for “patriotic efforts” across the country.
Since women are deeply involved in market-based activities, they will be asked to contribute the money they have earned to national projects. In turn, the authorities will widely promote this as evidence of the fervent loyalty shown by women.
“When members of the Socialist Women’s Union go to the fields, they have to bring their own lunch,” said the source. “However, some of the grannies are collapsing from hunger because they share their packed lunches with the other farm workers.”
During the latest Congress of the Socialist Women’s Union, North Korean authorities tasked members with the heavy burden of simultaneously raising families, engaging in social activities, and participating in national projects.
