North Korea is conducting lectures urging factory workers to emulate the patriotic dedication of weapons manufacturers, but employees are frustrated with the regime’s focus on ideology while ignoring chronic shortages of electricity and materials that actually cause production problems.
A source in South Pyongan province told Daily NK recently that a factory in Songchon county held a mandatory lecture for all workers on June 19, using materials distributed by the Central Committee’s Propaganda and Agitation Department.
The lecture, titled “Imbue Each Daily Necessity with the Highest Level of Patriotism Just like Munitions Producers,” demanded that workers draw upon their patriotism and revolutionary spirit to achieve the party’s quality standards in every aspect of manufacturing, from appearance to durability to packaging.
“Faulty packaging and defects are the result of ideological lassitude and irresponsibility, rather than issues with voltage or materials,” the lecturer emphasized. “You must make your love of the fatherland tangible in every bar of soap and your unchanging devotion to the Party perceptible in every shoelace, just like munitions producers in wartime.”
The lecturer added that “both engineers and producers must painstakingly check every stage — including design, packaging and distribution — as an expression of their loyalty” to improve living standards in the provinces.
Workers cite practical problems
While the lecture addressed the high rate of defects in factory output, workers on the factory floor point to very different causes for quality issues.
“Factory workers say that malfunctions are caused by the low voltage, rather than deliberate sabotage,” the source explained. “They say that while patriotism and revolutionary spirit are fine and good, the priority should be on guaranteeing standard voltage. Some are even saying voltage should be the first target of our revolutionary zeal.”
Workers also cite chronic material shortages as a major production obstacle that frequently causes delays. The constant emphasis on ideological shortcomings demoralizes employees when production problems stem from these poor working conditions.
“Workers at the Songchon factory take great pride in the fact that Kim Jong Un personally attended both the groundbreaking and the ribbon-cutting there. As such, they’re very responsible about their work,” the source said. “Blaming defects and other issues with product quality on insufficient loyalty is lowering their morale.”
One employee reportedly complained that despite always taking work seriously, product defects are now being attributed to insufficient loyalty rather than systemic problems. “That kind of political attack is apparently making it harder to stay on task,” the source noted.
Flagship factory struggles
The Songchon county factory represents a showcase project for Kim Jong Un’s “20×10 regional development policy” announced in January 2024. Construction was completed in just ten months by December, making it the first factory built under the new initiative.
Kim Jong Un personally attended both the groundbreaking and opening ceremonies, emphasizing that “the primary effort should be placed on raising product quality.” He called for making “full use of the modern factories we’ve built to produce a large volume of popular products and delicacies that capture the characteristics of each region.”
Despite the leader’s personal involvement and workers’ reported dedication, the factory continues to struggle with the same infrastructure problems plaguing North Korean industry nationwide — unreliable electricity and insufficient raw materials that no amount of revolutionary fervor can overcome.
