North Korea’s government handed out vegetables from Kangdong General Greenhouse Farm to powerful national agencies before distributing them to Pyongyang residents, Daily NK has learned.
“Several kinds of fresh vegetables were harvested from Kangdong General Greenhouse Farm and transported to the logistics distribution centers of major state institutions as gifts late last month,” a source in Pyongyang told Daily NK on Apr. 4, speaking on condition of anonymity. “As it was the first harvest since the Supreme Leader’s [North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s] on-the-spot inspection, the party ordered that Pyongyang’s major state institutions get the first taste.”
Pyongyang residents witnessed the untimely sight of trucks loaded with vegetables rolling down the streets of Pyongyang late last month. In particular, some locals noticed a truck loaded with vegetables entering the supply center of the Ministry of Social Security headquarters in the Ryonmot area of Sosong District.
North Korea’s government also provided some of the first harvest to army construction workers who helped build the Kangdong General Greenhouse Farm.
According to the source, North Korea defined the supplied vegetables as a “gift.” The authorities said the bountiful harvest of greens “underscores the importance of advanced agriculture and technological innovation, and is due to the Supreme Leader’s boundless love and policy of kindness in trying to provide better food for the people.”
The authorities added that the vegetable production at Kangdong General Greenhouse Farm “demonstrated the capacity of greenhouse technology and agricultural development of North Korean-style socialism” and that “all these things resulted from the energetic technical guidance of the Supreme Leader.”
North Korea emphasized that the Kangdong General Greenhouse Farm – built on a major military airfield at the insistence of the government – demonstrated the party’s continued interest in solving the food problems of the people, and that the nation must narrow the gap between Pyongyang and the provinces, cities and rural communities as greenhouse farms nationwide learn from the example of the Kangdong General Greenhouse Farm and promote technological exchanges.
The major state institutions that received the vegetables from Kangdong General Greenhouse Farm had officials write letters “expressing gratitude for receiving the first shipment of vegetables thanks to the Supreme Leader’s consideration.”
North Korea provided the vegetables to Pyongyang’s general public after first providing them to major state agencies, army construction workers, elderly veterans and the descendants of revolutionary martyrs, the source said.
The Rodong Sinmun reported on Apr. 2 that the Kangdong Greenhouse Complex “harvested early vegetables in about ten days after the complex’s inauguration” and that “vegetable transport vehicles left the greenhouse complex on Monday for vegetable sales stations and vegetable shops in each district of Pyongyang.”
“After being supplied with fresh vegetables, the servants and citizens expressed their gratitude to the motherly Workers’ Party,” it added.
Translated by David Black. Edited by Robert Lauler.
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