The declining believability of public lecture materials about the superiority of the North Korean system and its leadership is making it increasingly hard for Party officials to successfully deliver their weekend lectures, Daily NK has learned. In particular, propaganda about the state’s commitment to improving livelihoods is a common feature of public lectures these days, but public cynicism is leading to adverse responses.
A junior Party cadre from northerly Yangkang Province admitted to Daily NK on the 23rd, “In the middle of all the recent tension we have been using lectures to control the actions of the people, but most people’s heads are starting to loll because they simply don’t believe the contents. Some cadres will even admit their annoyance at having to toe the Party line like this.”
Many sources agree that mass distrust of Party propaganda has grown more obvious since the November 30th, 2009 currency redenomination. Yet, the propaganda has failed to reflect this changing state of affairs, simply sticking to traditional propaganda and leaving the cadres who must deliver it to the public embarrassed.
“Cadres are now really quite unwilling to give these lectures in front of the people,” the source admitted. “Nothing ever changes, so they are left repeating the same content over and over again and just look ashamed at getting up to say it.”
“When Saturday comes they have no choice but to go and give public lectures about Party policy and circumstances to factory workers,” he went on. “When that day comes they feel apprehensive, because they are required to publicly deliver claims that are just lies.”
The cadre referred in particular to one of the Chosun Workers’ Party’s most recent claims, that of the ‘byungjin line’ under which the authorities have vowed to develop nuclear weapons and the People’s Economy simultaneously.
“They are constantly providing lectures about the appropriateness of the byungjin line in an attempt to get public opinion onside,” he explained. “They make frequent reference to the Marshal (Kim Jong Eun)’s April 15th speech about how ‘the people will never tighten their belts again,’ but the response is that life is just getting harder.”
