Most outside economists doubt the long-term significance of such efforts.
North Koreans are being mobilised en masse to boost production and demonstrate their loyalty to leader Kim Jong-un in a 70-day campaign aimed at wiping out indolence and slackness.'- Kim is expected to use the congress to showcase his achievements and power - and potentially announce a roadmap for the country's future political and economic strategies.
- This one was called in February to rally the nation ahead of a major ruling party congress scheduled for May.
- Because they do have political and ideological value, however, the campaigns are likely to remain a fact of life in North Korea.
- Short-term campaigns don't address larger, systemic economic issues that cause economic underperformance to begin with.
- Most outside economists doubt the long-term significance of such efforts. In the rush to meet or exceed quotas, quality can suffer, and pressure to show good results can lead to over-reporting actual outcomes.
- North Korea has employed mass campaigns to boost production, often ahead of landmark events, many times before. They were common in other Communist and socialist countries before the fall of the Soviet Union.
- Our work has become more difficult than usual,' said Nam Myong Hu, who supervises operations of a 5,000-ton refrigerator at the Sinpho Fishery station. There is no distinction between the start and end time of work, and we sleep at the workplace.'
- To show their loyalty, workers are putting in extra hours to boost production in everything from coal mining to fisheries. Bright red flags and propaganda posters have gone up around the country to emphasise the importance of meeting or exceeding production targets.
North Koreans are being mobilised en masse to boost production and demonstrate their loyalty to leader Kim Jong-un in a 70-day campaign aimed at wiping out ‘indolence and slackness.’
Most outside economists doubt the long-term significance of such efforts.
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