North Korea Vows to Overcome 'Food Shortage'... Solving It Through 'Ideological Armament'?

Distribution of the 'Kim Jong-un Conclusion Document' at the Plenary Meeting
Order for Ideological Armament... Even Production of Propaganda Songs

North Korea distributed the 'concluding document' by Chairman Kim Jong-un, which was derived from the Workers' Party plenary meeting held to resolve the food shortage. Instead of concrete solutions to the food crisis, the document contained content aimed at tightly uniting the residents through ideological indoctrination.

The Workers' Party organ, Rodong Sinmun, on the 6th published an article titled 'The Guiding Concluding Document Delivered to the Entire Party by the Respected General Secretary,' stating "The guiding concluding document has been distributed to party organizations at all levels in the central and local areas," and praised it as "a historic document, a battle flag that inspires the historic march toward a great victory, an immortal grand outline."

According to the report, Chairman Kim emphasized, "We must open a breakthrough in the ideological offensive by igniting a learning fever to thoroughly master the immortal works of Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il, the general guides of our party, and party documents throughout the entire party." The concluding document by Chairman Kim was the result of the party plenary meeting discussing agricultural issues, but instead of proposing solutions to the food shortage, it ordered thorough ideological indoctrination.

A North Korean boy holding a shovel at a collective farm in Soksari, Hwanghae Province in 2011 [Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

The newspaper also stated, "All party members and people across the country who have received the guiding concluding document of the General Secretary are filled with high enthusiasm to achieve a breakthrough in the struggle to realize the new era rural revolutionary program," and "Party organizations at all levels are intensively organizing study sessions to firmly arm all officials, party members, and workers with the ideology and spirit of the 7th plenary meeting of the 8th Central Committee of the Party."

North Korea, where starvation deaths have recently been reported in various regions, held a four-day party plenary meeting from the 26th of last month to the 1st of this month, with 'agricultural issues' as the main agenda. However, rather than producing any significant solutions, the conclusions mainly focused on appeasing public sentiment, and Chairman Kim ordered, "This year, we must definitely capture the high ground of grain," but the measures proposed for 'grain production' merely repeated past content.

Experts believe that since North Korea did not present concrete implementation plans, resolving the food shortage will be difficult for the time being. Yang Moo-jin, president of the University of North Korean Studies, said, "There is nothing new in the grain production section, and there is no mention of the grain policies that caused the current food shortage, so it is expected that the supply policy centered on control will continue."

The fact that North Korea, unable to find a 'solution,' is urging ideological indoctrination of residents through propaganda and agitation is interpreted as the authorities putting their life on increasing food production. Conversely, it also proves the severe food shortage situation they are suffering from. The Choson Rodong Party Publishing House and Mansudae Art Studio even newly produced propaganda songs to urge the implementation of the plenary meeting's decisions. The propaganda songs bear titles such as "Let the whole country rise up and bring about a fundamental transformation in agricultural production" and "Let us surely achieve a bumper harvest in this meaningful year."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.