NK heir reiterates goal to feed people

[IronEastBloc]

I think this is a positive step for North Korea, yet I applaud Kim Jong-un as that must be a herculean task to accomplish. also, highlighted is a quote I found interesting by a defector


By Kim Se-jeong

Following up on his grandfather’s legacy, the new heir of the North Korean regime announced the ambitious goals of feeding his people and putting priority on economic growth.

According to Japan’s Yomiuri Shimbun, North Korean heir Kim Jong-un called for national economic development “so that people can have a bowl of rice and soup with chunks of meat on the dining table, a house with tiles on the roof, and silk clothes to wear at a recent meeting in Pyongyang.

The same goal was announced by Kim Il-sung, the founder of the regime, more than a half century ago.

The meeting was chaired by Jang Song-thaek, a member of North Korea’s National Defense Commission and Jong-un’s uncle, and attended by authorities related to the economy, said the newspaper.

The economy of the world’s most closed regime has been on a downward path for years with people starving and the food shortage affecting people’s health.

One defector once told The Korea Times that “He (Kim Il-sung) would make an unexpected visit to an ordinary household and open up a rice jar to see if people had something to eat. And for that, people admired him.”

Statistics Korea recently said that life expectancy in the communist state is 69, lower than in the early 1990s before famine struck.

Kim Jong-un’s latest remark seems like a shift in his priorities, which was reflected in his quote: “Unlike the past when it was OK without food as long as we had enough bullets, now we have to have food, but not necessarily bullets.”

The economic situation in the country correlates with the survival of the regime.

One Korean scholar based in Europe, who travels to North Korea on a regular basis, said the “better economy by 2012” campaign is an important test for the regime to regain credence of its people.

Yonhap News Agency reported Monday that Kim Jong-il’s field trips this year were geared towards the economic sector.

Chun Hae-sung, a spokesman for the Ministry of Unification, said out of 148 field trips, 58 were related to economy and the heir accompanied his father 28 times.

[robbo203]

I think this is a positive step for North Korea, yet I applaud Kim Jong-un as that must be a herculean task to accomplish. also, highlighted is a quote I found interesting by a defector

snip

One defector once told The Korea Times that “He (Kim Il-sung) would make an unexpected visit to an ordinary household and open up a rice jar to see if people had something to eat. And for that, people admired him.”




Rather pathetic really. Who wants a bleedin politician coming into your house uninvited and inspecting the contents of your pantry. Keep them out along with the other assorted opportunists/door-to-door salesmen trying to flog you tat. Next they'll start kissin your baby and promising you heaven on earth. Urgh!

[The Vegan Marxist]

Rather pathetic really. Who wants a bleedin politician coming into your house uninvited and inspecting the contents of your pantry. Keep them out along with the other assorted opportunists/door-to-door salesmen trying to flog you tat. Next they'll start kissin your baby and promising you heaven on earth. Urgh!

If they could grant me food and a peaceful living, hell, why not? lol

[robbo203]

If they could grant me food and a peaceful living, hell, why not? lol

Well my advice in that case would be dont fall for the salesman patter! And remember - its the workers that produce all the food. The politicans just get fat on the promises that they can deliver the food they had no hand in producing in the first place. All of them seem to suffer from an inflated sense of their own importance to the rest of humanity and some of us, poor souls, seem to just go along with this crap

[DaringMehring]

If they could grant me food and a peaceful living, hell, why not? lol

Workers have to grant themselves those things by taking the power, not rely on some "God, Caesar, or Tribune" to deliver them.

[Kiev Communard]

This bizarre hope for the "benevolence of the heir" once again illustrates the basically autocratic character of North Korean statehood.

[RedScare]

Given all the nasty circumstances with North Korea, and all of the likely outcomes as to how this regime could turn out, I'd say this is a pretty good development for the people of North Korea.

Seriously, with all the pressure from South Korea and the US, the propaganda , and the enormous military making genuine socialism impossible at the moment, this seems to be about as best as can be hoped for.

[Jazzhands]

Following up on his grandfather’s legacy, the new heir of the North Korean regime announced the ambitious goals of feeding his people

How exactly is this news? A politician discovers a shocking new revelation: it's better to eat than to starve.

I mean, populist rhetoric reveals fundamentally nothing whatsoever about what his actual plans are. I mean, I suppose it's a baby step in the right direction that the latest state rhetoric has gone from "YOU HAVE SO MUCH FOOD BECAUSE KIM JONG IL IS GOD" to "I'm going to TRY to feed you."

[Black Sheep]

Well if he does inherit super powers from his father and grandfather, then this goal should be easy.

I think he should go right ahead and start focusing on food supply and production, right after he builds a gargantuan monument of course.

[scarletghoul]

Rather pathetic really. Who wants a bleedin politician coming into your house uninvited and inspecting the contents of your pantry. Keep them out along with the other assorted opportunists/door-to-door salesmen trying to flog you tat. Next they'll start kissin your baby and promising you heaven on earth. Urgh!
There's a difference between an annoying salesman trying to get your money and a representative of state power making sure to keep in touch with the needs of the people thereby making sure that the state serves them

[Spawn of Stalin]

Yeah I think I'd be quite flattered if David Cameron waltzed into my house to check how I was doing, obviously I would prefer Kim il-Sung because I'm rather a big admirer of his but I think it's quite a nice gesture.

[robbo203]

There's a difference between an annoying salesman trying to get your money and a representative of state power making sure to keep in touch with the needs of the people thereby making sure that the state serves them

Sure there's a difference - in the scale of the lies they tell and in the effrontry with which they utter them. At least a double glazing saleman is only trying to flog you a window. In the case of the politician the contrick is all the more transparent and ambitiously self serving. Only a sucker would seriously believe these political salesmen exist to serve "the needs of the people"

[L.A.P.]

If Kim Jong-un doesn't turn things around and fix his father's fuck ups then North Korea will be fucked. I don't know if I have much hope for him though.

[IronEastBloc]

Rather pathetic really. Who wants a bleedin politician coming into your house uninvited and inspecting the contents of your pantry. Keep them out along with the other assorted opportunists/door-to-door salesmen trying to flog you tat. Next they'll start kissin your baby and promising you heaven on earth. Urgh!


my point in highlighted text is that Kim Il Sung is so beloved in North Korea with geninune effection that even a defector agrees that he is admirable.

[StalinFanboy]

If they could grant me food and a peaceful living, hell, why not? lol
Cause this ain't got shit to do with the self-emancipation of the workers?

[Die Neue Zeit]

Nobody mentioned Deng Xiaoping yet in this thread?

[robbo203]

my point in highlighted text is that Kim Il Sung is so beloved in North Korea with geninune effection that even a defector agrees that he is admirable.

Yes and what of it? Im sure he is. This does not make glorifying and prostrating yourself before the Great Invincible Ominiscient Leader any the more desirable. Im sure the volk in 1930s Germany thought precisely the same of Hitler or Russian workers of Stalin.

It is time to get off our knees and stop this sickening fawning and start behaving like responsible adults. All this placing your faith in this or that leader is one of the reasons why the world is in such a mess as it is today

[Hexen]

This bizarre hope for the "benevolence of the heir" once again illustrates the basically autocratic character of North Korean statehood.

The very same thing happens in Western governments too i.e. look at Obama when he was first elected...

[Peace on Earth]

His people? If he wants "his people" to truly be free and live good lives, why not set free the working class? Oh thats right, because his little family would lose all their precious power. Fuck NK and fuck their leaders.

[Homage To Catalonia]

Yes and what of it? Im sure he is. This does not make glorifying and prostrating yourself before the Great Invincible Ominiscient Leader any the more desirable. Im sure the volk in 1930s Germany thought precisely the same of Hitler or Russian workers of Stalin.

It is time to get off our knees and stop this sickening fawning and start behaving like responsible adults. All this placing your faith in this or that leader is one of the reasons why the world is in such a mess as it is today

there was me thinking it was due to capitalism :D

[Coggeh]

Any potential dictator who sets out a goal to feed "his" more than 50 years on from "the revolution" is seriously messed up, you think FEEDING people would be top priority? no ?

[scarletghoul]

It's rhetoric, not an actual shift in government policy as far as we know.

And why are people so hung up on a few pronouns. Any nationalist will refer to people of the same nationality as his or her people, it implies brotherhood not necessarily possession