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SEOUL: North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has ordered a nationwide campaign to boost the ailing economy ahead of a key party congress in January, state media reported on Tuesday (October 6).
The decision was made during a meeting of the ruling Workers’ Party and comes as the COVID-19 pandemic and recent floods have added even more pressure on the ailing economy of the isolated country.
Mandatory mass mobilization campaigns, including extra long work hours and additional duties, are common in North Korea in the run-up to major events.
READ: North Korea’s Kim Jong Un tours flood-stricken city, his sister reappears in public
The efforts have been commonly dubbed “Battles” (the North often adopts militaristic terminology and notions of fighting), but while the official KCNA news agency described it as such in Korean, in its English version it used the more diplomatic term ” Bell”.
“We have accomplished historic feats with our costly efforts, boldly overcoming unprecedented trials and difficulties this year, but we must not rest on our laurels,” he said.
“We are still facing challenges that cannot be overlooked and there are many goals that we have to achieve this year.”
Participation in the grueling “battles” is rigorously monitored and used as a measure of loyalty to the regime, with past campaigns denounced by rights groups as exercises of forced labor.
North Korea’s ruling party will present a new economic plan at its January congress, the first such meeting in five years.
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The North has suffered from chronic economic mismanagement and an earlier plan was quietly scrapped earlier this year, and a party meeting in August concluded that “goals to improve the national economy have been seriously delayed.”
It has also been affected by international sanctions imposed in response to its nuclear and ballistic missile programs, which have advanced rapidly under Kim’s leadership.
Analysts expect Pyongyang to showcase the latest developments in those shows on Saturday, at a major event to mark the 75th anniversary of the country’s ruling party.
