North Korean TV Addresses Global Food Crisis in July, August Programmes

From 22 July to 2 August, Pyongyang Korean Central Television (KCTV) via Satellite in Korean broadcast a series of propaganda programmes in response to the prevalent global food crisis. The series addressed the severity of the food crisis both at home and abroad, and emphasized “self-reliance” and “self-sufficiency” to surmount the crisis, introducing ways to attain better harvest.

The television series was carried via an extremely rare vehicle called “intensive broadcast (Koreasn: chipchung pangsong,)” which vehicle is observed to have been employed only on four occasions – three in 2005 and one in 2006 to boost domestic economic projects (see the second table for the listed precedents).

Format of the series

Each programme was composed of two or three segments. The first segment mainly illustrated the dire international situation of the food shortage, followed by remaining segments that proceeded with North Korean government or other public organization officials’ interviews or on-site interviews with farmers on the field (see the first table for names of a few officials interviewed).

The series was also accompanied by what appears to be foreign source-provided video clips and stills related to the food shortage and KCTV’s own video clips and stills showing North Korean farming sectors and interviews with farmers.

Introduction to the Severity of the Global Food Crisis

In an apparent effort to imply that the food crisis is not North Korea-unique, the series incorporated “the severity” of the worldwide food situation into addressing North Korea’s difficulties. Each programme began with explaining the primary causes for the soaring international food prices which have resulted in the current global food crisis. Among the primary causes are natural disaster, grain monopoly of some countries, their bio-fuel production, and fast-growing world population. In the series, some countries like the United States and the United Kingdom were held accountable for bio-fuel production against international opposition.

– Bureau director Han Sok-chon of the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) cited Thai and US rice prices as examples of soaring international food prices which were mainly triggered by imbalance between global crop output and consumption. (22 July)

– Director Hong Chol-ho of the Land and Environment Ministry ascribed the food price hikes to the reduction in farmlands, major rice-exporting countries’ ban on rice exports in an attempt to meet their domestic demands and seek high profits out of the exports. (23 July)

– Dr O Tae-ho of the Economic Institute of Academy of Social Sciences held the United States responsible, maintaining that corns are basic material for bio-fuel and the United States produced bio- fuel to replace exorbitant crude oil, consuming “80-million tonnes of corn in 2007.” (24 and 26 July)

– Dr O Tae-ho also noted that the current food crisis is unlikely to be resolved “even within next ten years or so,” adding that “the severity of the ongoing crisis” is unprecedented and worldwide grain stockpile has “hit the lowest.” (24 and 26 July)

– Director Ri Il-sop of the Agriculture Ministry said that, though African countries have been hit the hardest by the food crisis and suffered from “massive starvation” and “children’s malnutrition,” they failed to get proper help because “major grain- export countries completely ban grain export and strictly control food trade.” (25 July)

– It is also noted that “The UN Food and Agriculture Organization warned that 36 countries will face food shortage in 2008,” which has led many countries to endeavour to resolve the food crisis “with their own efforts.” (28 July)

Emphasis on “self-reliance” and “self-sufficiency” to overcome food crisis

Following the explanation of the worldwide food shortage status, the series zeroed in on the situation in North Korea. They stressed the pressing need for “self-reliance” and “self-sufficiency” in resolving the “food problem” and “eating problem.” Then, as a way to survive the crisis at home in “a self-reliant manner,” they introduced “potato farming” for its high-yield output and the use of “grass fertilizer [Koeran: pulkoru'm]” for better farming.

1) Self-Reliance and Self-Sufficiency

– Dr O Tae-ho noted that “Under the condition where food shortage is worldwide and food price has become very expensive, it is hard to buy food in other countries and [we] are in no position to turn to other countries,” and “There is no country that offers us food.” He added, “In such circumstances, the only way [to overcome the crisis] is to produce food on our own and attain self- sufficiency with food.” (24 and 26 July)

– Dr O Tae-ho continued, “As reported already, there are data that some countries donated food to our country and they arrived. This, however, cannot be basic means to resolve the food problem and eating problem in our country though this can be helpful in resolving the tense food problem to a certain degree.” He concluded, urging the agricultural sector to “unconditionally achieve their agricultural production goal for 2008″ with a strong sense of responsibility. (24 July. These comments, however, were omitted from 26 July broadcast)

2) Proposed Means Conducive to Self-Reliant Farming

– Kim Song-jun, vice chairman of Pyongyang Municipal Rural Economic Committee, reiterated that “self-reliance is the only way to resolve the food problem,” citing examples of farmers in Pyongyang for their fertilizer management; potato farming; and semi- annual crop. (25 July)

– Farmers were introduced for their use of “substitute fertilizer [Korean: taeyong piryo]” on rice paddies and their prevention work for rainy season. (26 July)

– Cooperative farms in Pyongsong City were introduced for producing “grass fertilizer.” In an interview, a farmer said that cooperative farms in the city “produce thousands of tonnes of grass fertilizer a day.” (28 July)

– A farm management chairman in Sungho District introduced a farming method of planting other crops between rows of corns, whereby it saves fertilizer and produces more crops.

– Examples of foreign countries’ potato farming were introduced for its “highest record of harvest per chongbo (one chongbo equals 2.45 acres)” along with potato’s well-balanced nutritious factors. Also, North Korea’s achievement in potato farming over past ten years was mentioned. (29 July)

– Reiterating that “self-reliance is the only way” to ride out the food crisis, North Korea’s agricultural workers accelerate “grass-cutting struggle for grass fertilizer production.”"Cooperative farms’ grass fertilizer production is in full swing in July and August” as the two months are the period when grass contain “maximum amount of organic substance” which is conducive to “increasing fertility of soil and producing organic fertilizer in high quality.” (2 August)

– Migok cooperative farm in Sariwon City built “an organic composite fertilizer plant on its own.” (2 August)

Precedents of “intensive broadcast”

It is observed to be extremely rare and fairly recent for KCTV to employ such unique vehicle as “intensive broadcast” to convey message to viewers about issues on current affairs. Prior to the aforementioned latest series, KCTV has used the vehicle on four occasions in 2005 and 2006 as follows to boost domestic economic projects.

Originally published by Korean Central Satellite TV, Pyongyang, in Korean 22 Jul 08.

(c) 2008 BBC Monitoring Asia Pacific. Provided by ProQuest LLC. All rights Reserved.