By Timothy Oyomare
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has announced his impoverished state will embark on an “Arduous March” as he strives to navigate prolonged economic difficulties amid global sanctions.
This was the first time for Kim to use the term, “Arduous March,” which his father and former leader Kim Jong-un referred to during periods of hardship from 1994 to 1998 to overcome economic crises and serious famines. As a result, Pyongyang watchers predict the North will resort to further belt-tightening rather than seeking negotiations with the U.S. or the international community for sanctions relief.
According to the North’s Korean Central News Agency, Friday, Kim announced the decision at the closing of the cell secretaries’ conference of the ruling Workers’ Party of Korea (WPK) the previous day.
“I made up my mind to ask the WPK organizations at all levels, including its Central Committee, and the cell secretaries of the entire party to wage another more difficult Arduous March in order to relieve our people of difficulties,” Kim was quoted as saying.
“Our party never expects that there will be any fortuitous opportunity for us in paving the road for our people and in realizing their great aim and ideals to build socialism and communism. There is nothing we could depend on or look to,” the North Korean leader said.
A cell is a basic unit of the WPK, generally consisting of five to 30 members. A cell secretary is the leader of each unit. Kim’s speech mentioned the 10 duties of a cell secretary, emphasizing the importance of indoctrination of the party’s statements.
Kim Dong-yub, a professor at Kyungnam University’s Institute for Far Eastern Studies, said North Korea’s decision to be self-reliant was already made when it announced the “frontal breakthrough” drive last year.
“North Korea already declared that it will go into a long war against the sanctions. Kim Jong-un’s remarks at the cell secretaries’ conference is a repetition of the message,” the professor said. “This was the first grassroots-level meeting after North Korea announced the breakthrough and Kim aimed to tighten discipline of the cell secretaries during the hard times.”
The Kyungnam University professor interpreted the return of the term, “Arduous March,” from a similar perspective.
“It was to emphasize the tough times, comparing them to the Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il era, and warning and pressuring low-level members to abide by the party’s decision. It could be understood as the North Korean version of the ‘Saemaul Undong,'” he said.
“Saemaul Undong,” or new community movement, was an initiative launched by former South Korean President Park Chung-hee in the 1970s to modernize the rural economy.
A unification ministry official said it was the first time for Kim Jong-un to mention the term, “Arduous March.”
“We believe he used the term while encouraging cell secretaries to carry out efforts to overcome economic hardships,” said Cha Deok-cheol, vice spokesman at the ministry.
“We need more time to analyze what influence his use of the term will have on inter-Korean relations or its foreign policy.”
Meanwhile, the United States has not declared its North Korea policy yet, taking a cautious approach.
U.S. State Department spokesman Ned Price said, Thursday (local time), that the North Korea policy review is in the final stages, adding that careful consideration requires time.
“North Korea’s nuclear program, North Korea’s ballistic missile program, of course, is a profound challenge not only, again, for the United States, but also for our allies in the Indo-Pacific and our partners as well,” he added. “So, of course, we want to make sure we do a number of things,” Price said.
-Koreatimes