The bright red slogans hang from buses, government buildings and even some restaurants and gas stations, urging North Koreans to work harder to make the country’s 200-day “speed campaign” a success. “Have you carried out the plan for today?” one poster asks.
It’s the second such drive this year, and while outside economists doubt their effectiveness, they reflect leader Kim Jong Un’s desire to energize the country’s sputtering economy. That goal is fettered by international sanctions against Kim’s other main priority, his nuclear program, increasing the pressure on North Koreans to dig themselves out of economic stagnation.
In a collectivist society, slacking off isn’t taken lightly. Least of all now.
“If you look out the window, you won’t see anyone just walking around,” said Chang Sun Ho, the manager of a small shoe factory in Wonsan, a port city on North Korea’s east coast. “Everyone is working.”
The history of North Korea’s speed campaigns, which were also common in the former Soviet bloc countries and in China, is almost as old as the country itself.
* Movies: Hunt for the Wilderpeople
* Books: Vinegar Girl by Anne Tyler
* Music: Earth by Neil Young
* Wine: The genesis of gin
* Lifestyle: The wellness sanctuary
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