BEIJING — North Korea is calling on its people to “build a fairyland for the people by dint of science” and “let the strong wind of fish farming blow across the country” in new propaganda slogans published Thursday.
More than 300 slogans were revealed by North Korean state news agency KCNA ahead of the 70th anniversary of the founding of the Workers’ Party of Korea and the liberation of the Korean peninsula from Japan. Both events take place later this year and are key moments for the North Korean government to commemorate.
The slogans range from asking people to obey the ideology of “Kimilsungism” and “Kimjongilism,” after North Korea’s former leaders Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il, to celebrating the country’s military strength, asking for North Koreans to “fight death-defyingly for our country and nation!” and for wives of military officers to “become dependable assistants to their husbands.”
Some of the lines in the propaganda focus on the U.S., calling for an end to the “military provocations and schemes of war games by the U.S. and South Korean warmongers” and to “drive the U.S. imperialist aggressive forces … out of South Korea!” — making reference to the joint military exercises held between the U.S. and South Korea, a source of much contention in the North.
Other slogans focus on the need for economic development and advances in science, saying North Koreans should “build ‘gold mountains’ and ‘treasure mountains’ with brilliant scientific and technological achievements!”
Food shortages also feature as a key topic in the propaganda, which calls for North Korea to be turned into “a country of mushrooms” and for people to “make fruits cascade down and their sweet aroma fill the air” with improved fruit farming. “Keep the laughter of the children ring by increasing the production of their foodstuffs!” one line reads.
North Korea’s government often distributes new ideological messages ahead of major anniversaries marking the country’s successes. The propaganda is issued via state-controlled media to help enforce loyalty among the population. One slogan even calls for journalists to “make larger numbers of ideological ‘missiles’ capable of severely damaging the enemy.”
