ASIA / PACIFIC
Page 4 n THE ASIAN REPORTER
March 6, 2017
On frozen fields, N. Korean farmers prep for battle ahead
FERTILIZING FROZEN FIELDS. Female
farm workers shovel locally produced “Juche fertilizer”
at Migok Cooperative Farm near Sariwon, North
Hwanghae province, North Korea. With the ground
still frozen while the North waits out its notoriously
cold winter, farmers, joined by workers and students
mobilized from the cities, are in the process of trans-
porting truckloads of the pungent fertilizer to fields
across the country for the planting season. (AP Photo)
By Eric Talmadge
The Associated Press
YONGYANG, North Korea — Plug
your noses and ready your “Juche
fertilizer.” It’s time to prep the
frozen fields in North Korea.
North Korea relies on its farmers to
squeeze absolutely all they can out of every
harvest. It’s a tall order in a country with
25 million mouths to feed that is mostly
mountains, hamstrung by international
trade sanctions, and, beyond a handful of
showcase cooperatives, hard-pressed to
modernize its agricultural sector.
Without a doubt, life as a farmer in
North Korea is harsh. But there are some
signs of change in how North Korea is
treating its fields and its farmers.
In typically propagandist fashion, the
North’s state media are already reporting
that workers inspired by leader Kim Jong
Un’s New Year’s address are heroically
churning out “117 percent” of their
production quotas of what they call “Juche
fertilizer.”
A grain of salt is certainly in order. What
exactly the patriotic-sounding Juche
fertilizer is isn’t all that clear, though it’s
likely a mix of largely organic components
augmented with some chemicals. Because
of the general lack of livestock, human
feces are a key ingredient. Juche refers to
the North’s longstanding but mostly
aspirational policy of self-reliance.
The battle in the fields, however, has
certainly begun.
With the ground still frozen as the North
waits out its notoriously cold winter,
farmers, joined by workers and students
mobilized from the cities, are in the
process of transporting truckloads of the
pungent fertilizer to fields across the
country for the planting season ahead.
Kim Song Ryong, head technician at the
Migok Cooperative Farm in Sariwon,
south of Pyongyang, said it takes about 20
P
to 25 days to distribute the compost. In
March, it will be spread over the fields in
an even layer and then plowed in below the
surface.
“Our respected supreme leader comrade
Kim Jong Un instructed us that
agriculture is the main approach to
building a strong economy and country,”
he said in an interview with AP Television
News. “To get the best harvest with
scientific farming, all our farmers and
workers are out in the fields to improve the
quality of the soil.”
In the past, the country’s over-reliance
on scientific magic bullets has had tragic
results.
Overuse of chemical fertilizers that
began in the 1950s devastated the natural
microbiotic soil environment and fuelled a
cycle in which its fields grew increasingly
dependent on ever-more-artificial fer-
tilization. In the 1990s, the fall of the
Soviet Union and Pyongyang’s other
communist benefactors disrupted the
supply of that fertilizer — which, coupled
Island kingdom of Tonga mourns
the death of its queen mother
By Pesi Fonua
The Associated Press
UKU’ALOFA, Tonga — The South Pacific island
kingdom of Tonga is mourning the death of its queen
mother, who dedicated her time to helping the elderly
and those with disabilities. Halaevalu Mata’aho died at the age of
90 in Auckland, New Zealand after travelling there for health
reasons. The cause of her death has not been released by her
family.
She was the mother of two kings: George Tupou V, who died in
2012, and the current monarch, King Tupou VI.
Her funeral procession was held February 28 in Tonga.
Mata’aho will be particularly missed by the Alonga Centre and
the Tonga Red Cross, with leaders at the two agencies saying she
worked tirelessly.
Lavinia Satini, the coordinator for the Alonga Centre, was in
tears when remembering the queen mother, the news website
Matangi Tonga reported.
“Her love for those who are less fortunate was evident in her
leadership because she made it a point to take care of each person
here,” Satini said.
She said Mata’aho would personally visit the disabled and the
elderly at their homes.
“I will always remember when she visited us from the Royal
Palace she was already stocked with everything that we needed
from food to various household items,” Satini told the website.
“She not only distributed it to us here but she also made personal
trips to homes of people she knew were in need.”
Crown Prince Tupouto’a ‘Ulukalala had announced that the
Tongan people could pay their respects to the queen mother at the
royal palace in Nuku’alofa before her burial in the royal tombs on
March 1. The crown prince said the royal family is observing 10
days of mourning following her burial.
The queen mother married Tupouto’a Tungi, the eldest son of
Queen Salote Tupou III, in a royal wedding in 1947. Her husband
became King Taufa’ahau Tupou IV after Queen Salote died in
1965 and reigned until his death in 2006.
As well as the king, the queen mother is survived by her
daughter, Princess Salote Mafile’o Piloevu Tuita, 11
grandchildren, and several great-grandchildren.
Associated Press writer Nick Perry in Wellington,
New Zealand, contributed to this report.
N
with other factors, led to widespread
famine.
But Pyongyang appears to have learned
some lessons since.
According to Randall Ireson, a private
consultant and former nongovernmental
program director in the North, farmers
have shifted their emphasis since about
2000 to adding compost and organic
fertilizers to rebuild the organic content in
the soil and revivify microorganisms.
“What I’ve seen and heard of is the use of
effective rapid aerobic composting of plant
residue, and where available, animal and
human manure, with the composted
material further augmented with some
chemical fertilizer,” he said. “The addition
of chemical fertilizer to the mix makes it
“non-organic” by a strict definition, but the
other aspects are generally sound and
sustainable, if managed correctly.”
Ireson noted that the depressed
economy, lack of foreign exchange, and
weak industrial sector combine to make
the acquisition of foreign chemical
fertilizer difficult. But he said the push in
the North for composting, while poorly
designed at first, has gradually improved
so farms have started to produce fertilizer
using local, low-energy methods.
“Buying more would be the easy, if not
environmentally
or
economically
sustainable,
way
to
boost
farm
production,” Ireson said. “Lacking that
resource, the push has been to find local
resources, which I think is quite
appropriate.”
More importantly, policy revisions
under Kim Jong Un have since 2012 given
farmers more incentive to produce above
the state quota and to take more of a
personal stake in field outcomes. Though
details are scant, farmers can sell excess
produce for a profit and smaller,
essentially family-sized, work units have
been established to make the rewards
more direct.
Outside experts generally agree the
changes are a step in the right direction —
China and Vietnam had success with
similar agricultural reforms.
But they also quickly warn it remains
unclear how widely and fully implemented
the revisions have been.
“It’s always hard to know what the ag
situation really is,” said Ireson. “There’s a
tendency to concentrate on technical
aspects of farming (in the North), but the
farmers are pretty clever and know how to
do things. The main constraint is limited
resources and, at least until recently, little
personal incentive to produce beyond the
quota.”
Death, diplomatic spat could cost North Korea a rare friend
By Eileen Ng and Tim Sullivan
The Associated Press
UALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — North Korea
doesn’t have many friends. There’s China, its
closest ally, and Singapore, where the North
Korean elite have long gone in search of investors and
shipping contracts. There are neighbors like Russia,
and other nations isolated by politics and sanctions,
like Syria and Cuba.
Until recently there was also — sort of — Malaysia.
While it isn’t one of Pyongyang’s key diplomatic
partners, it is one of the few places in the world where
North Koreans can travel without a visa. As a result,
for years, it’s been a quiet destination for Northerners
looking for jobs, schools, and business deals. Today,
you can find North Koreans studying in Malaysian
universities, working in Malaysian mines, and
managing computer systems for Malaysian com-
panies.
“North Koreans can act freely in Malaysia,” said Lee
Jaehyon, an analyst with the Seoul-based Asan
Institute for Policy Studies.
But for how long?
Last month a long-estranged member of the North
Korean ruling family was apparently poisoned by a
pair of female attackers as he walked through the
budget terminal of the Kuala Lumpur airport. Kim
Jong Nam, the half brother of North Korea’s ruler,
died as he was taken to a hospital. A diplomatic spat
flared when Malaysian officials ordered an autopsy on
the body, despite demands from North Korean
diplomats that the corpse immediately be turned over
to them. Malaysian police arrested two people in
connection with the attack and publicly announced
the names of four Northerners it wants to question,
but who left the country soon after the attack.
“Malaysia is very embarrassed,” Lee said. “This
incident has caused significant damage to Malaysia,
and its image of safety and political stability.”
Malaysian officials, he said, were working to get past
the incident as quickly as possible, fearing trouble for
its tourism industry and its ability to attract foreign
investment. Officials insist they are following normal
K
DEATH & DIPLOMACY. Kim Jong Nam, center, the exiled
half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, talks to airport se-
curity and officials after he was attacked at Kuala Lumpur International
Airport in Malaysia, in footage from Kuala Lumpur airport security
cameras obtained by Fuji Television. Kim Jong Nam died after appar-
ently being poisoned at the airport. (Footage from Kuala Lumpur air-
port security cameras obtained by Fuji TV via AP)
procedures with the investigation.
The entire investigation has been “politicized by
Malaysia in collusion” with North Korea’s bitter
enemy, South Korea, he said.
Malaysia responded with its own fury, with a
foreign ministry statement saying the ambassador’s
allegations were “culled from delusions, lies, and
half-truths” and denying any collusion with Seoul.
Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak said the
investigation had proceeded properly.
Malaysia has no reason to “want to do something
that would paint North Koreans in a bad light,” he told
reporters. “But we will be objective and we expect
them to understand that we apply the rule of law in
Malaysia.”
Experts remain unsure about the diplomatic fallout
from the killing and the increasingly incendiary
language.
In the short run things are clearly rocky. Malaysia
recalled its ambassador from Pyongyang “for
consultations,” and called in the North Korean
ambassador to explain his comments about the
investigation.
Continued on page 7