Report on a Visit to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea

REPORT

ON OUR VISIT TO THE DEMOCRATIC PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF KOREA

On August 10, 1964 we set off for the DPR of Korea, where we arrived on August 17, 1964. At Tirana, Budapest, Moscow, and Beijing we were received and accompanied by chargé d’affaires and functionaries of the embassies in these countries.

All the chargé d’affaires and functionaries of the embassies, whom we met, expressed their joy that we were going to visit their country, the great love and respect they have for our people, our party, and Comrade [First Secretary of the Albanian Party of Labor (ALP)] Enver Hoxha, for the determined and heroic struggle we are waging against imperialism and revisionism, with N. Khrushchev at its helm.

They all said how we will see for ourselves when we go to Korea the deep feelings of love and respect that the Korean people and Workers’ Party have for the Albanian people, the Albanian Labor Party, and Comrade Enver Hoxha.

The comrades of the Korean embassies in Budapest and Moscow organized dinner parties for us.

The comrades of the Korean embassies of the countries we stopped in and in particular the Korean Ambassador to Moscow and the Korean Ambassador to Beijing (He was the first Korean Ambassador to Albania) showed their interest to the health of Comrade Enver Hoxha and the other comrades of the leadership.

We spoke at length against the activities of the revisionists in general and about that of N. Khrushchev and his group in particular with all the functionaries of the embassies whom we met during our trip. In general, they all expressed the opinion that the struggle against the revisionists must be toughened even further. During the dinner that the comrades of the Korean embassy organized for us in Moscow we spoke plenty about the economic difficulties and the lack of food items in Moscow and in general in the Soviet Union.

The Korean Embassy in Beijing paid for the plane tickets from Beijing to Pyongyang, though we should have paid for them.

On August 17, 1964 we arrived in Korea where we stayed until September 5, 1964.

During our stay in DPR of Korea, the Korean comrades showed particular care to our wellbeing. They were always ready to take us wherever we desired and wherever they thought would be a good idea for us to see. Throughout this time we were continually accompanied by an instructor of the Foreign Affairs Directorate of the CC of the party, as well as with a functionary of the Foreign Affairs Ministry who spoke Albanian and did the work of the interpreter.

In some of the objects we visited we were also accompanied by sector chiefs of the apparatus of the CC of the party.

The comrades that accompanied us reiterated time after time that they have special instructions from the leadership of the party to show the highest care for us and to take us to any place without reserves, saying, “From you, Albanian comrades, we have nothing to hide, such as we may have for others.”

During the 18 days of our stay in DPR of Korea, in the 10 regions and cities that we visited, we went to 10 industrial enterprises, 3 agricultural cooperatives, 2 large reservoirs with a watering capacity of 50,000 hectares of land each, 2 electric pump stations for irrigation, 7 various cultural and historic centers and institutions, and one agricultural school. We also conversed with the Head Engineer of the Sukcheon Regional Committee for the Management of Agriculture.

At all the regions and cities that we visited, we were received and given dinners by the Chairmen of the Party Committees (or their deputies wherever the chairmen were away) for the region, city or province. In the economic enterprises or agricultural cooperatives, were accompanied by the abovementioned leaders or were received the principal leaders of these enterprises or cooperatives.

All the cadres that we met, in all the occasions, expressed in a very warm manner the deep love and respect they had for our people, party, and Comrade Enver Hoxha. They repeated very often that they are proud and happy to have such a brave, heroic and resolute friend in our people and party. During the talks they also expressed their admiration for the resolute struggle in very difficult conditions that our people and party and waging against imperialism, revisionism, and particularly against N. Khrushchev’s group.

On the day of arrival in Pyongyang, we were received at the airport by a director of the apparatus of the CC of the party and, at the same time, a member of the CC and Vice Director of the Foreign Affairs Directorate of the CC, and also by the Vice Director of Propaganda, who also dined with us that evening.

On the day of our departure, we were accompanied at the train station by the Director of the Foreign Affairs Directorate of the CC and member of the CC that received us, as well as by a Vice Director of the Foreign Affairs Directorate.

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On September 3, 1964 we were received by Comrade Pak Geum-cheol, Vice Chairman of the CC of the party who deals with party work. In this reception there was also the Vice Director of the Foreign Affairs Directorate, Comrade Kim Heesun.

He [Pak Geum-cheol] said, “We understand very well the struggle that the ALP and the Albanian people are waging against imperialism and revisionism. The international situation is very complex and at this stage the health situation of the leadership is very important.” He said this after we told him that the health situation of Comrade Enver Hoxha and the other leadership comrades was good. He said that, “The health of the leaders must be looked after because of their role in this very complex international situation. I was in your country,” he said, “during the 4th Congress of your Party have the best and strongest impressions for the struggle that your party has waged for the liberation of the country and the construction of socialism. I saw firsthand the strong unity that exists between the party and the people around Comrade Enver Hoxha and the great struggle that your party wages against revisionism. I have seen the attempts by the revisionists, such as Barak, Andropov, etc. to instill division and their plots against the leadership of your party. They sent to me the head of the delegation of the Mongol party to invite me to take part in a meeting at the Czech embassy about the matter of the Greek delegate with the intention of getting me to protest in unison. I immediately opposed this and asked them what were these things they were trying to do at a time when we had come there together to celebrate the Congress. The Greek delegate sent a letter to our delegation and to the Vietnamese about his issue. We gave this letter to the Foreign Affairs Directorate of the CC and we never answered him.”

“During your congress you fought very well against the revisionists and we against the activities of the soviet and Czech delegates and things went so far that whenever we would cross paths, we would not talk or greet each other. The struggle against revisionism is hard, but the Communist Party of China, we, you, and other Marxist parties have waged a resolute struggle against them and have unmasked the N. Khrushchev group, etc. When I met Comrade Enver Hoxha, I spoke to him about the divisive activities that ambassador Ivanov has undertaken in Korea. I wanted to meet Ivanov while in Albania to say a few things to him, but did not get to see his face anywhere.”

He spoke in detail about the internal situation in Korea and about the course of the party in the construction of socialism by relying mainly in internal forces; which coincides perfectly with the Marxist-Leninist theory on the economy; which is in agreement with the proletarian internationalism; and which does not mean a closed national economy like N. Khrushchev likes to portray it. “N. Khrushchev has always opposed this course of our party pretending that this is not in our interest. On this basis he has also opposed the development of our heavy industry, such as, for example, the development of metallurgy sectors and that of the production of heavy machinery. N. Khrushchev was opposed to our developing the industry of vehicles and tractors. He was simply asking that our country become a base for supplying the Soviet Union with raw materials, mainly minerals, and a market for the sale of the products of their industry. Thanks to the correct course of the policies of our party, we have been able to achieve successes in those areas and to move forward. Originally, the creation of the Economic Council in 1949 had good intentions and was built on healthy foundations, but once N. Khrushchev came to power, its intentions were changed and he commenced to attempt to utilize it to usurp the economies of the socialist countries.” He mentioned as an example the attempts by N. Khrushchev to create inter-governmental economic areas, such as the one in Danube. “On the one hand, N. Khrushchev speaks about the need to defeat capitalism in the economic race, and on the other he hinders the economic development of the other socialist countries. He wants to run the economic race for himself. There is a contradiction here between his theory and his practice. The policy of the construction of economy based on internal forces is necessary not only to defeat revisionism, but it is also necessary and correct even when revisionism is defeated and fair relations come to exist between all the socialist countries. The policy of the construction of economy based on internal forces is also necessary for us for the fact that our country has been divided into two parts and because of the attempts that the Japanese and American imperialisms make against our country. The struggle that we wage at the advanced post of the socialist camp does not only serve the interests of our Fatherland, but also the interests of the entire socialist camp; just as the struggle of the Vietnamese people serves the interests of both the Vietnamese interests and those of the entire socialist camp. The socialist camp is being served in every country where a struggle against imperialism is being waged.” He criticized the position of the Soviet Union on the aggressive attempts by the American imperialists against the Democratic Republic of Vietnam. “The Soviet Government asked that the Vietnam issue be brought to the United Nations. This is an unfair and damaging action. China, Korea, and Vietnam comprise a common front against imperialism, and in case of an aggression, we will fight it with all our might. The American imperialism is weak and it is not easy for it to start a war in this area, because its strength was tested and failed in the war against Korea. The lesson that the Vietnamese gave to the American imperialism lately is a good thing for us, but by taking into account that the imperialists might still start a war, we have taken all the measures for the further strengthening of our defenses. We will make some decreases in the investments foreseen by our 7 year plan and these resources will be used to increase our defensive strength in underground work, etc. In the struggle against revisionism, the parties of China, Korea, Vietnam, Indonesia, Japan, and other healthy parties in Asia have achieved successes, but the struggle that your party is waging with Comrade Enver Hoxha at its helm, in the even more difficult conditions of the capitalist and revisionist encirclement, causes us to admire this struggle even more. We are certain that in this struggle we will defeat revisionism for good and will preserve the cleanliness of Marxism-Leninism.”

He criticized the attempts by N. Khrushchev to hastily call for a meeting of the parties and added that, “On this issue we have answered through a letter. Through this action, N. Khrushchev tightens the noose on his own neck. As far as the meeting is concerned, there is opposition to it even amongst the revisionists, such as, for example, the Italian Communist Party and others, which is to our favor. I have great memories from the meeting I had with Comrades Enver Hoxha, [Chairman of the Ministerial Council and Member of the Political Bureau of the ALP CC] Mehmet Shehu, [Member of the Political Bureau of the ALP CC and Secretary of the CC] Hysni Kapo, [First Vice-Chairman of the Ministerial Council and Member of the Political Bureau of the ALP CC ] Spiro Koleka, [Member of the Political Bureau of the ALP CC and Secretary of the CC] Rita Marko, [Member of the Political Bureau of the ALP CC and Secretary of the CC] Haki Toska, etc. I had an important conversation with Comrade Hysni Kapo at the airport as we were leaving.”

At the end of the conversation he expressed his satisfaction with the conversation we had together, for the information we gave him about the situation in our country and our party’s stance on issues and for the kind words we expressed about the Korean Workers’ Party and the great work being done in Korea. At that time, taking a chance from our saying that we had gained a lot by seeing the work being done in the DPR of Korea, he said that, “You learn from us and us from you. We learn reciprocally from each other as communists.”

This meeting lasted one hour and a half.

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Following we are enumerating some things that we learned during the visits in the regions and the cities.

Some issues on the party, the military organization of civilians, and Party Rule

In the enterprises that we visited close to 30% of the workforce were party members. For example, in the textile plant where 10,000 people worked, there were 2,600 party members, 45 people were party functionaries, 9 people were in the Professional Unions, 3 people in the Youth Organization, and one in Women’s. In the factory of silken textiles there were 5,100 people working, of whom 1,500 were party members, 16 people were party functionaries, 6 people were in the Professional Unions, 5 people in the Youth Organization, and one in Women’s. In the metallurgy plant there were 17,000 people working, of whom 6,000 were party members, 70 people were party functionaries, 8 people were in the Professional Unions, 7 people in the Youth Organization, and one in Women’s.

In the agricultural cooperatives close to 20-25% of the workforce were party members. In every cooperative there was one party functionary, while the mass organizations did not have any functionaries.

In the base organizations of the party, such as in enterprises and agricultural cooperatives, they regularly had 3 Deputy Party Chairmen, non-functionaries, whose tasks were set thusly: One Deputy Chairman was in charge of organizational work, the other with agitation and propaganda work, and the third with military work.  

In the regional, city and province party committees, one Deputy Chairman was in charge of the military work (the military preparedness and organization of all the civilians not in military service). All the civilians in villages and enterprises are organized into military units. Generally, the agricultural cooperatives, according to their capabilities, create infantry military units, while the economic enterprises create units with special weapons, and whenever a city has additional workers or clerks, aside from the special units, they also create infantry units.

The units staffed by civilians are directly commanded by the Party Committees. The commanders, from the level of the enterprise, the institution, or the cooperative and all the way to the province are party chiefs. They only coordinate plans with the military commands whenever there is some long term exercise or a great transfer from the civilian areas.

On the Party Rule in the agricultural cooperatives

In agricultural cooperatives, the Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Popular Council is also the cooperative chief, because this allows for a better coordination of the economic activity of the cooperative and other issues, such as education, health issues, etc. The Secretary deals with the practical activities of party rule, who is also a functionary.

On the committees of agricultural management

From the meeting with the Head Engineer of the Sukchon Regional Committee for the Management of Agriculture

The Committee was created on December 18, 1961 at the proposal of Comrade Prime Minister.

At the conclusion of collectivization, the Executive Committee could no longer manage the agriculture in the areas of technology, organization, etc. This is not meant to devalue the great work done by the agricultural sections in the regions.

• The Sukcheon region has been one of the most backward. In this region, Comrade Kim Il Sung has visited 15 times since the ceasefire.
• The agricultural section could not manage all the technology and machinery issues, irrigation in the villages, etc. alongside the increase of our capacity in these areas.
• The Committee started work in this region in January 1962.
• The efficiency of production in this region in 1963 was 4.5 times larger than it was during 1944 and that is a good agricultural achievement.
• Every peasant family received an average of 4 tons of rice.
• In the agricultural committee they have the best specialists for wheat, animal husbandry, fruit production, vegetables, industrial plants, etc. These people have been assigned to the various sections of the Committee. In the agricultural committee they have the best specialists for wheat, animal husbandry, fruit production, vegetables, industrial plants, etc. These people have been assigned to the various sections of the Committee.

The Regional Committee for the Management of Agriculture is comprised of:

1. The Chairman of the Committee
2. Two Deputy Chairmen
3. One Head Engineer
4. The Technological Management Section
5. The Fruit Production Management Section
6. The Animal Husbandry and Veterinarian Management Section
7. The Agriculture Mechanics Management Section
8. The Construction Management Section
9. The Work Management Section
10. The Materiel Supply Management Section
11. The Transportation Management Section
12. The Planning Management Section
13. The Administrative Management Section
14. The Mulberry and Silk Management Section
15. The Accounting Management Section
16. The Finance Management Section

The Chairman of the Committee does the general managing and keeps relations with the various enterprises such as the machine shops, the enterprises for the production of agricultural machineries, the water enterprises, the Director of the tools and agricultural machinery supplies, the Director of the enterprise for the veterinary services, etc. He keeps these relations through the section chiefs and the Deputy Chairmen.  

The Head Engineer manages the Technological Management Section, the Agriculture Mechanics Management Section, the Animal Husbandry and Veterinarian Management Section, the Fruit Production Management Section, the Mulberry and Silk Management Section, and the Planning Management Section. In general the Head Engineer manages all the production sections. The first Deputy Chairman manages the Materiel Supply Management Section and the Transportation Management Section. The other manages the Construction, Administrative, and Accounting Sections.

1. The Planning Management Section deals with the design of plans for the entire production, mechanics, irrigation, etc.
2. Technological Management Section deals with the management of the production of grains, industrial plants, preservation of land, the improvement of land (of those that are currently in use), and chemicals use. It also deals with the farming of fish in the cooperatives.
3. The Fruit Production Management Section deals with the increase of the production of fruits.
4. The Mulberry and Silk Management Section manages the technical side of the production of mulberries and silk.
5. The Animal Husbandry and Veterinarian Management Section deals with the meats and dairy production and the war against diseases.
6. The Agriculture Mechanics Management Section deals with the organization of agricultural mechanics activities, coordinates the use of large, medium and small machinery. It also deals in part with the electrification of the village in the sectors that have to do with the mechanization of agricultural works.
7. The Construction Management Section deals with the irrigation constructions, the better management of water, the constructions that have to do with production, such as animal pens, depots, tractor parks, grain threshing areas, etc. It also deals with the defense against erosions, levees, and new land clearings.
8. The Finance Management Section deals with the financial issues of the cooperatives and the enterprises run by the Committee.
9. The Work Management Section deals with the organization of work in the cooperatives and the enterprises, with the work standards, with the division of income in a socialist manner according to work done, with work security, with the technical qualification of the workers, and the education of technical cadres.
10. The Materiel Supply Management Section is comprised of two branches:

a) One of the sectors deals with the supplies of materiel to the cooperatives.

b) The other deals with the supplies of materiel to the enterprises under the management of the Committee.

1. The Transportation Management Section deals with the transportation of various goods that are received and provided by the cooperatives and the enterprises. Now they are also dealing with the transportation of materiel to the work sites and not only to the headship of the cooperatives.
2. The Administrative and Accounting Management Sections deal with the internal issues, such as administrative and accounting, of the Committee.

The relationship of the Regional Agriculture Committee with the Party Committee and the Executive Committee of the region:

• The Party Committee, through its presidium, decides the tasks for the development of agriculture. The decisions of the Party Committee are carried out by the Agricultural Committee.
• The Agricultural Committee does not report to the Executive Committee, but time after time it reports to the Popular Council on the execution of the decisions of the party and government on agriculture.
• The Agricultural Committee of Sukchon is comprised of 70 people, but this number may be different according to the size of the region.

The Committee for the management of agriculture is comprised of 17 people.

In it take part managing cadres of the party, government, and mass organizations, such as, for example, the Chairman, the Deputy Chairmen, the Head Engineer of the Agricultural Committee, some section chiefs of the Agricultural Committee, some chairmen of the base party organizations in the agricultural cooperatives and some agricultural cooperative heads, and the directors of some enterprises.

Those that take part are: from the party the Deputy Chairman of the Party Committee that deals with agriculture; from the administration the Chairman of the Executive Committee of the region; from the Youth Organization the Youth Chairman; one Section Chief from the apparatus of the Agricultural Committee; two Chairmen of the base party organizations; two agricultural cooperative heads; three enterprise directors.

• The Committee, as a rule, meets once a month, but sometimes two. The general plan for agriculture is given in the form of advice by the Agriculture Committee to the cooperatives, it is discussed at the base, and it is then reviewed by the Committee, which decides definitively on it.
• This region has 23,360 hectares of land, of which 17,720 are used for rice.
• A total of 20,000 hectares are irrigated.
• The Head Engineer of the Agricultural Committee of this region is an agronomist by profession, concentration of rice. The Head Engineers may have different professions. It would be best if they were involved in grain production.
• The Chairman of the Committee is a mechanic by profession. He has come out of the working class—he was a lathe worker—but has now completed a school on economics.
• There are over 40 people in the Committee who have finished higher learning or are in the process.
• One of the two Deputy Chairmen has a higher degree in economics, and the other has finished the Higher Party School.

I. On the State dues at the agricultural cooperatives

In the cooperatives these dues are collected:

1. On the production of agricultural mechanics;
2. Compulsory collections of 3% of the production (not in cash);
3. Dues for the usage of the irrigation system;
4. For the chemical fertilizers;
5. The collections of overages.

If the production falls below 400 kg of rice per capita, the State collects less.

The State also collects a limited amount of fruits.

II. On the manner of the distribution of income in agricultural cooperatives

The main manner of distribution income to the members is on the number of days worked.

• The cooperative decides each year on a special budge item for assistance to those families that have lost workers in the war, to the families of old revolutionaries that do not have any working members, to the war invalids, and to those that have been sick for a long time with the intention of bringing their living standards to a little above the average of the cooperative.
• The children in nurseries are fed and clothed by the cooperative for free.
• From kindergarten to the end of their schooling, the children are clothed by the State following decided guidelines: One suit or two suits a year, one coat a year, one or two pairs of shoes a year (in the schools they give out two pairs, in the kindergartens, one).
• The personnel in the nurseries and kindergartens are paid on a working day basis by the cooperative, while the educators are paid by the State.
• In the cooperatives, 4 quintals of rice a year are produced for each working day. When the members of the cooperatives cannot consume all of it, they are required to sell it to the State as overage and are not allowed to freely sell it in the market.

III. On the constructions in the cooperatives

According to the decision of the Plenum of the CC on February 1964, the construction in the agricultural cooperatives is done free by the State for production related objects, such as depots, etc. as well as schools, nurseries, kindergartens, cultural institutions, etc. In addition, the homes in the cooperatives are built by the State, which hands them over for free to the cooperatives and it gives them for free to its members. For example, this year in the Lipsik cooperative 60 homes were built; in Limangchili, 42 homes; and in Munhwa 4 homes (since the village had already built many new homes previously).

The great repairs of the cooperative buildings as well as to the homes of the members are done by the state without pay. For example, the homes of the members of the cooperative whose roofs are covered with straw have their roofs removed by the State and replaced by tiled roofs.

IV. On the national road construction

The national roads that connect the cooperatives are maintained by the cooperatives and they also plant trees alongside them. The cooperative pays for the working days of the members for these reasons.

V. On the production of feed in the cooperative for the livestock of the cooperative and its members

• In general, the cooperatives do not have specific lands for the production of feed for the livestock. In order to secure feed, they plant lands with wheat or barley after the rice has been harvested. The wheat or barley is then harvested still green in the spring right before the new rice is harvested.
• They use as feed the remainders from the processing of rice or other grains.
• They also use the straw from rice or corn, which are mixed with other green feed.
• They plant squash in between the fruit trees, in the fruit tree terraces, in the embankments, one the sides of the road, behind the house walls, etc.
• They use the grasses that come from the weeding of rice planted lands, and from the mowing of the grass on the side of rice fields or other lands.
• They gather the leaves from the trees, which are then used fresh or dry.
• The ground corn cobs are also used as feed for livestock.
• Mainly the feed that they extract is used for pigs.

VI. On the procurement of feed for the livestock of the members of the cooperatives

The cooperativists’ yards amount to a maximum of 150 square meters.

The procurement of feed for the livestock of the members is done thusly:

• It is considered a duty of all of the members of the family, who in their free time go to mountains, hills, embankments, and slopes to procure feed from grasses or tree leaves.
• They plant squash or something else in their yards.
• In the autumn, the cooperative gives them a little rice land, which they can plant with wheat or barley, and where they can let their livestock graze in the spring before the rice planting begins.

VII. On the production of rice

Rice planted on water—from the experience in the Lipsik cooperative  

After the rice harvest, they immediately work the rice fields to get them ready for the spring.  

From January to March, they disperse organic fertilizer in the fields.  

In the spring, they till the land twice.

Before the planting they let the water loose on the fields. After this they rake and break the earth with a tool with a wide metal blade with metal tips in two rows. The tips of these tools turn into each other. At the same time, this tool also helps in the leveling of the land. The rice is planted in stalks. In rich lands they use one stalk, in poorer ones two or three stalks. When the stalks are well grown (so the time of germination is shorter), they plant twice the amounts mentioned above. The distance of planting is this: The narrow rows 18 cm apart, the wide rows 33 cm. (The planting is done with a one wide, one narrow row pattern.)

Each stalk is generally 9 cm apart from the other.

The depth of water in rice fields is 5 to 10 cm.

10 to 15 days after the planting, they disperse 80-90% of the chemical fertilizer that will be used for each hectare. They do not change the water for 5 days after the fertilizer has been dispersed so that it does not get flushed out with the water.

The rest of the chemical fertilizer is then dispersed 10 to 15 days later.

15 days after the planting, the first hoeing is done, 5 days later the second, and 5 more days later the third.

The hoeing is done by hand, animal, or tractor while the water is still in the fields and using special hoeing tools. Instead of the regular rear tires for the tractors, they use metal wheels with plates.

After the hoeing, some workers are left behind to check on the water and to weed the fields.

15 days before the harvesting the water is released out of the fields.

The best seed comes from dry planting.

The water planted rice is planted around the 15 of May until the beginning of June.

The water temperature in the rice fields should be around 25-30 degrees Celsius.

Rice planted on terraces—Due to the land situation the rice planting is done in terraces from the smallest ones—for example, 2 to 5 square meters—to the larger ones according to availability. They pay a lot of attention to them.

In the terraces, the water is first released on the higher ones, and then it flows to the lower ones.

Rice planted in dry land

The rice seed used in dry lands is different from the ones used in water lands.

It is generally used in poorer lands.

Planting begins around the beginning of May and lasts around 10-15 days. The planting is usually done by hand, by throwing the seed in the grooves opened by plows pulled by animals.

They use these distances: They plant 30-40 cm of rice and then leave 30-40 cm unplanted, then 30-40 cm more of rice, and so on. The covering of the seeds with earth is done by feet or other tools, such as with a wooden harrow, because the land planted with rice must be well compressed.

15 days after the planting, the first hoeing is done. At this same time, the thinning of the rice stalks is also done. The hoeing is done on the strips of land left unplanted.

They do the hoeing up to five times (usually three times) in intervals of 10 to 15 days. They use around 100 quintals of organic fertilizers per hectare, while the chemical fertilizer is used according to availability. The rice planted on dry land is generally watered when the conditions are not wet, for example when there have not been any rains.

Note: It would be a good thing to ask from the Koreans to give us some of the tools they use for the leveling and hoeing of the rice fields. A few samples should be enough, because we can reproduce them on our own.

On the fruit production

Korea has very suitable conditions for the development of fruit production, because it has plenty of sloping hilly and mountainous lands that cannot be used to plant other cultures.

In order to increase the planting of fruit trees in the agricultural cooperative “Munhwa,” of the “Ryongyong-li” village, of the “Bukchang” region, of the “Hamnam” province, a meeting of the presidium of the CC of the party, where the chairmen of the party committees of the provinces and regions, as well as other functionaries, was held. This cooperative, which has many hills that can be used for fruit production, was the first in the republic for the good exploitation of hills through use of terraces and valleys between the hills for fruit tree planting (This also works well for the defense against erosion).

In the cooperatives, they get a good production from the fruit trees per hectare, because they do a lot of service to them. For example, in the “Limangchilii” cooperative they produce 35 tons of apples per hectare, and in the “Munhwa” cooperative they produce 29 tons.

One of the apple trees alone has been able to produce up to 15,000 apples.

In the “Limangchili” cooperative they have spliced 4 to 5 kinds of apples on one tree because this improves the taste.

They fertilize the trees each year with organic fertilizer 4 or 5 times by dispersing the fertilizer around the tree in circle or line fashion.

They use 400 kg of chemical fertilizers for each hectare planted with trees.

Though Korea gets good amounts of rain, they water the trees when necessary.  

They also spray often, waging a great fight against the tree diseases.

The lands between the trees, whether those in terraces or those outside them, are used to plant other cultures, such as tobacco, soy, squashes, and beets (in general plants that do not grow high) and only when the trees are still small, they also plant corn.

On organic fertilizers

Taking into account the fact that in the agricultural cooperatives they have very little livestock, they produce the organic fertilizers through the use of livestock leavings that is decomposed, but mostly through the decomposition in holes on the ground of all kinds of plants or plant remains they can muster.

On irrigation

In the DPR of Korea they have placed a lot of importance on irrigation. Today in Korea they have irrigated 75% of the planted area.

At the beginning they placed a lot of importance on the small reservoirs they produced everywhere, but now, alongside those reservoirs, they also use large reservoirs and a great number of large and small electric pumps through which they have been able to raise the water up to a level of 205 meters through 5 stages. They also utilize quite well the rivers, which are used well for watering through irrigation systems and free flow.  

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The “Giyang” Reservoir, province of “Pyongnam”

Its construction started in 1957 and ended in 1959. It occupies a surface of 1500 hectares, and waters 51,000 hectares. It takes its water from the “Daedong-gang” River through the second electric pump station, which pulls 20 tons of water per second and raises it to a height of 47 meters. In the station there were 10 electric pumps in operation, which used 13,300 KW of electric energy.

In their irrigation system they have 5 stages of electric pumps which raise the water to a height of 205 meters.

The lands of 5 cities and one region are watered through this reservoir.

In the “Giyang” irrigation system there are 24 reservoirs. The total length of primary canals is 1200 Km.  

As a result of the irrigation the rice production efficiency has been increased to 4.5 tons per hectare.

At the end of this reservoir they have built two hydro power stations.

This reservoir also furnishes several enterprises with water.

They have constructed vacation homes around the lake.

Fish farming is also done on the lake.

The “Yen Fung” Reservoir, province of “Pyongnam”

It has been constructed in a valley between mountains. It receives water continually from the “Te Tong gong” River through a tunnel of 4 km long and always opened. It receives 33 tons of water per second. The lake area is 1500 hectares and it waters 50,000 hectares.  

The continual exit of water from the lake is done through the use of a tunnel 2 km long. The water then goes through 18 tunnels—their total length is 8 km.

They have constructed vacation homes around the lake.

Fish farming is also done on the lake.

Along the exit route for the waters, other waters from the “Chungchun Gang” River and other waters are also added through electric pump stations.

The waters that end up during watering at the lowest stage of irrigation are reused for irrigation through the reuse of electro pump stations since they have taken chemical fertilizers with them during the watering.

At the Agricultural Technical School of Higher Learning at the “Bukchang” Region, province of “Hamnam”

The school has 995 students, 22 classes and has these majors: Grains, Fruit Production, Forests, and Pastoral. There are also monthly or correspondence courses for the production cadres. There are also 22 courses with 703 students for part time students.

There is a total of 600 square meters for nurseries, which produce 50,000 saplings a year.

The school administers and uses for practice a forest of 309 hectares.

There is a good tree garden where they have planted 70 kinds of fruit trees.

They have planted over 43 kinds of medicinal plants.

The school has 43 large animals and 130 chickens of different kinds.

They have a machine shop they use for practice with 9 metal-cutting machines, 30 agricultural machines, 2 tractors, 1 combine. They have 11 laboratories and classrooms with very fine tools, to study, for example, physics, chemistry, biology, veterinary, forests, zoology, and plant and grains studies.

They have three classrooms for revolutionary education. One covers the war before the liberation, another shows the course of the party after the liberation, and the last shows the course of the party in agriculture.

The lessons are mainly held in the laboratories and the classrooms.

The educators and the other school employees also engage in scientific research, such as for example the methods of the growing of grapes (since theirs is not very good), and the methods for the planting of rice in cold areas twice a year.  

They also engage in various massive sports activities. Every Saturday all the students engage in sports and each of them must take part in two races.

All the students must learn one or two musical instruments. They engage in cultural activates.

The Chollima movement is quite widespread.

The students have planted 30 hectares with fruit plants on their own.

There are 22,000 kinds of fruits in their nursery garden, of which only apples are of 82 kinds.

They plant various kinds (57 kinds) of plant cultures, of which there are 40 kinds of rice and also have dry rice fields. They plant 56 kinds of vegetables used for the needs of the dormitories and also furnish the city. They also have a greenhouse for the production of vegetables.

They have 51 educator cadres, of which 42 have finished higher learning and 3 of them are preparing for graduate school.

According to the theses of Comrade Kim Il Sung they are working to make the agricultural school the foundation of the cultural and technical revolution in the village.

There is one student that is a war hero and next to him may sit the most distinguished student.

On the day and night rest homes

The larger work centers which we visited, administered on their own day and night rest homes, through the funds that are appropriated in their financial plans from the time they design their annual plans. The day rest homes are like the ones in our country and send people to rest there according to the same criteria we use.

The night rest homes are in the cities where the enterprise operates, sometimes even within the enterprise territory. There, for up to 20 days, the workers that have the weakest health go to eat and sleep, while continuing their work in the enterprises during the day. This rest is in addition to their pay.

On the remuneration of the workers and employees

The workers and employees are remunerated through salaries according to the work they do, but in addition they also get these benefits: The workers that need work clothes as required by their profession receive them twice a year without paying. They get two suits a year, one for summer and one for winter, two pairs of shoes, and one coat every two years. If before receiving these clothes they go on a delegation abroad or take part on an international conference in the country, the State gives them suits, shoes and coats of a better quality instead of the usual ones. If they have already received the usual ones, then they still receive the better quality ones and still get the usual ones next year. When the graduates go abroad to study, they receive several suits without paying.

Every worker and employee receives rice each day at such a low price, that it may be considered that it is free. The home rents and the bills for water or electricity are very low.

The workers and employees receive these things for their children for free: Two suits, two pairs of shoes, and one coat per year. Additionally, they get the rice as decided per capita with the very low prices mentioned above.  

At the high and technical schools which the children attend far from their families, they receive scholarships from the State, while for attending higher learning schools the children all receive scholarships without exception. (The children of the leadership of the State and party are not included here when they attend higher learning institutions at the area where their families live.)

The children of the diplomats are kept in military school during the time their parents are staying abroad and also when they come home, but will be leaving soon for their posts. Should the parents so choose, they may remain in military schools even longer.

Our opinion on all we mentioned above is:

1. The Korean Workers’ Party base is well aware of the correct course that our party has and continues to follow against imperialism, revisionism, and the defense of the principles of Marxism-Leninism in general. They correctly evaluate the activities of our party in the conditions it is forced to operate.

2. During these past 11 years since the end of the war, from what we were told and what we saw for ourselves, the Korean people, under the leadership of the party, have achieved great results in the reconstruction of the country and the development of the economy in general.

• On the industry—They have concentrated the main investments and attention on the development of the heavy industry, especially those of metallurgy, chemical, and machinery production. They can today build on their own the necessary equipment for the chemical and metallurgy plants. They have produced or built within one year and a half all the necessary equipment for the large Vinalon Plant, which produces 10,000 tons [of synthetic fiber?] each year, and through which they cover what would need 30,000 tons of cotton. They have erected large factories that manufacture trucks, tractors, excavators, metal-cutting machines, such as large lathes 8 meters long, hydraulic presses up to 3,000 tons, electric locomotives and railroad cars, and equipment for chemical fertilizer plants.

A good part of their industry is built underground for defense purposes and the work is carried out there. From what we could gage looking at the market and prices, the ratio of development of the industry is heavily weighted toward the heavy industry, at the loss of light industry. Of course, this opinion has not been based on an economic analysis of definite data.

• On agriculture—So far, for reasons of increasing the agricultural production, they had paid the most attention to irrigation and the production of chemical fertilizers. For example, 75% of arable land is irrigated and for each hectare they have secured around 3 quintals of chemical fertilizers, in addition to the amounts that they import. In the future, they will continue to work for the increase of arable and irrigated land, the mechanization of the agriculture, and of the amounts of chemical fertilizers. We saw everywhere a rational exploitation of the land. They have been able to increase their total grains production to 5 million tons and are planning to achieve a total of 6.8 million tons by the end of the 7 year plan in 1967. It must be noted here that despite the atmospheric conditions, they have been able to create the conditions for a normal production each year.

• On construction—From what we saw in the cities of Pyongyang, Hamheung, Bongsan, in some regional areas, and in agricultural cooperatives, in Korea the State has invested large sums for the construction of homes and the administrative, cultural, social, etc. institutions.

The large cities we mentioned above, despite the almost total destruction caused during the war, do not at the moment show any signs of that destruction and have been reconstructed into large, modern cities.

• On the quality of life—Due to the large investments into the industry, agriculture, construction, and defense, it is apparent that the quality of life in the city and village is still low, but thanks to some special reforms introduced by the government for the distribution of clothing and food, as mentioned above, the basic necessities of the people have been provided and, with the development of the economy, a basis has been created for a more rapid increase in the quality of life.

Tedi Manço

Sul Baholli

[Signed]

September 1964