Thursday, February 12, 2015

“'Let us beat the world in fruit farming' and other new North Korean slogans"

I had been debating whether to post any more "Isn't North Korea odd?" -type stories but found this one  difficult to resist.
From Quartz:
north-korea-slogan-dancing-fixed
Let us turn ours into a country of mushrooms by making mushroom cultivation scientific, intensive and industrialized!
When it comes to bellicose and galvanizing rhetoric, North Korea’s leadership is prolific and inventive. It has printed posters for children’s classrooms that proclaim, “We love playing military games knocking down the American bastards” and, during the economic chaos following the demise of the Soviet Union, it urged citizens onward with the cheerful pledge: “Let’s eat only two meals a day.”

In preparation for celebrations of its 70th year since the country became independent from Japan and the peninsula was partitioned, in 1945, the North Korean government has released 310 new slogans.

The slogans represent the North Korean’s “dreams and ideals,” according to the party, and they touch upon science, technology, agriculture, entertainment, and education—all topics the current leader, Kim Jong-un, has spoken of in the past. Some praise North Korea’s previous leaders, Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il, and the party. Others promised to “turn the whole country into a socialist fairyland” and promised improvements to the food shortage problem. There is even one that called for “more stylish school uniforms and quality school things for our dear children.”...MUCH MORE