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. Others promise to “turn the whole country into a socialist fairyland” and to rid the country of food shortages. There is even one that calls for “more stylish school uniforms and quality school things for our dear children.”
This new raft of slogans are likely to be very visible in North Korea, where government slogans have been posted everywhere from billboards and city streets to mountainsides and carved into trees.
Here are some of our favorites, pulled from Korea Central News Agency Watch, a news organization that reports (paywall) on North Korean issues and collects reports from North Korean state media.
* Let us build our country into the most powerful one in the world, into a people’s fairyland, as wished by the great Comrades Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il!
* Should the enemy dare to invade our country, annihilate them to the last man so that none of them will survive to sign the instrument of surrender!
* Let us build a fairyland for the people by dint of science!
* Raise the level of modernisation and scientification in weather survey and forecast!
* Let us establish the Party’s monolithic leadership system more thoroughly across the Party and society!
* Let us beat the world in fruit farming by making it scientific, modern and intensive!
* Let the strong wind of fish farming blow across the country!
* Let us turn ours into a country of mushrooms by making mushroom cultivation scientific, intensive and industrialised!
* It is a firm will of our Party to create at the fastest speed the highest level of civilization, which would be envied by the world.
* Let the wives of officers become dependable assistants to their husbands!
* Let us raise the status of our country to that of a sports power at an earliest date possible!
* Kindle the flames of a fresh revolution in cinema, starting from the production of animations!
* Let the officials in the law-enforcement organs become fierce tigers for the unsound and hostile elements and faithful and true servants for the people!
* Let us make the whole country resound louder with the song We Are the Happiest in the World.
* Let us bring about a great turn in the inter-Korean relations in this year that marks the 15th anniversary of the June 15 Joint Declaration!
* Let us resolutely frustrate the anti-DPRK “human rights” schemes by the US and its vassal forces!
This article was originally published on qz.com.
We welcome your comments at
letters@scroll.in.
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. Others promise to “turn the whole country into a socialist fairyland” and to rid the country of food shortages. There is even one that calls for “more stylish school uniforms and quality school things for our dear children.”
This new raft of slogans are likely to be very visible in North Korea, where government slogans have been posted everywhere from billboards and city streets to mountainsides and carved into trees.
Here are some of our favorites, pulled from Korea Central News Agency Watch, a news organization that reports (paywall) on North Korean issues and collects reports from North Korean state media.
* Let us build our country into the most powerful one in the world, into a people’s fairyland, as wished by the great Comrades Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il!
* Should the enemy dare to invade our country, annihilate them to the last man so that none of them will survive to sign the instrument of surrender!
* Let us build a fairyland for the people by dint of science!
* Raise the level of modernisation and scientification in weather survey and forecast!
* Let us establish the Party’s monolithic leadership system more thoroughly across the Party and society!
* Let us beat the world in fruit farming by making it scientific, modern and intensive!
* Let the strong wind of fish farming blow across the country!
* Let us turn ours into a country of mushrooms by making mushroom cultivation scientific, intensive and industrialised!
* It is a firm will of our Party to create at the fastest speed the highest level of civilization, which would be envied by the world.
* Let the wives of officers become dependable assistants to their husbands!
* Let us raise the status of our country to that of a sports power at an earliest date possible!
* Kindle the flames of a fresh revolution in cinema, starting from the production of animations!
* Let the officials in the law-enforcement organs become fierce tigers for the unsound and hostile elements and faithful and true servants for the people!
* Let us make the whole country resound louder with the song We Are the Happiest in the World.
* Let us bring about a great turn in the inter-Korean relations in this year that marks the 15th anniversary of the June 15 Joint Declaration!
* Let us resolutely frustrate the anti-DPRK “human rights” schemes by the US and its vassal forces!
This article was originally published on qz.com.
