North Korea Begins Autumn Harvest Amid Food Shortage

SEOUL (Yonhap) -- North Korea has begun this year's fall harvest, its state-run radio said on Sept. 18, amid reports that the country is suffering from a serious food shortage.

Aid groups have said the North faces its worst food shortage since the late
1990s, when up to 3 million people are believed to have starved to death. Major
flooding in 2007 has contributed to the recent shortage.
"The rice harvest has begun in farm villages of South Hwanghae Province," the
North's Korean Central Broadcasting Station reported.
"Beginning with the Saegil cooperative farm in Sinchon County, rural villages and
cooperative farms in Jaeryong and Yonbaek fields have launched a rice harvest
competition," the broadcast said.
Farms were decorated with large signboards and banners bearing slogans calling
for all-out efforts to reap a bumper crop, the report said.
The U.N. World Food Program recently appealed to international donors to provide
an additional US$60 million in emergency aid to North Korea. It said the North
could slip back into famine without additional aid worth about US$500 million in
the next 15 months.
North Korea's grain crop last year reportedly amounted to 4 million tons, 1
million tons short of what the country needs to feed its population.

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N. Korea Encourages Preparation for Census in October

SEOUL (Yonhap) -- North Korea has encouraged preparation for a nationwide census
to be conducted from October 1-15, saying it is the patriotic duty of the people
to respond to the census sincerely, according to its official newspaper.
Rodong Sinmun, organ of the North's ruling Workers' Party, on Sept. 21 called for
national participation in the survey as a means for building an economic power,
while adding that the survey will contribute to social management and obtaining
necessary data about the population and socio-economy.
The article was carried by Uriminzokkiri, the North's official Web site, which is
monitored in Seoul.
The census is the second one to be carried out by the United Nations Population
Fund (UNFPA) in the North following one in 1993, the newspaper said, adding it
entered the UNFPA in 1985.
The survey will include the following items: sex, age, relation to household
head, ethnic group, academic achievement, licenses held, occupation, and marital
status, and births and deaths, according to the organ.
It also deals with the form and size of the home, the conditions of cooking fuel,
drinking water and bathroom facilities.
The socialist country will mobilize as many as 140,000 survey agents across the
country, who will visit households for half a month with help from 10
international observers funded by the UNFPA.
Meanwhile, the UNFPA has had agents in the North for over one year to prepare for
the census, using equipment such as 171 desktop computers and 10 projectors,
according to Washington-based radio station Voice of America on Sept. 18.
The results will come out around October 2009. According to the latest CIA data,
the North's population is 23.43 million.

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N. Korean Media Reports Kim Jong-il's Activities despite Rumors of Illness

SEOUL (Yonhap) -- Despite speculation that North Korean leader Kim Jong-il is
bedridden by illness, the North's broadcaster reported that Kim is still active
and is carrying out his duties as usual.
The North's state-run Korean Central Broadcasting Station (KCBS) on Sept. 22 said
Kim sent his thanks to officials and workers, who have harbored loyalty to the
party and the Suryong (leader), for their good deeds.
Kim did not attend the ceremony for the country's 60th founding anniversary on
Sept. 9, and speculation about his failing health has been swirling ever since.
However, according to the North's official media, Kim has no problem with his
health now.
"The officials and workers are filled with revolutionary zeal after receiving
thanks from the Great Leader Kim Jong-il," the KCBS said.
They include workers of a rubber factory in Pyongyang, youth workers in dam
construction, managers and workers in a clothing factory and retired
soldiers-turned-lecturers.

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North Korea Urges Succession of Revolutionary Spirit

SEOUL (Yonhap) -- As North Korean leader Kim Jong-il is still veiled in
speculation about his health, the North's mouthpiece has urged loyalty to Kim and
the succession of revolutionary spirit from the previous generation.
Rodong Sinmun, organ of the North's ruling Workers' Party, on Sept. 23 said in
its editorial that the succession of the revolutionary spirit from the previous
generation is the decisive factor in the destiny of the revolution on the way to
Kangsong Taeguk (great, prosperous and powerful country).
The newspaper also said that the older generation's revolutionary spirit, based
on the single-hearted devotion toward the Suryong (leader), led to great
miracles.
Kim Jong-il, who has not been seen publicly since mid-August, did not appear at
the historic military parade commemorating the North's 60th founding anniversary
on Sept. 9. He is reportedly suffering from a stroke.
"Like the previous generation, who steadfastly pushed their way of revolution
along with Suryong, let's follow and serve the Dear General (Kim Jong-il) to
become real revolutionaries," the newspaper said.
The organ added that glory and happiness is endless for the current generation,
as long as Kim Jong-il is the leader of Kangsong Taeguk.
According to Pyongyang's reports, the target year of Kangsong Taeguk is 2012,
which is the 100th and 70th birthday year of late leader Kim Il-sung and Kim
Jong-il, respectively.
Earlier on Sept. 20, the organ also encouraged the loyalty of youth, saying the
third and fourth generation of the revolution displayed their rock-hard will on
the 60th birthday of the socialist country.