North Korea tells people to work harder in loyalty campaign

Associated Press

February 25, 2016

North Koreans parade with the North Korean flag in Kim Il Sung Square in Pyongyang, North Korea, Thursday, Feb. 25, 2016, to show their loyalty to the Workers' Party. North Korea is massing its people to hunker down and work harder with a new "70-day campaign of loyalty" in the run up to a major meeting of its ruling Workers' Party in May. (AP Photo/Jon Chol Jin)

PYONGYANG, North Korea (AP) — North Korea is urging its people to hunker down and work harder with a "70-day campaign of loyalty" before a major meeting of its ruling Workers' Party in May.

Red placards went up around the capital Tuesday starting the campaign. Thousands of Pyongyang residents were massed on Kim Il Sung Square on Thursday afternoon to show their commitment to the drive.

While the U.N. Security Council is closer to putting new sanctions on North Korea for its recent nuclear test and satellite launch, the North's government has focused internally on a traditional socialist struggle to produce more in the workplace and demonstrate loyalty.

The 7th Congress of North Korea's Workers' Party in early May will be the first in 36 years and the first under leader Kim Jong Un. The new 70-day campaign means organizations and individual workers have to set objectives to show how they can work harder and contribute more to the state.

Slogans written in large white letters on a bold red background decorate the outside of buildings, the inside of office blocks and are propped up on fields and hills in the North Korean countryside.

Similar loyalty campaigns have been held previously. Last week, the ruling party announced a slew of new slogans, ranging from boosting the economy to becoming an international sports power.

Official media reported Thursday the State Stamp Bureau has also issued stamps "calling for working miracles in building a thriving nation."

It said the stamps bear such slogans as "Don't abandon revolutionary faith though one may die!" and "Let's make a big haul in the fighting spirit displayed by the People's Army in making a new history of big fish haul!"