Since summer 2022, North Korean state media has replaced the term "cooperative farm" with "farm." While researchers and media have made various speculations about the background, nothing was certain. Our reporting partners living in North Korea have confirmed on-site that the term "cooperative farm" is no longer used and reported the possibility of nationalization. What are the Kim Jong-Un regime's intentions? (By JEON Sung-jun / KANG Ji-won)
◆Have Cooperative Farms Been Nationalized?
In October 2024, ASIAPRESS reporting partner A investigated a farm in North Hamgyong Province and confirmed that "cooperative farm" had been changed to "farm."
"They've eliminated the concept of cooperative farms and now call them 'XX Farm' by attaching local names to each 'ri' (administrative district)."
However, A said that local farm workers, struggling with difficult lives, don't appear to attach much significance to the name change. The farm-level administration also provided no detailed explanation, though the correspondent added that these changes seem related to the nationalization of farm land.
◆Expanded Farm Management Discretion
In February this year, worker B from another farm in North Hamgyong Province also said they now use "farm" instead of the previous "cooperative farm." B explained that each farm has been given management discretion:
"The principle is that farms should conduct production activities independently to fulfill state plans. The policy now is that farms must secure their own farming materials, seeds, and oil."
(Structural changes in farm operations will be reported in detail next time.)
What's behind these major changes? A hint can be found in Kim Jong-un's remarks at the 4th Plenary Meeting of the 8th Central Committee of the Workers' Party in December 2021.
In his report titled "Let's Open a Great New Era of Socialist Rural Development in Our Style," Kim emphasized rural issues as a strategic problem that must be solved for socialist and communist construction.
The content of Kim's report, which North Korea considers the agricultural program for a new era, can be interpreted as addressing the ownership rights of cooperative farm land.
