North Korean authorities are demanding a fourth round of rural weeding this year, up from the usual three, mobilizing workplaces, neighborhood units and students to finish the work by the end of July 2026. Officials at institutions that fail to meet mobilization quotas face threats of 10 day detention.
A source in Ryanggang province told Daily NK on Monday that authorities have ordered total mobilization for weeding through the end of the month. Workplaces, neighborhood units and students in Hyesan are being sent to corn fields to complete the work, the source said.
“In past years, three rounds of weeding were usually enough,” the source said. “But this year, the target is four rounds, and everyone is being pushed into grueling labor.”
North Korea typically requires three rounds of weeding on farms nationwide. This year, authorities have added a fourth round, citing the need for thorough weed removal and soil management, according to the source. Farm workers alone cannot keep pace with the added workload, the source said.
Workplaces and neighborhood units are now sending people to the fields on a rotating daily basis. Students at middle schools and high schools are also being mobilized for weeding after finishing morning classes, the source said.
“There’s a saying that anyone who can walk must pick up a hoe and go to the fields,” the source said. “Farm workers alone can’t meet the four round target, so residents and students keep getting mobilized.”
Fatigue mounts as farm work falls on mobilized workers
The push for a fourth round of weeding appears to reflect a strong determination among authorities to secure this year’s harvest, the source said. But repeated mobilization, from rice transplanting through weeding, has left North Korean people increasingly exhausted.
“People who have to give up a day’s wages to join the mobilization are frustrated,” the source said. “They say farm workers may have it hard too, but shouldn’t farming ultimately be the farm workers’ responsibility.” Some go further, the source said, saying they understand the need to help rural areas but feel they will collapse before that happens.
Mobilized workers repeatedly sent to the fields have also mocked the well-tended private garden plots of farm workers, according to the source. On their way to assigned fields, some remark that the plots look like flower gardens, and ask why the collective fields could not be farmed with the same care.
Authorities are also cracking down on people who skip the mobilization. Police officers, members of North Korea’s Ministry of Social Security, have been visiting workplaces and neighborhood units to check whether mobilized workers actually reported to their assigned fields, the source said. Those confirmed absent are recorded in enforcement files that include their name, date of birth, address, workplace and position, along with a thumbprint acknowledging the violation.
Authorities are treating absence from the mobilization not as a minor lapse but as a failure to comply with a state order, the source said.
Officials at institutions and enterprises with low mobilization rates are also facing pressure, with police officers threatening to refer them to law enforcement, according to the source.
“Some police officers are pressuring institution and enterprise officials by threatening 10 days of detention if they send too few people or fail to properly carry out mobilization orders during the total mobilization period,” the source said. “Officials, afraid of that, try to make up the numbers however they can, so it’s the workers who end up squeezed.”
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July 14, 2026 at 07:14PM
by DailyNK(North Korean Media)