We now all say that the DPRK is very poor, the common people have not even solved the problem of food and clothing, and the conditions for agricultural production are very backward. However, do you know that as early as the sixties and seventies, the DPRK fully realized the mechanization of agriculture, the penetration rate of chemical fertilizers was very high, and the DPRK was still a major grain exporter in the eighties? However, after the collapse of the Soviet Union in the 90s, there was no cheap oil, and all the agricultural machinery in North Korea was crumbled, and mechanization was paralyzed all of a sudden, and the Great Famine came.
North Korea has been developing smoothly since the end of the War of Resistance Against US Aggression in 1953, and before the 80s, it was much richer than South Korea, with a per capita GDP of more than 3,000 US dollars. In the sixties and seventies, the DPRK's agriculture was fully mechanized, and all machines were used for farming, planting, and harvesting, and human labor was no longer used, and the surplus peasants were liberated to participate in industrial construction, leaving only a small number of peasants engaged in agricultural production.
But the DPRK made the mistake that a small country often made and became overly dependent on the Soviet economy. At the end of the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, the Soviet Union increased economic aid to the DPRK in order to win over the DPRK, and Kim Il-pin himself was a pro-Soviet faction, and the Soviet-DPRK relations were very good. The Economic and Social Exchange was made up of 11 socialist countries, because the Soviet Union refused to allow us to join after the stamble between us and the Soviet Union in '60.
The Soviet Union sold North Korean tractors, oil, and other industrial products at low prices, and the DPRK sold agricultural products to the Soviet Union. Moreover, bartering was used, that is, the exchange of goods, not in currency, so North Korea quickly industrialized. North Korea is a small country, and the Soviet Union gave North Korea tens of thousands of tractors, so North Korea uses all tractors for agriculture, and by the end of the seventies, North Korea basically realized agricultural modernization. Moreover, the oil sold by the Soviet Union to the DPRK was very cheap, and the recharged oil ensured the mechanized production of agriculture in the DPRK, and the pumping machines were driven by diesel engines, and even the power generation was generated by oil-fired generators.
Unfortunately, in 1992 the Soviet Union collapsed, the socialist camp collapsed, and the Economic and Mutual Association ceased to exist. After independence, Russia no longer took care of North Korea, and all economic and trade was settled in currency at market prices, that is, in US dollars. Naturally, North Korea does not have foreign exchange in US dollars, so it cannot buy cheap Russian oil.
Without oil, North Korea's agricultural machinery is all lying on its stomach, tractors can't be turned on, pumps can't pump water, generators can't generate electricity, and everything is back to the basics. Moreover, after the mechanization of agriculture, there is no use for cattle, most of the cattle in North Korea are killed and eaten, and only a small number of cattle are still cultivated in remote mountainous areas.
At the same time, after the realization of agricultural mechanization, there is no need for so many peasants, many peasants have gone to work in factories, and fewer people remain in the countryside. As a result, North Korea's agriculture was paralyzed all at once, the machinery could not be turned on, there were few ploughing cattle, there were no people pulling ploughs, chemical fertilizer could not be produced, and grain production suddenly fell to a low point, so the great famine came. The DPRK has started a "March of Suffering", which is actually very miserable, and many people are dying of starvation, and the DPRK has mobilized all its forces to engage in agricultural production, just like we did in the 60s.
Some people say why North Korea doesn't ask us for oil, but in fact, our relations with North Korea are not as good as we imagined, don't look at the lives of hundreds of thousands of volunteers to help it defeat the United States. Korea was historically our vassal state, and out of pride, after independence, Korea was always afraid that we would annex them and psychologically excluded us, so Kim Il Sung preferred to be close to the Soviet Union rather than too close to us. After the implementation of reform and opening up, Kim Il Sung was dissatisfied with us and regarded us as revisionists. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Kim Il Sung asked us to stand up and be the head of a socialist country, and Kim Il Sung was very unhappy about us. In '92, when we established diplomatic relations with South Korea, North Korea complained about us, and relations between the two countries have deteriorated a lot. Moreover, we are not an oil producer, so it is impossible for us to help them with oil like the Soviet Union did.
In fact, our farmers are now waiting for machinery to farm, and if the machinery does not come, they will not plant or harvest. In the past, the small tractors and threshing machines at home were no longer needed, the wheat fields were gone, let alone the cattle, and the farmers did not feed the cattle. Now the wheat harvesting farmers are sitting in the field waiting for the harvester, and the harvester will not cut if it does not come, and it will never be cut by hand. I really wonder if one day, like North Korea, all the machines climb the nest, will the farmers still farm?