Among the propaganda campaigns promoting various food substitutes during the “arduous march”, the most significant one was kamja (nongsa) hyǒngmyǒng, or “the potato revolution” initiated by Kim Jong Il.

While visiting Russia in 2000, Kim Jong Il expressed his concerns to a high ranking official as follows:

“You Russians have a good tradition of eating potatoes. I am also trying to introduce the potato in Korea but with little success so far. Indeed, it would be much more convenient and economical to use potatoes for feeding military units dispersed across the Northern Province Ryanggang. However, despite good potato harvests, our