This article is the first in a series by Natalia Matveeva on North Korea’s early economic history. 

Organizing the agricultural sector into collective farms, or collectivization, is often viewed as one of the characterizing features of the Soviet economic model, and of those countries that followed and emulated it.

In carrying out its collectivization campaign, North Korea did not simply learn from the Soviet Union, but in some aspects managed to, paraphrasing Lenin’s words, “catch up and outdo” it, often going against Soviet advice and suggestions.

The idea to introduce centralized management to the agricultural sector preceded the Korean War.