Pro-Pyongyang media denies economic hardship after 'Arduous March' speech

April 14 (UPI) -- A pro-North Korean newspaper in Japan accused the international media of distorting a recent speech by Kim Jong Un that mentioned the "Arduous March" of a past decade.

Choson Sinbo said Wednesday in an editorial statement that the North Korean leader's mention of the Arduous March or March of Suffering was a metaphor for the Korean Workers' Party decision to improve the welfare of the population.

Kim's statement referred to the party's will to "risk its life for the sake of the people's welfare," the Choson Sinbo said. His speech was not an indicator of economic hardships in the country, according to the newspaper.

Referring to foreign media as "influencing forces," the Choson Sinbo also said the international press corps had falsely equated the "spirit of the Arduous March" with "economic difficulties."

"Using the 'Arduous March' as a synonym for economic difficulties, [foreign media's] use of the term is being discussed in the context of the three hardships: [North Korea] sanctions, COVID-19 and natural disasters," the paper said, adding the comparisons are a distortion.

On Friday, North Korean state media reported Kim urged party cell secretaries to "wage another more difficult 'Arduous March' in order to relieve our people of difficulties."

News media reported that Kim was referring to the famine period of the '90s, but the Choson Sinbo, run by the pro-North Korea General Association of Korean Residents in Japan, said the assessment was not entirely correct.

The "spirit of the Arduous March" was not only referring to the period in the '90s, but also to the "110 days" of a guerrilla campaign waged against Japanese colonizers from 1938 to 1939 by former leader Kim Il Sung.

Historians in South Korea have said North Korea's history of the Arduous March of the '30s is embellished and conceals other facts, including the disbandment of Kim Il Sung's unit after the 1937 Battle of Pochonbo. The unit attacked a Japanese settlement on the Korean Peninsula.

South Korean Unification Ministry deputy spokesman Cha Deok-cheol said last week Kim Jong Un mentioned the Arduous March to "encourage efforts to achieve the tasks" set for the party cells, according to Yonhap.