Chollima Movement

The Chollima Movement (Hangul: 천리마운동; Hanja: 千里馬運動) was a state-sponsored Stakhanovite movement in North Korea (DPRK) intended to promote rapid economic development. Launched in 1956 or 1958, the movement emphasized "ideological incentives to work harder" and the personal guidance of Kim Il-sung rather than rational modes of economic management.

The term Chollima originates from the Chinese mythological flying horse. The word Chollima can be translated as “thousand li horse,” referring to its ability to travel 1,000 li (400 kilometers) in a single day. It also was said that it could not be ridden by any person. It is known for accomplishing the most difficult tasks and to have led heroes to victory. This idea of Chollima was used by Kim Il-sung to energize the workers in North Korea to bring the country out of the rubble of the Korean War to obtain a better life and a more prosperous country in a short amount of time.

Kim Il-sung first introduced the term Chollima in December 1956, shortly before the start of the 1957-61 five-year plan. During this five-year period, North Korea strove to complete a socialist transformation of industry within the country. It worked to completely nationalize industry and agriculture and become largely self-sufficient in producing food, clothing, and housing for all of its citizens. Kim Il-sung started the Chollima movement to motivate hard work for the sake of the nation to achieve the desired outcomes of the five-year plan. At a meeting of the Workers' Party of Korea held in December 1956, Kim Il-sung called on the nation to be more motivated in economic production. He said, “Let us produce more, practice economy, and overfulfil the five-year plan ahead of schedule!” Within four years the aims of the five-year plan were met.

The successes of the Chollima movement were first seen in 1957 as Kim Il-sung called on workers in a factory in the city of Kangsong (near Pyongyang) which only had the capacity of 60,000 tons to produce an extra 10,000 tons of steel. The factory, however, was able to produce 120,000 tons, 60,000 tons more than its capacity. This achievement was credited as lighting the torch of the Chollima movement. The term ‘Chollima rider’ was given to workers who surpassed their targeted goals of production. This title encouraged people to work harder. The North Korean government even started a slogan of ‘drink no soup’ to make it so workers did not need to use the restrooms as often.

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