Institute for Far Eastern Studies (IFES)
NK Brief No. 09-11-04-2
11/4/2009
The North Korean monthly publication “Chollima” stressed in a recent (September, 2009) edition the need to improve efficiency in production and administrative activities, emphasizing that if the North is to succeed at becoming an “economic power,” then economic management and administrative activities need to become “informationalized.”
In an article titled “Informationalization of Economic Management and Administrative Activity,” the magazine stated, “In order to meet the demands for science and technology development in the era of the information industry, improvement of the socialist economic management has emerged as an important issue.”
The magazine also offered a solution, suggesting that computers and IT resources be ensured first in order to “informationalize” economic management and administrative activities, and that communications equipment be modernized, stating that construction of basic facilities was an urgent task.
In addition, program industries used in the economic sector should be developed, and planning, statistical, and accounting programs, in particular, need to be connected across the country.
Along with this, the magazine noted that the development of information science is closely related to that of information technology, and that research efforts regarding information science need to be strengthened. The article called for further development of basic elementary management systems education, information theory research, and, of course, systems engineering, legal administration, and other economic science fields.
“Informationalization” of economic management and administrative activities is based on IT resources, and focuses on automating statistical and accounting practices in order to strengthen economic management controls and to boost productivity and efficiency.
On August 11, the Rodong Sinmun also emphasized “informationalization,” referring to the current times as the “information economy age” and the “informationalization age,” stating that “today’s war, absent the sound of gunfire, is a war of brains, a technology war,” and, “technological revolution is bravely marching forward at breakneck speed.”
