On October 21, 1997 Kim Jong Il visited the newly-built Songam Myonggi Cattle Farm.
Dressed in a white overall, the General looked round the interior of the cattle farm. Giving fodder to the animals in the corrals, he said, “I am very pleased to see those plump cattle, and they look so tempting.”
Unlike other cattle farms it is advantageous in that it mass-produces beef by intensive methods by feeding cattle in the corrals, not allowing them to graze in grassland, he noted. He said with satisfaction that now the people could be supplied with delicious beef.
Looking for a while at the animals shaking their heads and chewing the cud, he joked, “In the past cattle could hear a cowherd playing on a flute as they were left grazing in the fields, but now they cannot do so as they have been locked in the corrals.”
For many ages cowherds blew on flutes, herding their cattle to graze on pastures. They played idyllic songs to allay the arduousness of crossing mountains and valleys.
The industrial breeding of cattle by intensive methods put an end to the history of cowherds.
The General was looking round the corrals with a broad smile, when an official broached the subject of reimbursing the beef production cost.
The problem was weighing long on the latter’s mind but the General looked unpleasant.
After a pause, he said: You are worrying too much about it. We have never calculated the cost before we do things for the benefit of people. We must spare nothing for them. It is for our people that we need money and produce meat. We must think hard to increase the output of beef, rather than worry about the cost. In his lifetime President Kim Il Sung took pains to provide our people with more meat and eggs. He passed away and we must realize his wish. You should double the beef production at this cattle farm. To do so, you should intensify scientific research and develop ways for boosting production.
