North Koreans are faced with an impossible daily task: supplying 220 pounds of human manure for collection by the government for use as fertilizer.
According to a recent report by Radio Free Asia (RFA), residents either purchase someone else's human manure to fill their quota, supply 661 pounds of compost or livestock manure, or pay an unknown amount of cash.
There has historically been a requirement to supply manure, according to RFA, but this year's quota is higher than it's been in the past because of the government's concerns regarding the agriculture industry.
"After Kim Jong Un's [New Year's speech], the entire population has been mobilized to produce manure as the first major task of the year," a source in North Korea told RFA.
"The authorities in each local region task factories, institutions, and citizens groups with assigning production quotas to each individual.
"In winter, there isn't as much manure and compost. Cash payments exceed the value of the manure that actually ends up being delivered, so people are saying the regime is just using the quota as a means to collect more money from the citizens."
The reclusive nation is closed off from the rest of the world, although recent peace talks between Kim and South Korean President Moon Jae In are showing promise.
Kim met with President Donald Trump last year regarding the denuclearization of the Korea peninsula, and the pair is expected to meet again in February.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.