[ad_1]
Greater control
“This is the worst situation since Kim Jong Un took power. The regime knows that it has little prospect, so it intends to endure the difficulties by increasing state control,” said Jiro Ishimaru, editor of the Japanese publication Rimjingang, which regularly publishes information based on North Korean sources.
Regime observers say North Korea has carried out one of the world’s toughest external border closures to prevent COVID-19 from entering the country, pushing the country’s economy into the worst position since 2011, when Kim Jong Un took control of the regime.
The pandemic prevented illegal trade with China, on whose grace North Korea largely depends. In this way, the livelihood of a considerable part of the citizens was abolished, and some items in the country became scarce: sugar, machine parts, medical supplies.
The projects developed by Kim Jong Uno, the construction of a spa and a new hospital in the capital Pyongyang, were also stopped, reminding us that even the leader of the regime is not above the burden of economic constraints.
The economic difficulties that have emerged, while not as depressing as the famine in North Korea since the collapse of the Soviet Union, may still be the greatest test ever performed for Kim Jong Un himself.
“He spoke about big ambitions and people who won’t have to tighten their belts. But if we compare the current situation with ambitions, we see it as very problematic, “says Benjamin Katzeff Silberstein, editor of North Korean Economy Watch.
Invest in the military
North Korea claims that there are no COVID-19 cases in the country, which seems incredible from the country’s perspective. However, the country quarantined, restricted movement between regions, and even executed an official who was bringing goods to the regime, in violation of COVID-19 restrictions. South Korea reports such information in intelligence reports, writes Victoria Kim, a reviewer for the Los Angeles Times.
The Korea Trade Association, based in Seoul at the time, says that North Korea’s trade with China fell 80 percent last year compared to 2019. Over the past year, regime troops led It carries out strict border controls, and the 1,300-kilometer border between China and North Korea was previously a route by which Koreans fled the regime to neighboring China and smuggled back and forth. But last year, tactics were introduced here that allowed officers to shoot refugees.
The Los Angeles Times writes that North Korea, with a weak and poorly equipped health care system and insufficient access to COVID-19 vaccines in the near future, will continue to be closed to harsh world conditions, when it will slowly begin to open up. .
Another worrying factor is the lack of food.
The United Nations estimates that in 2017-2019, more than 45 percent. North Korea’s population was undernourished and this was possibly the worst indicator in Asia. However, the Kim Jong Uno regime appears to have heavily reinvested in the military, with a submarine-launched ballistic missile, considered the regime’s most powerful weapon, which was proudly demonstrated at a military parade in January.
“Scanpix” / AP nuotr./Kim Jong Unas
COVID-19 as an excuse
Jiro Ishimaru says that the closure of the world is punishing North Korea.
International sanctions targeted the regime’s exports and blocked oil imports into the country, but did not affect imported food. However, the closure of the borders affected ordinary North Korean citizens who had never experienced such closure.
“Everyone says we are not afraid of contracting coronavirus, but of starvation,” summarized the editor of Rimjingang.
Analysts note that the COVID-19 pandemic could have become a scapegoat for Kim Jong Uno’s economic failures, prompting the withdrawal of some of the reforms that have been implemented.
“The COVID-19 situation is unpredictable, it has affected the whole world, not just North Korea. In a way, this is an excuse, the regime can say that it is not their fault, but the global situation,” Yng said. Moon-soo, professor of North Korean studies at Seoul University.
At the time, Benjamin Katzeff Silberstein argues that although Kim Jong Un has absolute control over North Korea, economic failures could affect the legitimacy of his authority in the eyes of Pyongyang’s elite. The analyst says that the illustration of the situation is the construction projects personally promoted by Kim Jong Uno, which remain unfinished.
“The leader of the regime paid a lot of attention to them and they just can’t finish them off. If we think about the great role of the country’s leader in North Korea and how much time and influence he has personally invested in these failed projects, it should say something, “the analyst considers.
[ad_2]
