SEOUL, South Korea (AP) – North Korean leader Kim Jong Un acknowledged with extraordinary kindness that his plans to improve the country’s stupid economy are not succeeding, as his ruling party convened a rare congress in January to develop development goals for to set the next five years.
The Labor Party said North Korea’s economy “has not improved in the face of severe internal and external situations” – a reference to a threefold blow from US-led sanctions, the coronavirus pandemic and devastating floods – and that development goals have been “Seriously delayed and the standard of living of the people (is) not remarkably improved.”
Kim announced his first five-year development plan with goals of improving North Korea’s power supply and agricultural production and output during the last Workers’ Party Congress in 2016, the first in 36 years.
But at Wednesday’s meeting of the party’s decision-making committee, Kim acknowledged economic “deficits” caused by “unexpected and unavoidable challenges in various aspects and the situation in the region around the Korean Peninsula,” the official Korean official reported. Central News Agency Thursday.
Experts say the coronavirus dismantled some of Kim’s key economic targets after North Korea suffered a lockdown that reduced trade with China – its main ally and economic lifeline – and likely hurt its ability to mobilize its workforce.
In a closing briefing to South Korean lawmakers on Thursday, the Seoul spy agency said the stress of managing state affairs had caused Kim to recently delegate some of his powers to a select group of senior officials, including his sister Kim Yo Jong , which is now primarily involved in shaping policies regarding Washington and Seoul.
Lawmaker Ha Tae-keung said that National Intelligence Service officials, who have a mixed track record when reading developments in North Korea’s secret ruling elite, insist that Kim Jong Un’s rule over his country is absolute. remains. There are no signs that Kim is experiencing health problems or caring for his sister as his successor, Ha paraphrased NIS officials as saying.
Kim Byung-kee, another lawmaker who attended the briefing, said the NIS finds that North Korea’s foreign exchange reserves are disappearing faster due to lengthy border controls imposed during its anti-virus campaign that have led to cuts in construction and other activities.
The NIS did not confirm the legislators’ comments.
Last week, Kim Jong Un fired his prime minister following an evaluation of the cabinet’s performance in economic policy. He also said the country faces a double challenge to protect COVID-19 and repair damage from torrential rains that have polluted the country in recent weeks, destroying thousands of homes and nearly 100,000 acres of crops. Kim insists North Korea will keep its borders closed and reject any outside aid.
“North Korea originally planned to celebrate its economic achievements (from Kim’s first five-year plan) on October 10, the 75th anniversary of the party’s founding … but could not foresee the huge backlog.” caused by COVID -19 and floods, said Cheong Seong-Chang, a senior analyst at South Korea’s Sejong Institute.
While planning for the new party congress for January is likely to reflect hopes that the pandemic will subside at that moment, North Korea may have difficulty completely rebuilding border trade, especially if its poor health system continues to worry, Cheong said.
