Unification Ministry Reports Increasing Disparities Between Pyongyang and Provinces

The Ministry of Unification assessed that North Korean Chairman Kim Jong Un’s emphasis on regional development, including his new proposal of the “20×10 Regional Development Policy,” is due to “the increasing disparity between Pyongyang and the provinces.”

An official from the Ministry of Unification, in response to journalists’ questions about the results of the 19th extended political bureau meeting of the 8th Central Committee of the North Korean Workers’ Party on the 25th, diagnosed, “North Korea is a system that concentrates resources on Pyongyang to secure the support of the core class for the regime. But as the international sanctions against North Korea and the lockdown due to COVID-19 continue, resources have become even more scarce, and the gap between Pyongyang and the provinces has likely widened.”

He added, “We assume that the North Korean authorities have deemed that the disparity between Pyongyang and the provinces has become so severe that truly bold measures are needed.”

According to the report by the Korean Central News Agency on the day, Chairman Kim, during the extended political bureau meeting held on the 23rd and 24th, pointed out that “we are unable to properly provide even the most necessities such as food, groceries, and consumer goods to the regional people,” describing it as “a very pitiful state.”

However, the Ministry of Unification official criticized, “The root cause of the “pitiful state” is the fact well known to the world that North Korea has brought upon itself international sanctions and isolation by neglecting the livelihoods of its people and pursuing weapon development and provocations.”

“North Korea seems to be chasing two rabbits, intending to carry out weapon development and regional development with its scarce resources,” he then stated. “Although North Korea emphasizes the improvement of people’s livelihoods by declaring the 20×10 Regional Development Policy as a serious and historic decision, its sincerity needs to be watched.”

By. Yoon Sun Choi