Kim Jong-un’s Anger Over Economic Blaming Political Problems
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Kim Jong Un, the Chairman of North Korea, has drawn attention by essentially acknowledging the collapse of the distribution system due to the accelerated economic difficulties, stating, “The inability to adequately provide even basic food, groceries, and consumer goods in the provinces is a serious political issue that the party and the government cannot ignore.”
According to the Korean Central News Agency on the 25th, Chairman Kim pointed out at the Enlarged Meeting of the Political Bureau of the 19th Central Committee of the Workers’ Party held on the 23rd and 24th, “The local economy is in a very pathetic state, unable to meet even basic conditions.”
The North Korean authorities have been staking their lives on solving the food shortage since last year, but it is currently analyzed that the general public cannot expect food distribution from the state or corporate farms, indicating a collapse of the food distribution system. Amid this, Chairman Kim’s remarks are being interpreted as an increasing seriousness of the North Korean economic situation.
Chairman Kim previously showed his will for military unification with the South at the Supreme People’s Assembly on the 15th, raising the war atmosphere to its highest, drawing attention to this background. There is also an interpretation that this is a continuation of the recent hard-line stance in the context of the worsening internal economic situation in North Korea.
Chairman Kim recently proposed the ‘local development 20×10’ plan as an alternative for improving the people’s livelihood. This policy is one of the national development plans for improving the local economy announced by Chairman Kim at the 10th meeting of the 14th Supreme People’s Assembly on the 15th, with the main content being to build local industrial factories in 20 cities every year and improve the material cultural life level within 10 years. The background of mobilizing the military in the economic sector is analyzed as an intention to strengthen the cohesion of the socialist system by portraying himself as a ‘people-loving’ image. Amid the growing closeness between North and Russia, there are also questions about whether it is trying to create a nest outside by taking the opportunity of the sanctions against North.
An official from the Ministry of Unification said on the day, “North Korea has brought about international sanctions and isolation through weapon development and provocations, ignoring the people’s livelihood.” He added, “North Korea appears to be chasing two rabbits of weapon development and local development with insufficient resources.”
He further added, “Currently, North Korea is in a very pathetic state, unable to meet even basic conditions, including the deepening gap between Pyongyang and the provinces.” He said, “We need to watch the sincerity of North Korea’s emphasis on the improvement of people’s livelihood by taking the local development 20×10 policy as a serious and historical decision.”
Yang Moo Jin, a professor at the University of North Korean Studies, argued, “The background of Kim Jong Un’s regime mentioning the rural farming society is related to the system cohesion,” and “It is tantamount to acknowledging the serious imbalance between Pyongyang and the provinces.”
By. Young Hoon Park
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