North Korean leader Kim Jong Un vowed to further bolster his military capability, maintain draconian anti-virus measures and push hard to improve the economy during a speech at a key political conference this week, state media reported Saturday.
High-profile political conferences like the plenary meeting give Kim an opportunity to solidify unity behind his leadership and show that he is firmly in control of the government. But it’s unclear whether such meetings offer any fundamental solutions to North Korea’s difficulties, which are largely attributed to decades-long mismanagement, a self-imposed isolation and its nuclear drive, which has made it one of the world’s most heavily sanctioned countries.
According to South Korean estimates, North Korea’s trade with China, its biggest trading partner and an economic pipeline, shrank by about 80% in 2020 before it plunged again by two-thirds in the first nine months of last year. In 2020, North Korea’s economy suffered its biggest contraction since 1997 while its grain production also dropped to its lowest level since Kim took power in 2011. Seoul officials said the North’s grain production last year improved slightly.
“North Korea is expected to keep sealing off its borders and resort to self-reliance while doing a minimum level of essential trade with China due to the new variant and the continuation of the pandemic worldwide,” said analyst Cheong Seong-Chang at the private Sejong Institute. “North Korea has been able to endure its draconian border restrictions and claim the success of 'juche’ self-reliance because covert trade and assistance from China help meet minimum national needs,” said Leif-Eric Easley, a professor at Ewha University in Seoul.
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