Kim says North Korea’s “tangible change” plan to unveil Business and Economic News

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has unveiled a plan to bring “tangible change” to stabilize the country’s fragile economy, state media reported.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un presented economic plans to senior government officials ahead of a meeting to review efforts to overcome the difficulties caused by the coronavirus pandemic, state media reported on Tuesday.

The Central Korean News Agency said Kim held consultations on Monday to prepare for a meeting of the powerful Central Committee of the Workers ’Party where officials will discuss state issues in the first half of 2021. The meeting was in early June and could happen. right this week.

Kim’s plans were not specified, but it was explained that they intended to bring about “tangible changes” to stabilize the economy and people’s living conditions.

The mismanagement of North Korea’s economy for decades has been hampered by Kim, led by the United States, over a nuclear weapons program and pandemic. South Korean officials have said there is no indication that North Korea is easing border controls it imposed at the start of the pandemic or that it is importing more industrial and agricultural materials to boost production.

The Workers ’Party held a plenary session of members of the Central Committee last February as Kim joined state economic agencies to“ set goals ”for the year because of their passive tendencies and self-protection tendencies.

Earlier this year, at the party’s first congress since 2016, Kim called on his people to resist in the fight for economic autonomy and reaffirmed economic control over the state by boosting agricultural production and prioritizing the development of chemicals and metals. industries. These sectors have been completely exhausted by sanctions and imports of factory materials have stalled amid the pandemic.

Kim has shown unusual harshness in addressing economic problems in the North in recent political speeches, saying the country is experiencing its “worst situation ever” as COVID-19 has shrunk in penalties and crops as a result of major floods over the summer. He even called on his people to get another “tiring march,” a term used to describe the famine of the 1990s that killed hundreds of thousands.

At a meeting of the Workers’ Party’s political board last week, Kim thanked the party and its people for the economic work they have accelerated thanks to the “ideological enthusiasm and spirit of the struggle for independence.” But he also said there is a need to address the unspecified “deflection issues” and said it will be discussed at the Central Committee plenary session.

While North Korean monitoring groups have yet to detect signs of massive hunger or high instability, some analysts say the conditions for food and exchanges to shrink markets and cause a perfect storm that could cause public panic could be aligned.

The Geneva-based Nonprofit Skills Assessment Project, which specializes in humanitarian needs assessment, said in May that North Korea was at high risk for a humanitarian crisis. He said bad economic governance, repressive political measures and increasing dependence on import restrictions have a negative impact on the country’s population among import restrictions.

“Food insecurity and limited access to basic services such as health care and clean water have left more than 10 million people in need of humanitarian assistance,” the group said.

The economic downturn has left Kim speechless because of his ambitious diplomacy with former U.S. President Donald Trump, which did not lead to easing sanctions on North Korea, and the country has so far failed to allow U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration to resume talks. .

Some experts have said that Kim could use the next Central Committee meeting to counter the stalled diplomatic efforts.