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SEOUL, South Korea – North Korean leader Kim Jong Un vowed to further strengthen his military capability, maintain strict anti-virus measures and push hard to improve the economy in a keynote speech at a key political conference this week, state media reported on Saturday.
A state-run media report on Kim’s speech at a five-day plenary session of the government’s Labor Party did not comment specifically on his dealings with the United States and South Korea. Some experts say this means that Kim has no interest in resuming talks with Washington and Seoul soon and would prefer to keep his country’s borders closed while seeking a more autonomous economy to overcome the difficulties associated with the pandemic.
“The increasingly unstable military environment on the Korean peninsula and international policies have prompted calls for plans to advance our national defense without delay,” Kim told the official Central News Agency of Korea.
Kim called for the production of powerful and modern weapons systems to improve his military strength and called for “absolute loyalty and loyalty” to the ruling party, which the military itself directs, according to the KCNA.
The KCNA said the plenary had set “tactical directions” for North Korea’s foreign relations, including with South Korea, but did not clarify. He made no mention of the United States.
The meeting was to review past projects and determine new policies, which took place when Kim turned 10 last month in power. Since gaining control of his dictator’s father’s death in December 2011, Kim Jong Un has established absolute power in the home and strengthened his nuclear arsenal and missiles. But the North Korean economy has suffered severe setbacks over the past two years due to pandemic closures caused by the UN’s persistent sanctions and natural disasters.
There is no sign of political instability in North Korea, but some experts say Kim’s long-term stability of the leadership may be called into question if the current difficulties continue. High-level political speeches like the Plenary Session allow Kim to consolidate the unity behind her leadership and show that she has firm control over the government. But it is not clear whether such meetings provide a basic solution to North Korea’s difficulties, largely due to decades of mismanagement, self-imposed isolation and its nuclear push, which has made it one of the harshest sanctions in the world.
At a party congress in January last year, Kim admitted that his previous economic development plans had failed and that his country was facing “the worst situation ever.”
But at this week’s plenary session, Kim called for progress on new development plans, saying last year was a “great year of victory” and that this year’s goals are “a great fight to the death”. Kim referred to the progress made in agriculture, construction, electricity, mining, forestry and many other sectors, which could not be independently confirmed.
South Korea estimates that North Korea’s trade with China, its largest trading partner and economic pipeline, will shrink by about 80 percent in 2020, before falling again by two-thirds in the first nine months of last year. In 2020, the North Korean economy suffered its biggest contraction since 1997, and its grain production also fell to its lowest level since Kim took power in 2011. Seoul officials said grain production in the North had improved slightly last year.
At the plenary session, Kim ordered officials to prioritize emergency pandemic campaigns, saying irresponsibility and gaps would not be allowed. Analysts say Kim fears that her country’s fragile public health infrastructure could not handle a major outbreak of the virus – despite questioning North Korea’s lack of coronavirus.
“North Korea is expected to continue to seal its borders and turn to itself while maintaining a vital minimum level of trade with China (omicron) as a new variant and a worldwide pandemic monitoring,” said analyst Cheong Seong-Chang. Sejong Private Institute.
Cheong said North Korea had called for the US to resume nuclear diplomacy or for South Korea to accept calls for a symbolic and political declaration to end the 1950-53 Korean War as a way to ease tensions.
“North Korea has been able to withstand its draconian border cuts and claim the success of‘ juche ’self-reliance, as hidden trade and Chinese aid help meet national minimum needs,” said Leif-Eric Easley, a professor at Ewha University in Seoul. .
US-led diplomacy collapsed in 2019 in exchange for economic and political gains aimed at convincing North Korea to abandon its nuclear program, when then-President Donald Trump rejected demands to ease Kim’s sanctions in exchange for partial denuclearization steps. Since then, Kim has threatened to expand its nuclear arsenal and introduce high-tech weapons to the United States and its allies.
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