North Korea's communist dictator Kim Jong-un said in remarks to the Politburo on Wednesday that the country's economic situation is “extremely dire” and that most people have no access to food and other basic necessities. He complained that the government was not preparing the situation. “A serious political problem.”
Kim was speaking at a conference of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK), the country's only legal political party. The Politburo intended to discuss the implementation of economic reforms, which state media called the “20×10 regional development policy.” Mr. Kim urged his leaders to invest in factories and other industrial projects, believing that the development of rural areas was as important as the development of wealthy areas.
Kim has long lamented his country's dire poverty, the result of nearly a century of totalitarian communism, and even wept publicly during the height of the Wuhan coronavirus pandemic.
“The people have placed their trust in me as high as the sky and as deep as the sea, but I have always been unable to fully repay that trust. I am truly sorry,” Kim said in 2020. In October, he appeared on national television and spoke through tears.
Kim placed the entire country under lockdown for nearly three years, and overseas nationals were only allowed to return in August 2023. The lockdown has created a particularly dire situation for North Koreans living near the Yalu River border with China, which was ruled by the Kim regime before the pandemic. It has done little to stop the illegal smuggling of food and other essential goods from China for its citizens.
Despite pledging to invest more heavily in improving access to basic humanitarian aid for his people, there is no evidence that Mr. Kim has diverted significant military funds for that purpose. North Korea maintains an illegal nuclear weapons program, increasing spending on new missiles, spy ships, and all kinds of nuclear-capable firearms rather than considering scaling back to meet civilian needs. ing. Throughout January, the communist regime has claimed to have unveiled several new weapons, including an alleged underwater “nuclear weapons system,” reconnaissance satellites, and, most recently, an alleged strategic cruise missile.
In this photo provided by the North Korean government on Tuesday, March 28, 2023, a missile designed to be mounted on a missile or missile is shown behind North Korean leader Kim Jong Un as he meets military officials in a hall. What appears to be various types of warheads are on display. On March 27, 2023, a rocket launcher was fired at an undisclosed location in North Korea. Independent journalists were not given access to cover the events depicted in this image distributed by the North Korean government. The content of this image is provided and cannot be independently verified. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Agency, Associated Press)
“The entire local economy is currently in a very dire state, lacking even basic conditions,” Kim told leaders on Wednesday. according to Translation of Korean state media reports by Radio Free Asia (RFA).English version His remarks, published directly by the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), instead used the phrase “terrible situation.”
KCNA summarized Kim's remarks, saying, “Today, our party and government cannot avoid the fact that we are unable to provide basic daily necessities such as seasonings, food, and consumer goods to people in rural areas.'' “It has emerged as a serious political issue.”
Mr. Kim demands “concrete plans and correct methods with a high probability of implementation” from the brightest minds, and while taking a “negative attitude” toward the national economic situation, he is trying to persuade ordinary North Koreans. He criticized the “lip service” of offering help.
For that reason, the dictator introduced The “20×10 Regional Development Policy'' is said to have aimed to bring “a new revolution to wipe out centuries of backwardness'' in rural areas.
“Today, we are faced with the heavy but honorable task of providing our people with more civilized and happy living conditions and environment,'' Kim said. announced the creation of a committee for a new policy aimed at enforcing the part of the country.
This policy is seen as a significant change in North Korea's history. The Kim family has traditionally deliberately impoverished rural areas in order to punish those suspected of insufficient loyalty to communism under the North Korean regime. Poetry text This is a type of caste system in which only the families most favored by the Kim family are allowed to live in Pyongyang, while the rest are driven to remote areas or, in the worst case scenario, forced into harsh forced labor for generations. Forced to be sent to a concentration camp.
Kim Il-sung, the founder of communist North Korea and grandfather of Kim Jong-un, created three groups: a “core'' class, a “disturbing'' class, and a “hostile'' class, each with a It included subcategories,” Human Rights Paper Clock explained In 2016.
This photo taken and published by North Korea's state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on September 9, 2017, shows flowers in front of the bronze statues of Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il (right) on Mansu Hill in Pyongyang. The photo shows North Korean residents offering a gift. Celebrating the 69th anniversary of the founding of North Korea. [THIS PICTURE WAS MADE AVAILABLE BY A THIRD PARTY. AFP CAN NOT INDEPENDENTLY VERIFY THE AUTHENTICITY, LOCATION, DATE, AND CONTENT OF THIS IMAGE. THIS PHOTO IS DISTRIBUTED EXACTLY AS RECEIVED BY AFP. / ( KNS/AFP/Getty Images)]“Those closest to Mr. Kim, his relatives, and anti-Japanese activists became the core of North Korea, the ruling class. Peasants, workers, and laborers were elevated from the lowest rungs of the social order.'' Their lowly positions were filled by people, like Choi's grandfather, who opposed Kim's rise to power or cooperated with South Korea and Japan.”
As a result, it is illegal for rural poor to migrate to cities, and the government invests little in their survival.
The situation in the countryside is becoming increasingly desperate, RFA I got it. on wednesday.
“Informed sources within North Korea told Radio Free Asia in May that up to 30% of farmers in two northern provinces were too weak from hunger to work on collective farms,” the station said. I told you.
As North Koreans starve, Kim continues to invest in bellicose military technology aimed at intimidating the United States and South Korea.Thursday, Pyongyang claimed The purpose was to test a new type of strategic cruise missile that is thought to be capable of carrying nuclear weapons. State media provided little information about the test, but South Korean news agency Yonhap News Agency said experts believe the test could worsen the nuclear threat. .
“Experts believe that Purwasar-3-31 [the alleged new cruise missile] Considering that the number in its name is the same as that of the tactical nuclear warhead “Volcano 31,'' which North Korea first unveiled in March 2023, it is considered a nuclear-capable weapon,'' Yonhap News reported. Stated. reportadded that this weapon “could pose a serious threat to South Korea's security, as a nuclear warhead could be mounted on such a missile.”
At Yongsan Station in Seoul, people can be seen watching television showing the first test launch of North Korea's new strategic cruise missile, the Pulfasar 3-31. On January 25, North Korea announced that it had conducted a test launch of a new strategic cruise missile, the Purwasar 3-31, aimed at strengthening its nuclear weapons delivery capabilities. The Missile Directorate labeled the test as part of a routine weapons system update. Experts have suggested that the missile may be a short-range missile due to its short overall length compared to previous models such as the Fasal cruise missile. “Hwasal'' means “arrow'' in Korean, and “Bulhwasal'' means “fire arrow.'' . (Kim Jaehwan/SOPA Image/LightRocket via Getty)
