SEOUL, South Korea (AP) – North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has called for another “tough march” to combat severe economic hardship, comparing it to a famine for the first time in years ninety in which hundreds of thousands perished.
Kim had previously said his country is facing the “worst” situation as a result of several factors, including the coronavirus pandemic, US-led sanctions and severe flooding last summer. But it is the first time he has publicly drawn a parallel with the deadly famine.
Monitoring groups in North Korea have not detected any signs of mass famine or humanitarian disaster. But Kim’s comments still suggest how seriously he takes the current difficulties – which foreign observers say are the greatest test of his nine-year reign.
“We have many obstacles and difficulties in store, and so our struggle to implement the decisions of the Eighth Party Congress would not all be easy,” Kim told lower-level party members on Thursday, according to the Korean Central. News. Agency.
“I decided to ask the WPK (Workers’ Party of Korea) organizations at all levels, including the Central Committee and the entire party’s cell secretaries, to carry out an even more difficult ‘tough march’ to relieve our people. of difficulty, even a little, ”said Kim.
The term “heavy march” is a euphemism North Koreans use to describe the struggle during the 1990s famine, accelerated by the loss of Soviet aid, decades of mismanagement and natural disasters. The exact death toll is not clear, ranging from hundreds of thousands to 2 million to 3 million, and North Korea depended for years on international aid to feed its people.
Kim’s speech came during the closing ceremony of a party rally with thousands of base members called cell secretaries. During his opening day speech Tuesday, Kim said improving public livelihoods in the face of the “worst situation” would depend on party cells.
At the party congress in January, Kim ordered officials to build a stronger, self-sufficient economy, reduce dependence on imports, and make more consumer goods. But analysts are skeptical of Kim’s push, saying the North’s problems are the result of mismanagement, self-imposed isolation and sanctions over its nuclear program.
Chinese data shows that North Korea’s trade with China, its largest trading partner and aid provider, contracted by about 80% last year following the closure of the North Korean border as part of severe pandemic measures.
Experts say North Korea has no other option as a major coronavirus outbreak could seriously affect its broken health care system.
Cha Deok-cheol, deputy spokesman for South Korea’s Ministry of Unification, told reporters on Friday that there are multiple signs that North Korea is taking steps to ease control at its border with China, including the North’s own reports that it has set up new anti-virus facilities on the border and passed new laws on the disinfection of imported goods.
Some experts say North Korea’s ongoing troubles won’t lead to famine, because China won’t let that happen. They say China is concerned about North Korean refugees flooding the border or the creation of a pro-American, united Korea on its doorstep.
When Kim exchanged messages with Chinese President Xi Jinping last month, North Korea’s state media said Xi was committed to “providing a better life for the peoples of the two countries.” Some analysts saw it as an indication that China would soon provide North Korea with much-needed food, fertilizer and other supplies that had been significantly reduced due to the pandemic border closures.
Associated Press writer Kim Tong-hyung contributed to this report.