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“Another new and more difficult ‘hard walk'”.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un warned his citizens this week to prepare for extremely difficult times and apparently compared the situation to the devastating famine of 1990, in which hundreds of thousands of people died.
The Asian country faces its greatest moment of isolation in decades, after tighten border controls to prevent the entry of the coronavirus and suspend trade with China, its mainstay.
Added to this are the international sanctions which weigh on the impoverished country, due to the development of its nuclear program.
What exactly did Kim say?
Unusually acknowledging the hardships the country is going through, Kim called on members of the ruling Workers’ Party to lead “another new and more difficult” hard march “to relieve” the people of hardship.
The “arduous march” is a term used by North Korean officials to refer to the country’s hardship during the famine of the 1990s, when the fall of the USSR stripped Pyongyang of crucial support. This is the campaign the regime has called upon to face this period.
The total number of North Koreans who have died of starvation is still unknown, but estimates are as high as 3 million.
This impoverished Asian country is facing a difficult situation, between international sanctions and a pandemic.
“It’s not unusual for Kim Jong-un to talk about hardships and adversity, but in this case the language is quite harsh and it’s different,” Colin Zwirko, senior analyst for the BBC, told the BBC. North Korea at NK News.
“Last October, for example, he gave a speech in which he said he himself had failed to make sufficient changes. But to explicitly mention that he is ready to take on another “hard walk” is not something he has already said. ”
Earlier in the week, Kim warned the country was facing “the worst situation yet” and “many unprecedented challenges.”
How serious is the situation?
For months, several warnings have been issued that the North Korean population is struggling, especially in areas close to the border with China, where illicit trafficking is a big source of income for many.
The price of corn, a staple food in much of rural North Korea, has fluctuated considerably and a kilogram of corn cost more than the monthly salary, the country’s trade press reported.
Human Rights Watch (HRW) researcher Lina Yoon noted in a recent report, citing unnamed sources in the country, that “almost no food enters the country from China.”
“There are a lot more beggars, some people have starved to death in the border area, and there is no soap, toothpaste or batteries,” he wrote.
Maize is a staple food in rural North Korea.
The UN rapporteur on the human rights situation in North Korea, Toms Ojea Quintana, warned last month in a report of “a serious food crisis”, which was already leading to famine and malnutrition.
“Deaths from starvation have been reported, along with an increase in the number of children and the elderly who have resorted to begging because families are unable to help them. ”
It is not known if any aid is entering the country. North Korea has rejected foreign aid, and almost all diplomats and workers from international organizations and NGOs have left the territory.
Border closure due to pandemic spurred trade with China –from which it obtains 90% of its imports– fell 80% last year from the already low levels to which it fell in 2018 after the extension of UN sanctions.
Human rights experts have also warned that Pyongyang is using its isolation from the outside world to further strengthen its control over the population, for example, with the recent approval of a law that toughens penalties for possession of foreign content or devices. music to series, phones or USB).
Analysis by Laura Bicker, BBC Salt Correspondent
Kim Jong-un builds support within the party as the situation worsens. You make sure that the warnings come directly from him: Perhaps so that when the situation worsens, he can report to party officials that he did not act on his orders.
It can also blame the disastrous economy on the Covid-19 pandemic and the strict economic sanctions designed to curb its nuclear weapons program.
Despite this, his diet continues to conceive and test new missiles.
Pyongyang presented its weapons during a parade in January, despite reports of food shortages already starting to emerge.
Weapon tests are something we can all see in satellite images and state press photographs, and use them to question world leaders on how they’re going to act. North Korea’s people cannot send us images of their suffering without exposing yourself to risks be imprisoned or executed.
Invisible, and according to warnings on their own, they now face famine in the midst of a looming humanitarian crisis.
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