[ad_1]
After months of speculation, the figures seem to confirm the effectiveness of the sanctions imposed by the international community against the North Korean regime. According to estimates of the South Korean Central Bank, in 2017, the North Korean economy has experienced the slowest growth in twenty years. The Pilgrim of the Hermit Kingdom reports a contraction of 3.5% on an annual basis, the largest decline after the 6.5% drop recorded in 1996, the year of the famine [19659002] costing the lives of about 1 million people
Industrial production, which accounts for one-third of gross domestic product, declined 8.5%, the largest decline since 1997 because of the restrictions on production. Purchase of oil and other energy resources. At the same time, foreign trade decreased by 15%, falling to 5.6 billion dollars, while exports decreased overall 37, 2%
"The volume of foreign trade decreased significantly with the ban on the export of coal steel, products and textiles.It is difficult to calculate the exact figures, but (the ban) has blocked industrial production, "says Shin Seung-cheol director of the National Accounts Coordination Team at the Bank of Korea 19659002] Statistics – Derived, in the absence of official data, information obtained from the South Korean Government by deserters and direct follow up from parameters such as the intensity of traffic and the extension of rice fields in zon frontieres – would seem to confirm – as Washington claims but denied by the regime of the North – the functionality of sanctions in the suspension of nuclear tests and missiles announced by the leader Kim Jong-un last April. Accomplice of the worst drought of the last 16 years reported by international observers last year
"Until the exports of ores – by far the element the more profitable North Korean exports – be included in the sanctions, Pyongyang will have no choice but to continue its current negotiations with the United States ", we say to Reuters [19659009] Kim Byeong-yeon Professor of Economics at the Seoul National University . All the more so as the increase in penalties in 2017 suggests a further deterioration in economic data for the current year
Trade with China the largest trading partner of Pyongyang, fell almost 60% in the first six months of the year. In 2017, Beijing suspended imports of coal, the flagship product of North Korean exports, as well as the sale of petroleum products resulting in a temporary rise in prices of diesel and gasoline. According to the expert, if the first to be affected by the political establishment, accustomed to a standard of living above average, the coup d'état does not even save the Jangmadang informal markets that – according to Institute for the Integration of Korean Society – now accounts for 60% of the local economy
Nevertheless, studies of the impact on the domestic consumption remain at the mercy of the discretion with which China adheres to the sanctions regime. Even today, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs has defended against the accusations made by the United Nations concerning the alleged violation of the ban of coal imports north Korean. In recent months, commercial activities on the Chinese side of the Yalu River – the natural border that separates the two former communist allies – show a ferment that has not gone unnoticed even to the Trump administration, ever more aware the rapprochement between the leaders of the North and Beijing. The suspect is the regularity maintained by the prices of staples such as rice and maize, although recent UN inspections have pointed to the obvious need for humanitarian aid.
International sanctions are beginning to be felt Jong-a council to move the focus of their political agenda from nuclear to economic development. In recent days, the young leader has been seen looking for industrial sites and special economic zones bordering the giant next door. The slowness with which the construction works and the modernization of the production plants are progressing are not disappointing
. Washington and Seoul offer economic aid in return for the surrender of the atom. The compromise does not seem to displease Pyongyang, provided that it provides for a gradual withdrawal of sanctions during construction. A point on which up to now the White House has shown itself unyielding.
China makes records
Source link
