Kim Jong Un admits North Korea faces “worst situation ever”

Seoul, South Korea – North Korean leader Kim Jong Un admits his country faces “worst situation in history” as he addresses thousands of grassroots members of his ruling party at a conference major policy in Pyongyang.

Experts say Kim may be facing his toughest moment as he nears a decade of rule, with North Korea’s coronavirus lockdown triggering yet another shock to an economy devastated by decades of mismanagement and crippling US-led sanctions on its nuclear weapons program.

The official North Korean Central News Agency said Kim made the comments during an opening speech at a meeting of Workers Party cell secretaries on Tuesday.

“Improving people’s standard of living … even in the worst situation in which we have to overcome many unprecedented challenges depends on the role played by the cells, the grassroots organizations of the party,” Kim said.

He urged members to implement decisions taken at a party convention in January, when he pledged to step up nuclear deterrence in the face of US pressure and announced a new five-year national development plan. The convention came months after Kim, at another political conference, showed unusual frankness in admitting that his plans to improve the economy had failed.

During Tuesday’s speech, Kim also criticized the party’s base units for unspecified “shortcomings” which he said should be immediately corrected to ensure the “healthy and sustainable” development of the party.

Party cells, which consist of five to 30 members, are the smallest units of party authority that oversee operations and live in factories and elsewhere. The network is an important tool for the Workers’ Party to perpetuate its power. The previous conference of cell secretaries took place in 2017.

The economic setbacks have left Kim with nothing to show for his ambitious diplomacy with former President Trump, which collapsed over disagreements over the lifting of sanctions for the North’s denuclearization measures.

Pyongyang has so far rejected opening the Biden administration’s talks, saying Washington must first abandon its “hostile” policies and has stepped up the pressure by resuming ballistic missile testing last month after a hiatus. ‘a year.