For once, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un spoke on Wednesday to officially and publicly express his concern about the food situation in his country, considered tense. At a plenary meeting of the Central Committee of the ruling Workers’ Party, the supreme leader recognized a “Series of difficulties”, fruit of many “Challenges” to be noted, while recalling that industrial production experienced an increase of 2%. In this case, the summer of 2020 was marked by natural disasters, typhoons and floods, which are said to have destroyed thousands of homes and farmland.
Kim Jong-un invoked a series of measures intended to curb the consequences of the harsh climatic conditions, frequent in this region and which make agricultural production uncertain. The dictatorship has also been under the yoke of international sanctions since 2016-2017, following ballistic and nuclear tests, which mainly target oil and North Korean nationals working abroad, further weakening the regime.
The painful consequences of Covid-19
“The real impact is that of the pandemic, advances Antoine Bondaz, researcher on North Korea at the Foundation for Strategic Research (FRS), which led to a total closure of borders, and therefore to a drastic limitation of imports. ” With cascading consequences: the departure, in December 2020, of the few NGOs permanently present on site, the interruption of the delivery of assistance from abroad or the limitation of the UN World Food Program. “The worsening food insecurity and the pandemic are directly linked. The Covid-19 has a double impact on production, restricted by the lack of international assistance, and imports ”, continues the author of North Korea, immersed in the heart of a totalitarian state (Editions du Chêne, 2016).
However, it remains difficult to assess the situation precisely. If some news from Pyongyang is circulating, such as the increase in the price of foodstuffs, which testifies to the scarcity of products, it is impossible, since the departure of international aid workers (who enjoyed rare access to the provinces), to learn more about the state of the countryside, where 90% of the population lives.
Supreme Leader Screwdriver
As early as March, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (Unocha) denounced “The drastic preventive measures taken by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea”, who have “Exacerbated human rights violations and socio-economic hardship”. According to Tomás Ojea Quintana, United Nations special rapporteur on the human rights situation in North Korea, several cases of severe sanctions “Against those who violate anti-Covid prevention measures” have been reported by the media. In addition, the establishment of a detention center in the province of North Hwanghae, for people violating quarantine measures, had alerted the UN expert.
To these restrictions were added cruel delays in the distribution of essential goods and the almost complete cessation of trade relations with China. The borders would have reopened at the end of April, to resume the pace of imports. For Antoine Bondaz, “The regime is particularly worried about the pandemic and possible contagions. North Korean health infrastructure could not cope with the epidemic, let alone the proliferation of variants, especially the delta. Since [l’an dernier], the authorities are taking very strict measures because the only level of action concerns prevention. It is the zero risk policy ”. To date, no case of contamination has been officially reported.
How to interpret Kim Jong-un’s statements? Is this a message to the international community, or even to the new administration of Joe Biden? The elements are lacking to understand the ambitions of the regime. “The lack of visibility on site remains worrying after all”, concludes Antoine Bondaz.
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