Kim says North Korea facing its ‘worst-ever situation’
By KIM TONG-HYUNGyesterday
In this photo provided by the North Korean government, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un delivers an opening speech at a conference of the Workers’ Party’s cell secretaries in Pyongyang, North Korea, Tuesday, April 6, 2021.
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Kim has acknowledged his country was facing the “worst-ever situation” as he addressed thousands of grassroots members of his ruling party during the major political conference. Independent journalists were not given access to cover the event depicted in this image distributed by the North Korean government. The content of this image is as provided and cannot be independently verified. Korean language watermark on image as provided by source reads: "KCNA" which is the abbreviation for Korean Central News Agency. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP)
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SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has acknowledged his country was facing the “worst-ever situation” as he addressed thousands of grassroots members of his ruling party during a major political conference in Pyongyang.
Experts say Kim is facing perhaps his toughest moment as he approaches a decade in rule, with North Korea’s coronavirus lockdown unleashing further shock on an economy devastated by decades of mismanagement and crippling U.S.-led sanctions over his nuclear weapons program.
The North’s official Korean Central News Agency said Kim made the comments during an opening speech at a meeting of the Workers’ Party’s cell secretaries on Tuesday.
“Improving the people’s living standards ... even in the worst-ever situation in which we have to overcome unprecedentedly numerous challenges depends on the role played by the cells, the grassroots organizations of the party,” Kim said.
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He urged members to carry out the decisions made at a party congress in January, when he vowed to bolster his nuclear deterrent in face of U.S. pressure and announced a new five-year national development plan. The congress came months after Kim during another political conference showed unusual candor by acknowledging that his plans to improve the economy weren’t succeeding.
During Tuesday’s speech, Kim also criticized the party’s grassroots units for unspecified “shortcomings” that 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 the works and lives at factories and other places. The network is an important tool for Workers’ Party to perpetuate its power. The previous conference of cell secretaries was held in 2017.
Full Coverage: North Korea
The economic setbacks have left Kim with nothing to show for his ambitious diplomacy with former President Donald Trump, which collapsed over disagreements in lifting sanctions for the North’s denuclearization steps.
The North has so far rejected the Biden administration’s overture for talks, saying that Washington must discard its “hostile” policies first, and dialed up pressure by resuming tests of ballistic missiles last month after a yearlong pause.
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SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has acknowledged his country was facing the “worst-ever situation” as he addressed thousands of grassroots members of his ruling party during a major political conference in Pyongyang.
Experts say Kim is facing perhaps his toughest moment as he approaches a decade in rule, with North Korea’s coronavirus lockdown unleashing further shock on an economy devastated by decades of mismanagement and crippling U.S.-led sanctions over his nuclear weapons program.
The North’s official Korean Central News Agency said Kim made the comments during an opening speech at a meeting of the Workers’ Party’s cell secretaries on Tuesday.
“Improving the people’s living standards ... even in the worst-ever situation in which we have to overcome unprecedentedly numerous challenges depends on the role played by the cells, the grassroots organizations of the party,” Kim said.
MORE STORIES:
– EXPLAINER: Why is North Korea skipping the Tokyo Olympics?
– Japan extends its own North Korean sanctions another 2 years
– US consults with Japan, South Korea on North Korea approach
He urged members to carry out the decisions made at a party congress in January, when he vowed to bolster his nuclear deterrent in face of U.S. pressure and announced a new five-year national development plan. The congress came months after Kim during another political conference showed unusual candor by acknowledging that his plans to improve the economy weren’t succeeding.
During Tuesday’s speech, Kim also criticized the party’s grassroots units for unspecified “shortcomings” that 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 the works and lives at factories and other places. The network is an important tool for Workers’ Party to perpetuate its power. The previous conference of cell secretaries was held in 2017.
Full Coverage: North Korea
The economic setbacks have left Kim with nothing to show for his ambitious diplomacy with former President Donald Trump, which collapsed over disagreements in lifting sanctions for the North’s denuclearization steps.
The North has so far rejected the Biden administration’s overture for talks, saying that Washington must discard its “hostile” policies first, and dialed up pressure by resuming tests of ballistic missiles last month after a yearlong pause.
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Vladimir Tikhonov
tStpon1sorc1emdht ·
It seemingly calmed down a bit now, as it became pretty obvious that North Korea is not going to disappear anywhere, but before it was quite common for many 'experts' to talk about 'looming collapse of North Korea' every time the country was facing one more predicament. Which, of course, was an absurdity. The Left-authoritarian party-states may easily disappear if they 1. were imposed from outside (the case of Poland was typical) 2. did not enjoy full territorial control and/or had serious armed rivals (in Ethiopia and some other cases of unsuccessful replication of this model in 1970-80s Africa). North Korean regime was a creation of local leftist nationalists (backed by Soviet Army, but in any case independent politicians from the beginning) and has full territorial control and zero political rivals for now. It may evolve at some point into a sort of oligarchy ('collective leadership') rather than personalized regime, but even that point is hardly visible right now - it is still distant future. The most dramatic example of a Party-state evolution was what happened with USSR/Russia from 1985 onward - a Party-state which ended up becoming a Intelligence/Security-state. The main principle of Party-state - the political control over economy/economic elites - is still intact there.
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