SEOUL, South Korea (AP) – North Korean leader Kim Jong Un admitted that his economic development plans failed when he opened the ruling party’s first congress in five years, state media reported on Wednesday.
In an opening speech to the congress that began Tuesday, Kim said that “almost all sectors fell far short of the objectives set” under a previous five-year development plan established at the 2016 congress, according to the central Korean news. Northern Agency official.
“We must further promote and expand the victories and successes that we have achieved at the cost of sweat and blood, and prevent the painful lessons from being repeated,” he said.
The Workers’ Party Congress, one of the largest propaganda shows in the North, aims to help Kim show a concerned nation that he is firmly in control and boost the unity behind his leadership in the face of COVID-19 and others growing economic challenges.
But some observers are skeptical that the congress run on stage will find fundamental solutions to North Korea’s difficulties, many of which stem from decades of economic mismanagement and Kim’s hasty search for expensive nuclear weapons aimed at hitting the continent of the U.S. .
Kim, 36, is holding the congress, which is expected to last a few days, amid what may be the most difficult challenge for his nine-year government and what he called “multiple crises”.
Authoritarian North Korea is one of the poorest countries in Asia, and the already besieged economy is being hammered by the border closure related to the pandemic with China, the North’s main economic salvation, the consequences of a series of natural disasters in the summer past and persistent US-led disasters sanctions on the nuclear program.
US President-elect Joe Biden, who will take office at the end of January, is likely to maintain sanctions and avoid any direct encounter with Kim until North Korea takes significant steps towards denuclearization.
The congress met in Pyongyang to determine “a new line of struggle and strategic and tactical policies”, attended by thousands of delegates and observers, KCNA reported.
In his speech, Kim described the current difficulties his government faces as “the worst” and “unprecedented”, according to KCNA.
Kim called for a new five-year plan and reviewed the current state of North Korea’s metal, chemical, electrical and other key industries and defined unspecified tasks for future development, KCNA said.
It is not the first time that Kim is candid about failed policies and systems. Last August, he acknowledged economic “deficiencies” caused by “unexpected and unavoidable challenges”. Also last year, he said that North Korea lacks modern medical facilities and that anti-disaster conditions in coastal areas are “bad”.
Few experts doubt Kim’s control over power. But a prolonged blockade related to the coronavirus could further destabilize the food and foreign exchange markets and worsen North Korea’s livelihoods. That could diminish Kim’s authority, say some observers.
Leif-Eric Easley, a professor at Ewha University in Seoul, said that “the fundamental problem” is that “Kim wants the economic growth that sustains the regime while maintaining nuclear weapons”.
“Therefore, Pyongyang will likely demand relief from sanctions by merely reducing tensions, rather than making progress on denuclearization,” he said.
The US-led sanctions have tightened after the unusually aggressive run of Kim’s nuclear and missile tests in 2016 and 2017. They maintain a ban on major export items like coal, textiles and seafood. However, Kim still pressed repeatedly for an expansion of his nuclear arsenal to deal with what he calls US hostility.
Kim entered into negotiations with President Donald Trump in 2018, but his diplomacy has been at an impasse for about two years because of disputes over sanctions.
The pandemic, typhoons and floods last summer – which destroyed houses, farmland and other infrastructure across North Korea – further damaged the North’s economy.
After closing its border with China, North Korea’s largest trading partner for a year, the volume of bilateral trade plummeted about 80% in the first 11 months of last year compared to the corresponding period in 2019, the analyst said. Song Jaeguk of the IBK Economic Research Institute in Seoul. North Korea’s GDP was estimated at 9.3% in 2020, he said.
After the sharp drop in foreign trade, North Korea experienced a four-fold increase in imported foods such as sugar and spices in the markets, while its plant’s operating rate has dropped to the lowest level since Kim took power due to the shortage of raw materials, the South Korean law enforcement agency said in late November.
“I can’t think of words to describe how difficult the situation that North Koreans are going through now is, instead of saying that they are suffering terribly,” Song said. “If the coronavirus pandemic continues, they will suffer even more.”
Kim has been pushing to polish an image of a thoughtful leader.
State media said Kim sent New Year’s cards to ordinary citizens in what Seoul called the first letters written by a North Korean leader in 26 years. During a speech in October, Kim shed tears as he thanked the people for enduring the difficulties. He also made an unusual number of visits to rural areas hit by typhoons and floods.
Officially, Congress is the party’s highest-level decision-making body, although the main day-to-day decisions are made by Kim and his inner circle. Delegates assembled for the congress are expected to endorse Kim’s new initiatives without much debate. Congress would still give Kim a chance to solidify his authority by announcing a new vision, appointing loyal lieutenants to senior positions and calling for stronger unity behind his leadership.
Many experts say that North Korea has no option but to keep its border closed while the pandemic continues worldwide, because its public health system remains bankrupt and a major outbreak can have dire consequences. Despite taking draconian antivirus measures, North Korea said it did not find a single case of viruses on its soil, a claim widely questioned by foreign experts.
The photos from the KCNA congress did not show any participants, including Kim, wearing masks sitting side by side.
During the congress, the North can issue conciliatory messages in consideration of ties to the next Biden government, while emphasizing its traditional ties with China and Russia, the Seoul Unification Ministry said in a report on the prospects for the congress.
Kim did not mention the United States or South Korea in his Tuesday speech. He must make a few more speeches before the end of the conference.
Some experts say Kim is unlikely to launch a major provocation anytime soon because that would further diminish the prospect of early negotiations with the Biden government, which faces many urgent internal problems.