How will ‘emaciated’ Kim Jong-un ride out a famine in North Korea? With China’s help
- Analysts say the hermit kingdom’s economic woes and food shortages are likely to continue, though the situation is not as dire as in the late 1990s
- But Beijing is ready to step in with further aid should things worsen, and a visibly thinner Kim can help unify the country, they add
Kim on Thursday said he would push to further upgrade relations with Beijing, and raise bilateral friendship “to a new strategic point as required by the times and as desired by the peoples of the two countries”.
Days earlier, North Korean television showed footage of Kim looking thinner than in recent years, and even featured an unidentified resident of the country’s capital, Pyongyang, who said images of Kim had upset people across the nation.
“Seeing respected general secretary [Kim] looking emaciated breaks our people’s hearts so much,” the resident said.
Analysts said that while the country’s economic woes and food shortages were likely to continue, North Korea’s current situation was not as dire as the famine that struck in the late 1990s.
And with China expected to step in with further aid should the situation worsen, and given Pyongyang’s internal ability to deal with crises and external pressure, they said there was little likelihood of North Korea’s internal situation getting out of hand any time soon.
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North Korean leader Kim Jong-un scolds officials for ‘great crisis’ caused by coronavirus lapse
ECONOMIC WOES
North Korea has maintained some of the world’s toughest antivirus measures since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, including border shutdowns that are said to have devastated its already struggling economy.