Kim Jong-un admits North Korean economy is failing amid tough times

Kim Jong-un admits North Korean economy is struggling in the face of US sanctions, COVID and devastating floods.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un speaking at a Workers’ Party central committee Meeting in Pyongyang. Amid tough times, Kim has reportedly been delegating some of his authority to close aides, including his younger sister. Picture: AFP

Kim Jong-un has admitted that the North Korean economy is struggling in the face of US sanctions, the pandemic and devastating floods, raising speculation about his grip on power.

Such an acknowledgment is extremely rare in the one-party state where failure is not usually admitted or criticism of the rulers tolerated.

It follows reports that Mr Kim has delegated part of his authority to close aides, including Kim Yo-jong, his younger sister. Mr Kim, nominally the absolute ruler, disappeared for several weeks this year, triggering speculation that he was seriously ill.

“Chairman Kim Jong-un is still maintaining his absolute authority, but some of it has been handed over little by little,” Yonhap, South Korea’s news agency, reported, quoting the national intelligence service. He is shifting power “to relieve stress from his reign and avert culpability in the event of policy failure,” it added.

It is believed that Kim Yo-jong has assumed most of the delegated authority, although she is not the only one who shares power with him, according to Yonhap. Ms Kim is the first vice-department director of the Workers’ Party central committee, having been made a member of the political bureau earlier this year.

The official Korean Central News Agency quoted Mr Kim, after a meeting with senior leaders, as saying: “The economy was not improved in the face of the sustaining severe internal and external situations and unexpected manifold challenges. Thereby planned attainment of the goals for improving the national economy have been seriously delayed and the people’s living standard not been improved remarkably.”

Mr Kim, who is believed to be 36, announced a five-year development plan during the Workers’ Party congress in 2016, the first in 36 years, and has now called a Workers’ Party congress in January to set out new five year goals.

Experts say that the coronavirus has dealt a blow to his economic aspirations after North Korea imposed a lockdown that significantly reduced trade with China. It only recently acknowledged the presence of COVID-19 within its borders, having insisted for months that it had detected no cases.

Mr Kim, who has been in power since 2011 after the death of his father, sacked his premier last week after an evaluation of the cabinet’s implementation of economic policies. Torrential rain has lashed the country in recent weeks, destroying thousands of homes and nearly 100,000 acres of crops.

US sanctions, which Mr Kim did not mention, have remained in place since the breakdown of denuclearisation talks last year.

The Times