Kim Jong-un on life-and-death struggle in North Korea as leader marks 10 yrs in power

On completing his 10 years in the office, North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un issued a speech focusing on life and death struggles and domestic issues. Kim stated at a meeting on Friday that North Korea's major aims for 2022 will be to kickstart economic development and improve people's lives as it faces a big life-and-death struggle with COVID. As per the reports of the Kyodo News, in the backdrop of the global spread of coronavirus, North Korea has acknowledged that it is suffering a grave food crisis, owing in part to natural catastrophes and sluggish trade activity with China.

Pyongyang has established a severe border closure since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and claims to be coronavirus-free. In terms of the economy, the North implemented a series of initiatives to boost the country's agricultural sector as part of efforts to address persistent food shortages, according to Yonhap News. The North is thought to be falling short of 1 million tonnes of food per year, with the coronavirus-driven border shutdown believed to have exacerbated the country's already precarious food situation.

The increasingly unpredictable military situation on the Korean Peninsula

According to Korean Central News Agency, talking about the military, Kim stated that the increasingly unpredictable military situation on the Korean Peninsula and worldwide politics have provoked calls to firmly press through with the national defence build-up programmes without delay. He called for reinforcing national defence in the face of an unstable international environment. North Korea is thought to have grown its arsenal despite the lockdowns.

There was no mention of the United States in this speech, this has made some experts believe that Kim has no intention of restarting discussions with Washington or Seoul anytime soon and would rather keep his country's borders closed while pursuing a more self-sufficient economy to address pandemic-related issues, according to AP. The United States' desire for denuclearisation discussions were not mentioned in accounts of Kim's speech.

US diplomacy

In 2019, the United States diplomacy to convince North Korea to forgo its nuclear programme in exchange for economic and political rewards fell when then-President Donald Trump rejected Kim's proposals for sanctions relief. Kim has expanded the country's nuclear arsenal since then.

Image: AP