-d1952ac6-6398-4e61-82e5-d025062483c6.jpeg)
Seoul, Feb. 8 (BNA): North Korea plans to increase its government spending on anti-epidemic measures by a third this year to implement leader Kim Jong-un’s calls for a more advanced and people-oriented response to the virus, state media said. Tuesday.
The budget plans were approved during a rubber-seal parliament session in Pyongyang on Sunday and Monday, which came weeks after the North initially resumed rail freight traffic with China after two years of severe border closures and economic decline.
Kim had hinted at broader changes in the country’s response to the epidemic during a political conference in December, when he called for a move toward advanced anti-virus measures on a “scientific basis”.
North Korea’s Supreme People’s Assembly has approved plans to increase spending on anti-virus measures by 33.3% compared to last year, the Korean Central News Agency said. The report did not describe these spending plans in monetary terms.
Kim Tok-hun, the premier of North Korea, a major institution dealing with economic policies, described North Korea’s response to the epidemic as the top priority in state affairs, but also that measures would be put on a scientific basis to ensure the country’s security. The agency said, according to the Associated Press (Associated Press).
It appears that Kim Jong Un did not attend the parliamentary session and state media did not report any comments from senior officials toward Washington or Seoul amid a growing diplomatic freeze.
In his recent political speeches, Kim vowed to bolster his nuclear arsenal. The Korean Central News Agency said 15.9% of North Korea’s total government spending last year was invested in its nuclear weapons program and that the same percentage of its budget this year will be devoted to expanding military capabilities.
North Korea’s description of its budget clearly reflects its plans to gradually expand trade and other exchanges with China, its main ally and economic lifeline, while reshaping its response to the virus, said Cheong Seong-chang, an analyst at South Korea’s Sejong Institute. He said North Korea could adopt China’s approach by locking down certain areas to stop transmission, rather than locking down the entire country.
North Korea still claims to have a perfect record of keeping COVID-19 off its soil – a claim that is widely questionable. But closing its borders to nearly all trade and visitors for two years has further shocked an economy already battered by decades of mismanagement and crippling US-led sanctions over Kim’s nuclear weapons and missile programme.
North Korea’s resumption of freight rail traffic with China last month came among a series of missile tests clearly intended to pressure the Biden administration over stalled nuclear diplomacy, and which some experts say may demonstrate the urgency of foreign relief.
The reopening of the borders will likely show that the North is exploring more sustainable ways to deal with the threat of the coronavirus that could linger for years. It could also provide a glimpse into North Korea’s plans for vaccines against COVID-19.
North Korea has so far avoided vaccines provided by the UN-backed COVAX distribution program, possibly because those vaccines require international monitoring requirements. But some experts say the North may continue to enlist the help of China and Russia to provide regular testing and vaccinations for workers and soldiers in border areas, where access from other areas will be severely restricted.
The resumption of North Korea’s trade with China will almost certainly be driven by imports as much of the country’s major export activities are prohibited under international sanctions that have been tightened since 2016, when Kim began accelerating weapons development. The country needs fertilizers to boost production of food and building materials to support Kim’s ambitious development projects and factory goods to spur industrial production decimated by two years of stalled trade.
However, North Korea’s trade with China is expected to be much smaller compared to pre-pandemic levels.
It is likely that North Korea will not have enough foreign exchange reserves to purchase a huge amount of goods quickly, given the toll of sanctions and the difficulties associated with the epidemic. Experts say expanding imports too quickly would be a huge policy mistake when an explosion of pent-up demand further destabilizes the fragile economy.
said Kim Byung-yeon, a professor of economics at Seoul National University. “It is also possible that the state will try to impose greater control over trade than in the past and clamp down on activities such as smuggling, so it is likely that business will not be as dynamic as it used to be.”
HF