Lagatar24 Desk
Seoul, Jan 27: North Korea may be slowly opening up after being under extreme constraint for two years due of the COVID-19 virus. The reason could reflect a growing sense of recognition by the leadership that the nation badly needs to win outside economic relief.
The apparent resumption of North Korean freight train travel into neighbouring China reflects the North’s tentative openness. However, it comes as Pyongyang has conducted many weapons tests, the most recent of which was the launch of two suspected ballistic missiles on Thursday, as well as a veiled warning to resume nuclear and long-range missile testing aimed at the American heartland.
The ambiguous message, which appears to open the border slightly while also militarily pressuring Washington over a prolonged freeze in nuclear talks, reflects a recognition that the pandemic has exacerbated an economy already battered by decades of mismanagement and crippling US-led sanctions over North Korea’s nuclear weapons and missiles.
North Korea’s vital commerce with its partner China decreased by approximately 80% in 2020, according to South Korean estimates, before plummeting by two-thirds in the first nine months of 2021 as it sealed its borders.
The partial reopening of the border raises concerns about how North Korea will get and administer vaccines after a year-long delay in its immunisation drive.
In the conflict against COVID-19, North Korea could be the planet’s final battleground. North Korea is the only country in the world without a real plan, according to analyst Lim Soo-ho of Seoul’s Institute of National Security Strategy, a think tank run by South Korea’s main spy agency. Even the poorest countries in Africa have received outside aid and vaccines or acquired immunity through infection, but North Korea is the only country in the world without one, according to analyst Lim Soo-ho of Seoul’s Institute of National Security Strategy, a think tank run by South Korea’s main spy agency
According to commercial satellite photographs, the first North Korean freight that crossed the Yalu River last week then returned from China and unloaded cargo at an airfield in the border town of Uiju, according to the North Korea-focused 38 North website. The airfield is believed to have been converted to disinfect imported supplies, which may include food and medicine.
“trade between the border towns will be maintained while pandemic controls stay in place. But South Korean officials say it isn’t immediately clear whether the North is fully reopening land trade with China, which is a major economic lifeline,” said China’s Foreign Ministry.
Some South Korean media have speculated North Korea may have temporarily reopened the railroad between Sinuiju and China’s Dandong just to receive food and essential goods meant as gifts for its people during important holidays, including the 80th birth anniversary of leader Kim Jong Un’s father next month, and the 110th birth anniversary in April of his grandfather who founded North Korea.
Many experts, however, say it’s more likely that the pandemic’s economic strain is forcing North Korea to explore a phased reopening of its borders that it could quickly close if greater risks emerge.
The pandemic is another difficulty for Kim, who gained little from his nuclear disarmament-for-aid diplomacy with former U.S. President Donald Trump. Those talks imploded in 2019.
