North Korea Likely to Lift Pandemic Border Restrictions in 2023
Sangsoo Lee
Abstract
In his speech at the Workers’ Party at the end of December 2022, the North Korean leader Kim Jong Un stressed that 2023 is the third year of key significance in implementing the Five-Year Plan (2021-25). However, his only specific plan to that end is to build a new street with 3,700 new apartments in 2023. On the security front, Kim ordered “exponential” expansion of his country’s nuclear arsenal and the development of a solid-fueled ICBM, as well as launching a spy satellite in 2023 – all of which require significant financial resources. To achieve its goals for 2023, the government seems to need a new strategy. Its self-reliant economic system has already been exhausted after spending three years with strict limits on cross-border trade and traffic because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Sangsoo Lee writes for The Diplomat.
Related Publications
-
South Korea’s Relations With China and the US Under President-elect Yoon
Introduction: The presidential election in South Korea was a close call. President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol from the People Power Party won the election with a margin of 0.8 percentage points over […]
-
Will Yoon’s Indo-Pacific Strategy Tackle the China Threat?
In late-December 2022, South Korea under the relatively new presidency of Yoon Suk-yeol effectively concluded its policy shift from “strategic ambiguity” by releasing the “Strategy for a Free, Peaceful, and […]
-
With New Law on Nuclear Forces Policy, North Korea Says Its Nuclear Status Is ‘Irreversible’
Introduction: A day before the 74th anniversary of the country’s founding, North Korea’s supreme leader Kim Jong Un publicly declared that his nuclear weapons are no longer a bargaining chip […]
-
North Korea Denounces Pelosi’s Visit to Taiwan
Introduction: North Korea’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson denounced the visit of Nancy Pelosi, the speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, to Taiwan on Wednesday. “The current situation clearly shows that […]
-
From Europe, Yoon Suk Yeol Calls for International Cooperation on North Korea’s Nuclear and Missile Threats
Introduction: The leaders of the United States, South Korea, and Japan met in Madrid on Wednesday. Held on the sidelines of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) meetings this week, the trilateral […]
-
Korean Peninsula Tensions Escalate Amid a Return to Old School Policies
Introduction: South Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin met his U.S. counterpart Antony Blinken on Monday in Washington, D.C. The meeting came three weeks after a summit meeting in Seoul between […]