The Korea Times
amn_close.png
amn_bl.png
National
  • Politics
  • Foreign Affairs
  • Multicultural Community
  • Defense
  • Environment & Animals
  • Law & Crime
  • Society
  • Health & Science
amn_bl.png
Business
  • Tech
  • Bio
  • Companies
amn_bl.png
Finance
  • Companies
  • Economy
  • Markets
  • Cryptocurrency
amn_bl.png
Opinion
  • Editorial
  • Columns
  • Thoughts of the Times
  • Cartoon
  • Today in History
  • Blogs
  • Tribune Service
  • Blondie & Garfield
  • Letter to President
  • Letter to the Editor
amn_bl.png
Lifestyle
  • Travel & Food
  • Trends
  • People & Events
  • Books
  • Around Town
  • Fortune Telling
amn_bl.png
Entertainment & Arts
  • K-pop
  • Films
  • Shows & Dramas
  • Music
  • Theater & Others
amn_bl.png
Sports
amn_bl.png
World
  • SCMP
  • Asia
amn_bl.png
Video
  • Korean Storytellers
  • POPKORN
  • Culture
  • People
  • News
amn_bl.png
Photos
  • Photo News
  • Darkroom
amn_NK.png amn_DR.png amn_LK.png amn_LE.png
  • bt_fb_on_2022.svgbt_fb_over_2022.svg
  • bt_twitter_on_2022.svgbt_twitter_over_2022.svg
  • bt_youtube_on_2022.svgbt_youtube_over_2022.svg
  • bt_instagram_on_2022.svgbt_instagram_over_2022.svg
The Korea Times
amn_close.png
amn_bl.png
National
  • Politics
  • Foreign Affairs
  • Multicultural Community
  • Defense
  • Environment & Animals
  • Law & Crime
  • Society
  • Health & Science
amn_bl.png
Business
  • Tech
  • Bio
  • Companies
amn_bl.png
Finance
  • Companies
  • Economy
  • Markets
  • Cryptocurrency
amn_bl.png
Opinion
  • Editorial
  • Columns
  • Thoughts of the Times
  • Cartoon
  • Today in History
  • Blogs
  • Tribune Service
  • Blondie & Garfield
  • Letter to President
  • Letter to the Editor
amn_bl.png
Lifestyle
  • Travel & Food
  • Trends
  • People & Events
  • Books
  • Around Town
  • Fortune Telling
amn_bl.png
Entertainment & Arts
  • K-pop
  • Films
  • Shows & Dramas
  • Music
  • Theater & Others
amn_bl.png
Sports
amn_bl.png
World
  • SCMP
  • Asia
amn_bl.png
Video
  • Korean Storytellers
  • POPKORN
  • Culture
  • People
  • News
amn_bl.png
Photos
  • Photo News
  • Darkroom
amn_NK.png amn_DR.png amn_LK.png amn_LE.png
  • bt_fb_on_2022.svgbt_fb_over_2022.svg
  • bt_twitter_on_2022.svgbt_twitter_over_2022.svg
  • bt_youtube_on_2022.svgbt_youtube_over_2022.svg
  • bt_instagram_on_2022.svgbt_instagram_over_2022.svg
  • Login
  • Register
  • Login
  • Register
  • The Korea Times
  • search
  • all menu
  • Login
  • Subscribe
  • Photos
  • Video
  • World
  • Sports
  • Opinion
  • Entertainment & Art
  • Lifestyle
  • Finance
  • Business
  • National
  • North Korea
  • 1

    Garbage collector mistakes sex doll for corpse

  • 3

    Netflix announces password sharing crackdown in Korea

  • 5

    Seoul city council under fire for sexual conduct guidelines for teachers

  • 7

    Major webtoon platforms' fight against piracy

  • 9

    Is non-consensual sex not rape?

  • 11

    Japanese comic series 'Slam Dunk' enjoys resurgence on back of animated film

  • 13

    INTERVIEWA touch of authenticity in Korea's Mexican cuisine scene

  • 15

    $120,000 banana, praying Hitler: Infamous art world prankster Maurizio Cattelan's first Seoul outing

  • 17

    Korea's presidential couple celebrates recovery of Cambodian boy who received heart surgery

  • 19

    Retired actress Shim Eun-ha denies rumor of return

  • 2

    Free subway rides for elderly emerge as headache for Seoul mayor

  • 4

    Korea seeks measures to better protect foreign workers

  • 6

    Samsung unveils new Galaxy S23 smartphone

  • 8

    Retailers return to Myeong-dong as more foreign tourists visit

  • 10

    4 South Korean activists arrested for executing orders from Pyongyang

  • 12

    ENHYPEN-inspired webtoon 'Dark Moon: The Blood Altar' surpasses 100 million views

  • 14

    President pledges support for Korean chipmakers to overcome crisis

  • 16

    Income gap widening among workers

  • 18

    China imposes mandatory virus tests for arrivals from Korea only in latest protest over curbs

  • 20

    Pyongyang threatens eye-for-eye response as US B-1B bombers join drills in South Korea

Close scrollclosebutton

Close for 24 hours

Open
  • The Korea Times
  • search
  • all menu
  • Login
  • Subscribe
  • Photos
  • Video
  • World
  • Sports
  • Opinion
  • Entertainment & Art
  • Lifestyle
  • Finance
  • Business
  • National
  • North Korea
Opinion
  • Yun Byung-se
  • Kim Won-soo
  • Ahn Ho-young
  • Kim Sang-woo
  • Lee Kyung-hwa
  • Mitch Shin
  • Peter S. Kim
  • Daniel Shin
  • Jeon Su-mi
  • Jang Daul
  • Song Kyung-jin
  • Park Jung-won
  • Cho Hee-kyoung
  • Park Chong-hoon
  • Kim Sung-woo
  • Donald Kirk
  • John Burton
  • Robert D. Atkinson
  • Mark Peterson
  • Eugene Lee
  • Rushan Ziatdinov
  • Lee Jong-eun
  • Chyung Eun-ju and Joel Cho
  • Bernhard J. Seliger
  • Imran Khalid
  • Troy Stangarone
  • Jason Lim
  • Casey Lartigue, Jr.
  • Bernard Rowan
  • Steven L. Shields
  • Deauwand Myers
  • John J. Metzler
  • Andrew Hammond
  • Sandip Kumar Mishra
Fri, February 3, 2023 | 12:59
John Burton
N. Korea's cruel dilemma
Posted : 2020-06-08 17:12
Updated : 2020-06-08 17:12
Print PreviewPrint Preview
Font Size UpFont Size Up
Font Size DownFont Size Down
  • facebook
  • twitter
  • kakaolink
  • whatsapp
  • reddit
  • mailto
  • link
By John Burton

North Korea is confronting the same dilemma that more advanced countries are facing when it comes to COVID-19: whether the cure will prove more damaging than the disease.

When COVID-19 broke out in China in January, North Korea responded rapidly by shutting down its borders with its bigger neighbor. Officials in Pyongyang feared their country was extremely vulnerable since the pandemic could quickly overwhelm their creaky health care system, so they decided to lock down hard and fast to contain the virus from spreading quickly.

Those draconian measures appear to have succeeded. Although most analysts are skeptical of North Korea's claim that it has suffered no COVID-19 cases, it appears that it has kept the outbreak under control. Ports are gradually opening and children are starting to return to school.

The economic costs of closing down the country are considerable. Some economists are predicting the growth rate could contract by 6.5 percent this year, its worst performance since 1997 at the end of the great famine.

Due to strict border controls, trade between China and North Korea fell by 72 percent in January and February from a year earlier, according to Chinese customs data. This comes on top of an already steep decline in bilateral trade in recent years due to tough international sanctions against North Korea.

Despite the sanctions, North Korea had been making progress until recently in stabilizing the economy and making it more resilient to outside pressure. Increased construction projects, including building glitzy holiday resorts, have helped boost economic growth, while domestic prices of staples and fuel remained mostly steady.

But the sudden collapse in trade with China this year means that North Korea is facing a shortage of funds to prop up economic activity. The reduced trade with China and restrictions on internal travel have led to higher prices for rice and fuel in the private markets. There have been reports of panic buying of Chinese-made goods in Pyongyang and factories are said to be trying to source raw materials locally rather than from China.

The North Korean media has been notably frank about the economic problems the country is facing. The Rodong Sinmun, the party newspaper, recently admitted that the people were suffering "hardships" and the country "lagged behind" others in economic development. Even before the COVID-19 outbreak, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un warned in his New Year's speech of tough economic times ahead.

North Korea's external propaganda paints a brighter picture. In a new English-language video blog series, "What's Up Pyongyang?" its millennial hostess, Un-A, visits a crowded modern supermarket filled with domestic goods.

With its China border closed due to COVID-19, "forecasters predicted that the DPRK economy would soon implode in such severe isolation. But the results showed something different; something the exact opposite. The global crisis has provided an opportunity for the Korean people to prove their economic potential and capability," Un-A concludes.

This message reflects a doubling down by officials on the traditional policy of "juche," or self-reliance, in the belief that it will reduce the country's exposure to vulnerabilities.
That implies that the government wants to curb market reforms and reduce the country's dependence on aid from "hostile" powers.

One sign of the government's intention to reassert state control over the economy are reports of a compulsory bond-buying program. The government plans to raise money from the public and private businessmen, the "donju," to finance construction projects, including the building of the showcase Pyongyang General Hospital this year.

With the bonds essentially aimed at confiscating some of the foreign currency reserves held by private businessmen, the move is viewed as curbing the power and influence of the donju, which has grown in the past decade.

A renewed juche policy could also be aimed at reducing private smuggling from China to prevent the spread of COVID-19 as the fairly porous border reopens.

This is not to say that North Korea will completely turn its back on the outside world. It will continue to promote official trade with China. Moreover, it appears eager to acquire foreign technology. The Rodong Sinmun recently noted that a refusal to adopt new technology from abroad to build a "powerful economy" would amount to "exclusivism."

North Korea's turning inward, however, may not be as surprising as it seems. The COVID-19 outbreak has weakened globalization, with some countries adopting a more nationalist economic agenda to promote autonomy. Even the United States appears to be adopting a policy of increased self-reliance by dismantling its manufacturing chains overseas and bringing production home.


John Burton (johnburtonft@yahoo.com), a former Korea correspondent for the Financial Times, is a Washington, D.C.-based journalist and consultant.


 
Top 10 Stories
1Seoul city council under fire for sexual conduct guidelines for teachers Seoul city council under fire for sexual conduct guidelines for teachers
2Samsung unveils new Galaxy S23 smartphone Samsung unveils new Galaxy S23 smartphone
3[INTERVIEW] A touch of authenticity in Korea's Mexican cuisine scene INTERVIEWA touch of authenticity in Korea's Mexican cuisine scene
4Pyongyang threatens eye-for-eye response as US B-1B bombers join drills in South KoreaPyongyang threatens eye-for-eye response as US B-1B bombers join drills in South Korea
5Police to introduce new measures to better handle intoxicated people Police to introduce new measures to better handle intoxicated people
6Gov't announces measures to cope with shortage of surgeons Gov't announces measures to cope with shortage of surgeons
7[INTERVIEW] 'Extended deterrence is best option to ensure peace on Korean Peninsula' INTERVIEW'Extended deterrence is best option to ensure peace on Korean Peninsula'
8[INTERVIEW] US-NK summit is unlikely in 2023: Korea Society INTERVIEWUS-NK summit is unlikely in 2023: Korea Society
9[INTERVIEW] IMF expects no recession for Korean economy INTERVIEWIMF expects no recession for Korean economy
10Taxi passengers in Seoul taken aback by fare increase Taxi passengers in Seoul taken aback by fare increase
Top 5 Entertainment News
1Major webtoon platforms' fight against piracy Major webtoon platforms' fight against piracy
2ENHYPEN-inspired webtoon 'Dark Moon: The Blood Altar' surpasses 100 million views ENHYPEN-inspired webtoon 'Dark Moon: The Blood Altar' surpasses 100 million views
3$120,000 banana, praying Hitler: Infamous art world prankster Maurizio Cattelan's first Seoul outing $120,000 banana, praying Hitler: Infamous art world prankster Maurizio Cattelan's first Seoul outing
4PULL UP: VIVIZ returns with new song about gossipers PULL UP: VIVIZ returns with new song about gossipers
5Park Hyung-sik to play crown prince in tvN series 'Our Blooming Youth' Park Hyung-sik to play crown prince in tvN series 'Our Blooming Youth'
DARKROOM
  • Nepal plane crash

    Nepal plane crash

  • Brazil capital uprising

    Brazil capital uprising

  • Happy New Year 2023

    Happy New Year 2023

  • World Cup 2022 Final - Argentina vs France

    World Cup 2022 Final - Argentina vs France

  • World Cup 2022 France vs Morocco

    World Cup 2022 France vs Morocco

CEO & Publisher : Oh Young-jin
Digital News Email : webmaster@koreatimes.co.kr
Tel : 02-724-2114
Online newspaper registration No : 서울,아52844
Date of registration : 2020.02.05
Masthead : The Korea Times
Copyright © koreatimes.co.kr. All rights reserved.
  • About Us
  • Introduction
  • History
  • Contact Us
  • Products & Services
  • Subscribe
  • E-paper
  • RSS Service
  • Content Sales
  • Site Map
  • Policy
  • Code of Ethics
  • Ombudsman
  • Privacy Statement
  • Terms of Service
  • Copyright Policy
  • Family Site
  • Hankook Ilbo
  • Dongwha Group