Kim Jong Un says North Korea in ‘worst-ever situation’

Kim Jong Un that his country is “in the worst situation it had ever faced”. An unusual and unexpected announcement from the leader of North Korea.

CAPE TOWN, April 7 (ANA) – Kim Jong Un made a critical speech addressing the 7th generation representatives of his top party leaders in North Korea when he admitted that his country was “in the worst situation it had ever faced”.

“Improving the people’s living standards … even in the worst-ever situation in which we have to overcome unprecedentedly numerous challenges depends on the role played by the cells, the grassroots organisations of the party,” Kim told the Workers’ Party members Tuesday in Pyongyang according to the New York Post.

Kim also chastised the party’s grassroots units for “shortcomings” that he said needed to be addressed right away to ensure the party’s “safe and sustainable” growth.

According to North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency, Kim urged representatives of the ruling Workers’ Party’s “grassroots” to be more constructive and responsible in implementing the country’s current five-year economic plan. He also called on the cell secretaries of the Workers’ Party to help rectify the situation.

“Cell secretaries are hard-core members of our party and standard-bearers in implementing Party policy,” Kim said, according to KCNA.

Party cells, which are made up of five to thirty members and manage activities and lives in factories and other locations, are the minor units of party authority.

Experts have warned that as Kim approaches a decade in power, he could be facing his toughest test yet, with North Korea’s coronavirus quarantine adding to the country’s already-stressed economy.

According to Sky News, the coronavirus lockdown in North Korea has added pressure to an economy that has been previously ravaged by decades of mismanagement and punishing US-led sanctions over its nuclear weapons programme.

His comments echoed those of a congress in January where he acknowledged that his efforts to boost the economy were failing.

In its latest submission to the World Health Organisation, North Korea said that it had a perfect record of keeping the coronavirus at bay.

North Korea has closed its doors, barred visitors from entering, and dispatched diplomats. It continues to impose extreme restrictions on cross-border travel and has put tens of thousands of people who have shown coronavirus symptoms in quarantine.

– African News Agency (ANA); Editing by Naomi Mackay