** 15-May-2022 World View: North Korea in 'great turmoil' because of massive Covid spread
- Kim Jong-un on Friday, May 13 (Yonhap)
North Korea's Kim Jong-un has for years that there were NO cases
of Covid (Wuhan Coronavirus) in North Korea. He has refused to accept
vaccines from the West, from South Korea, and from China.
But now, in the last few days, it turns out there there is a massive
spread of Covid across North Korea, forcing a lockdown of almost the
entire country. Kim Jong-un on Friday called it the "greatest turmoil
since the country's founding."
The UN is offering to provide humanitarian aid, and South Korea is
offering to provide vaccines. So far, no such offers have been
accepted by the North Koreans.
The North Koreans claim that they're successfully fighting the
epidemic, and that the crisis will pass. If that happens, then
this crisis won't be significant.
But if this epidemic turns into an economic catastrophe, then
it could affect the course of events. On the one hand, some people
are hoping that this will finally bring Kim Jong-un to the table
to talk of peace and denuclearization. I consider that a fantasy.
On the other hand, it could make the North Koreans desperate to
take some military action before it's too late. They're already
performing numerous ballistic missile tests for the first time
in years, and they may be preparing for a new nuclear bomb test.
As I've written a number of times in the past, it's a delusional
fantasy to believe that North Korea will end development and
manufacture of nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles, or end plans to
use them -- though it's not clear whether they will be used on the US,
Japan, South Korea or China, or more than one of those. My guess is
that the current Covid catastrophe will have no effect on this
continued development and manufacture of nuclear weapons and ballistic
missiles.
** 20-Jun-21 World View -- North Korea in crisis, facing 'tense' food shortage and surging food prices
** http://www.generationaldynamics.com/pg/ ... tm#e210620
** 28-Mar-21 World View -- North Korea's ballistic missiles stoke the Denuclearization Delusion
** http://www.generationaldynamics.com/pg/ ... tm#e210328
-- Covid / North Korean leader says his country faces 'great turmoil'
https://m.koreatimes.co.kr/pages/articl ... =329114&fa
(Korea Times, 14-May-2022)
-- S. Korea to propose talks with N. Korea over pandemic support
https://en.yna.co.kr/view/AEN2022051500 ... ction=news
(Yonhap, Seoul, 15-May-2022)
-- UN Expresses Concern over N. Korea Outbreak
https://world.kbs.co.kr/service/news_vi ... ode=169659
(KBSWorld, Seoul, 14-May-2022)