Kim Jong Un Places Food Crisis Above Nuclear Talks in 2022

(Bloomberg) -- Kim Jong Un urged North Korea to focus on easing food shortages and containing Covid, in a downbeat New Year's policy assessment that suggested nuclear talks with the U.S. were a low priority for the coming months.

Kim laid out his 2022 agenda in remarks to ruling party cadres that were published by state media Saturday and appeared to take the place of his traditional New Year's Day address. During the five-day Workers' Party meeting in Pyongyang, the North Korean leader also called for strengthening the military's power due to an unstable environment. 

“The country's economic projects are still under difficult conditions,” Kim said, according to the official Korean Central News Agency, a rare admission of the strains his government was facing.

Much of the published remarks focused on agriculture, with the state facing one of its most dire food shortages since Kim took power a decade ago. The situation has been made worse by severe weather and Kim's decision to shut borders due to the pandemic, effectively slamming the brakes on legal trade and the black market flow of foodstuffs from China. 

The meeting came as Kim, 37, marks 10 years power and coincides with the New Year's Day holiday when the reclusive state's leader typically lays out economic and security priorities. Kim also placed a high priority on preventing the spread of the coronavirus. While North Korea has boasted that it has seen no cases of Covid, the U.S. and others doubt the claim.

The comments included few references to foreign policy and relations with South Korea, according to Cheong Seong-chang, director of the Center for North Korean Studies at the Sejong Institute think tank near Seoul. “This suggests that North Korea is not ready to engage in contact with South Korea and the U.S. this year,” Cheong said. 

Kim sent a fresh warning to the U.S. and South Korea, saying he would continue to advance his military capability “vigorously,” amid an “unstable” situation on the Korean Peninsula. The North Korean leader held back on the threats that he has madec in previous messages.

Kim has shown little public interest in returning to nuclear talks, which were revived and then collapsed under former President Donald Trump. In recent months, he has rolled out his most latest weaponry designed to deliver nuclear strikes against U.S. allies in Asia.

The North Korean leader has lost about 20 kilograms (45 pounds) in weight, according to South Korea's spy agency, perhaps in a sign of restraint as his country faces some of its worst difficulties since he took power. The border closure has almost halted the work of aid agencies that for years have helped to bring food to a country where about 40% of the population is undernourished, according to the United Nations World Food Program.  

The Biden administration has said the door is open for talks and indicated it would be willing to consider economic incentives to reward North Korea for taking steps to wind down its nuclear arsenal, which has only grown in size as disarmament discussions have sputtered. 

At the same time, North Korea's economy is now smaller than when Kim took power after his father, Kim Jong Il, died in December 2011, largely because of the sanctions to punish him for testing nuclear weapons and missiles that can deliver warheads to the U.S. mainland. 

Kim said in June at a similar meeting his country was open to “both dialogue and confrontation,” offering the highest-level opening for discussions since Biden replaced Trump, who met Kim three times.

But the North Korean subsequently started testing new weapons systems that included long-range cruise missiles capable of delivering nuclear warheads to all of South Korea and most of Japan as well as a new submarine-launched ballistic missile.  

“Kim may not be able to afford to turn his attention away from the domestic situation. He at least needs to keep up appearances to show his people his awareness of the situation,” said Soo Kim, a Rand Corp. policy analyst who previously worked at the Central Intelligence Agency. 

“There may not have been a direct message to the U.S., but the fact that the regime intends to continue building its military capabilities tells us Kim's position on the nuclear issue is immutable,” she said.

©2022 Bloomberg L.P.