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Some economic reforms that emerged after North Korea’s Kim Jong Un took power are under threat as his government responds to a series of crises by reasserting state controls, casting doubt on one of the young leader’s signature issues. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-northkorea-economy-analysis/analysis-north-koreas-market-reforms-seen-at-risk-as-leader-kim-tightens-grip-idUSKBN29D0OF
. @chosonexchange said they worry the trend will have adverse effects on the small businesses and entrepreneurs that North Korea needs. “The instinct is to impose a ration economy with the state controlling and directing the flow of resources.” https://www.reuters.com/article/us-northkorea-economy-analysis/analysis-north-koreas-market-reforms-seen-at-risk-as-leader-kim-tightens-grip-idUSKBN29D0OF
#COVID19 has given economic hardliners in North Korea power to do what they want, said @Sokeel. “That may be a legacy that outlasts the pandemic itself.” https://www.reuters.com/article/us-northkorea-economy-analysis/analysis-north-koreas-market-reforms-seen-at-risk-as-leader-kim-tightens-grip-idUSKBN29D0OF
“Given that people are relying on markets to survive, the government can’t and won’t get rid of them, however the activity and the prosperity possible through them could be severely diminished,” @Sokeel said https://www.reuters.com/article/us-northkorea-economy-analysis/analysis-north-koreas-market-reforms-seen-at-risk-as-leader-kim-tightens-grip-idUSKBN29D0OF
"Pyongyang has taken additional steps that have less to do with pandemic control, and more to do with rolling back some of the reforms it has implemented since Kim Jong Un came to power” @Dest_Pyongyang wrote recently for @nknewsorg https://www.nknews.org/pro/blessing-in-disguise-kim-jong-un-is-using-covid-19-to-bolster-his-control/ https://www.reuters.com/article/us-northkorea-economy-analysis/analysis-north-koreas-market-reforms-seen-at-risk-as-leader-kim-tightens-grip-idUSKBN29D0OF
Last month the US and several other countries said North Korea's "decision to prioritize its weapons programs over the needs of its people and their isolation from the int'l community, is inevitably worsening the impacts of the pandemic on the population” https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-northkorea-rights-un/europeans-u-s-accuse-north-korea-of-using-pandemic-to-crack-down-on-rights-idUKKBN28L2X9
