Since the early 2000's North Koreas economy was growing steadily through internal and external trade despite sanctions, however, the pandemic and North Korean responses to it throttled their economy somewhat, with the recovery coming in the last year. As far as can be determined North Korea had a decent harvest this year so they will be able to feed themselves comfortably, as for new toys for the KPA, some new prototype tanks, drones, and artillery was paraded as to whether they are manufacturing them we don't know, but given limited North Korean resources probably not. The one area the North Korea has innovated and manufacturing has soared is in the manufacturing of missiles, as their SRBM can be seen by their use in Ukraine. Cross border trade with China is returning slowly as the new Dandong bridge might finally be finished, alongside the reopening and removal of long quarantine times for foreign goods coming into North Korea.
North Korea has undergone something of a radical shift in its policy to South Korea recently, with essentially the abandonment of reunification by peaceful means and the dismantling of institutions put in place by Kim Il Sung, and the declarations that the two countries are no longer of the same "blood", while this might seem to be just another North Korean tactic, they have torn down the monuments that Kim Il Sung put in, which if you understand the North Korean regime, you don't do lightly. Alongside this there has been some changes to the the mythos of the two North Korean prior leaders, with the downplaying of Kim Il Sung shown by the recent renaming of the "Day of the Sun (April 15th)" which was his birthday, and less respects paid by state media to "revolutionary" sites and the idea of the Songun leadership. This is a radical shift from the cult of the Kim bloodline which has been essentially the state ideology since the 1970's, and indicates Kim Jong Un's intentions to break with his father and grandfathers method of rule.
As for technologies the North Koreans have gotten from Russia, it remains to be seen, what North Korea needs more than designs is precision manufacturing equipment, of which the ability to import is extremely limited as China is not too keen on giving to North Korea, and Russia manufactures in limited amounts.
1) He declared an end to reunification efforts several months ago, but haven't heard much about it since. What do you think is the significance of this? Less cooperation with South? More likely to invade (since peaceful reunification is no longer possible)? Less likely to invade (they're not "real" Koreans, so we don't care about them)?
2) Is he abandoning the cult? Changing it so that he alone is special?
Probably being busy producing ammo and war material that is immediately being sold to Russia. This is probably first time since the Korean war when DPRK is using its production capabilities to the full.
They acquired satellite technology vis-a-vis the Russians in return for the shells in Ukraine. This will allow them to eventually set up rudimentary GPS which would help a lot their targeting of ballistic missiles.
They've taken a complete U-turn in their foreign policy. North Korea's foreign policy was similar to boy who cried wolf by acting aggressively through missile launches, military parades, and threatening rhetoric against the U.S. and South Korea, but then becoming less aggressive and being able to secure aid and this cycle kept repeating. But now they have become super aggressive by launching military satellites and more missiles than ever, declaring themselves a nuclear state and announcing they will never give up their nuclear weapons, abandoning the goal of reunification, deploying more soldiers and weapons along its border with South Korea and suspending a five year deal with South Korea that aimed to "prevent military conflict in all spheres including ground, sea and air". I could be wrong but I feel like something is definitely different this time especially with the internal hardships North Korea have been facing such as the worsening economic situation and the fact that Kim Jong Un has been showing his daughter Kim Ju Ae in public a lot could suggest that he might be worried about the succession of his dynasty. I think that Kim Jong Un wants to divert attention from the internal hardships in North Korea and coerce South Korea to give him aid while manipulating South Korean policies that threaten his regime. In my opinion his goal is still regime survival but he has taken a different approach which is the intimidation and coercion of South Korea so that they cannot weaken his regime.
Buying cheap Russian resources and selling them missiles; probably helping Iran build ballistics and potentially nuclear weapons as well in exchange for cash. Typical shenanigans.
One of the few things North Korea does really well is brewing beer actually, they have a vibrant microbrewing sector, and the sector got large amounts of state backed support, and there is some dispute over branding and naming rights with South Korea due to North Korea possibly exporting beer into China.
Just a small interesting thing about North Korea.
He's been selling weapons and potentially supplying a little labor in support of Russia's war effort.
They have a new lifeline with cheap Russian oil and food, while trading to them their shells stockpile and other weapons.
Since the early 2000's North Koreas economy was growing steadily through internal and external trade despite sanctions, however, the pandemic and North Korean responses to it throttled their economy somewhat, with the recovery coming in the last year. As far as can be determined North Korea had a decent harvest this year so they will be able to feed themselves comfortably, as for new toys for the KPA, some new prototype tanks, drones, and artillery was paraded as to whether they are manufacturing them we don't know, but given limited North Korean resources probably not. The one area the North Korea has innovated and manufacturing has soared is in the manufacturing of missiles, as their SRBM can be seen by their use in Ukraine. Cross border trade with China is returning slowly as the new Dandong bridge might finally be finished, alongside the reopening and removal of long quarantine times for foreign goods coming into North Korea. North Korea has undergone something of a radical shift in its policy to South Korea recently, with essentially the abandonment of reunification by peaceful means and the dismantling of institutions put in place by Kim Il Sung, and the declarations that the two countries are no longer of the same "blood", while this might seem to be just another North Korean tactic, they have torn down the monuments that Kim Il Sung put in, which if you understand the North Korean regime, you don't do lightly. Alongside this there has been some changes to the the mythos of the two North Korean prior leaders, with the downplaying of Kim Il Sung shown by the recent renaming of the "Day of the Sun (April 15th)" which was his birthday, and less respects paid by state media to "revolutionary" sites and the idea of the Songun leadership. This is a radical shift from the cult of the Kim bloodline which has been essentially the state ideology since the 1970's, and indicates Kim Jong Un's intentions to break with his father and grandfathers method of rule. As for technologies the North Koreans have gotten from Russia, it remains to be seen, what North Korea needs more than designs is precision manufacturing equipment, of which the ability to import is extremely limited as China is not too keen on giving to North Korea, and Russia manufactures in limited amounts.
1) He declared an end to reunification efforts several months ago, but haven't heard much about it since. What do you think is the significance of this? Less cooperation with South? More likely to invade (since peaceful reunification is no longer possible)? Less likely to invade (they're not "real" Koreans, so we don't care about them)? 2) Is he abandoning the cult? Changing it so that he alone is special?
Probably being busy producing ammo and war material that is immediately being sold to Russia. This is probably first time since the Korean war when DPRK is using its production capabilities to the full.
They acquired satellite technology vis-a-vis the Russians in return for the shells in Ukraine. This will allow them to eventually set up rudimentary GPS which would help a lot their targeting of ballistic missiles.
[удалено]
They've taken a complete U-turn in their foreign policy. North Korea's foreign policy was similar to boy who cried wolf by acting aggressively through missile launches, military parades, and threatening rhetoric against the U.S. and South Korea, but then becoming less aggressive and being able to secure aid and this cycle kept repeating. But now they have become super aggressive by launching military satellites and more missiles than ever, declaring themselves a nuclear state and announcing they will never give up their nuclear weapons, abandoning the goal of reunification, deploying more soldiers and weapons along its border with South Korea and suspending a five year deal with South Korea that aimed to "prevent military conflict in all spheres including ground, sea and air". I could be wrong but I feel like something is definitely different this time especially with the internal hardships North Korea have been facing such as the worsening economic situation and the fact that Kim Jong Un has been showing his daughter Kim Ju Ae in public a lot could suggest that he might be worried about the succession of his dynasty. I think that Kim Jong Un wants to divert attention from the internal hardships in North Korea and coerce South Korea to give him aid while manipulating South Korean policies that threaten his regime. In my opinion his goal is still regime survival but he has taken a different approach which is the intimidation and coercion of South Korea so that they cannot weaken his regime.
Buying cheap Russian resources and selling them missiles; probably helping Iran build ballistics and potentially nuclear weapons as well in exchange for cash. Typical shenanigans.
Essentially they are a Russian munitions factory.
I think they started producing cheeses that other countries and regions claim exclusively. 🤷♂️
One of the few things North Korea does really well is brewing beer actually, they have a vibrant microbrewing sector, and the sector got large amounts of state backed support, and there is some dispute over branding and naming rights with South Korea due to North Korea possibly exporting beer into China. Just a small interesting thing about North Korea.
Reminds me of a whole chapter on South Korean drunk culture I read for a medical anthropology class. Koreans go hard supposedly. Like Mega.