As sanctions start to bite in the North, “people are tired”
More and more North Koreans are expressing discontent towards their leaders, who are starting to worry, a South Korean official said. As food prices rise, fears of another famine grow.
Seoul (AsiaNews) – The international sanctions against North Korea are beginning to take effect, as more residents under the isolated regime express discontent with the leadership, said a South Korean Ministry of Unification official, who also stressed the importance of China enforcing the sanctions.
On 2 March, the United Nations Security Council adopted the toughest and most extensive sanctions against North Korea in decades. For experts, the most important thing is that for the first time Beijing seems determined to enforce them.
As Pyongyang’s last partner, Beijing has helped North Korea circumvent UN sanctions, but now it seems things have changed.
It is unclear how news about discontent in North Korea reached South Korea.
"Pyongyang has propagandized the nuclear test and rocket launch as major accomplishments of its leader, Kim Jong-un,” said the Ministry of Unification official, “but some North Koreans are angry these feats have not led to the improvement of their livelihoods but tightened international sanctions on the reclusive regime".
In view of the situation, North Korean propaganda has stressed a coming ‘march of hardship’ that North Koreans will have to face together with their leaders.
The last time such a march was mentioned, the country experienced a devastating famine in the 1990s with hundreds of thousands of deaths.
"The prices of some daily necessities, including rice, have risen, especially along Sino-Korean border regions, but the increases have not been steep yet," the official explained. "It will take some more time to confirm actual damage to the North Korean economy."
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