North Korea shifts focus to economy
After weeks of warlike posturing North Korea is holding its annual spring parliamentary session following a declaration that nuclear bomb building and a stronger economy were the nation’s top priorities.
The meeting of the Supreme People’s Assembly follows near-daily threats from Pyongyang, including vows of nuclear strikes on South Korea and the US.
Despite the continuing hostility on the peninsula, there has been a noticeable shift in North Korea’s rhetoric to a message that seeks to balance efforts to turn around a moribund economy with nuclear development.
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Hide Ad“There was a danger that this was getting to the point ... of a permanent war footing,” said John Delury, a North Korea analyst at Seoul’s Yonsei University.
He added: “In the midst of this tension and militant rhetoric and posturing, Kim Jong Un is saying, Look, we’re still focused on the economy, but we’re doing it with our nuclear deterrent intact.”