N. Korean leader shifts gear to economy

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, center, presides over the third plenary meeting of the ruling Workers' Party's Seventh Central Committee, April 21. He vowed to put his priority on the country's economy while suspending nuclear tests after simultaneously pursuing economic development and nuclear program for years. / Yonhap

By Yi Whan-woo

The summit between President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un showed the latter's "sincerity and commitment" to economic development, experts say.

Skepticism had remained on whether Kim would really give up nuclear weapons, even though he vowed to focus on the economy when he announced a suspension of nuclear and ballistic missile tests during a plenary meeting of the ruling Workers' Party's Central Committee on April 20.

In a joint declaration from the April 27 summit, the two leaders agreed on the "complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula" and a "nuclear-free" peninsula."

The agreement came after U.S.-led economic sanctions against the Kim regime over its nuclear program. It is speculated that the tough sanctions put more pressure on the cash-strapped regime.

China, North Korea's largest benefactor, also has joined the sanctions.

"Kim appears to have determined that economic achievement could help him stably keep his regime and burnish his image overseas," said Cho Bong-hyun, a senior researcher at the Industrial Bank of Korea.

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Park Won-gon, an international relations professor at Handong Global University,
speculated that hard currency may have "started to hit the bottom" and this may have affected loyalty among the North Korean elites.

"Kim might have to scrape the bottom of the barrel to secure governing funds and this might have added to his sort of threat perception," Park said.

Ahn Chan-il, head of the World Institute for North Korea Studies, said "Kim really appears to be reviving the economy" after taking little action in the past on reform attempts.

Some experts said Kim may seek to make North Korea a frontier market, offering a central location in a booming region encompassing South Korea, China, and Japan.

They also said that North Korea has a lot to offer in terms of rare earths and minerals, such as gold, copper and zinc. They are estimated to be worth $6 trillion.

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