North Korea Likely to Lift Pandemic Border Restrictions in 2023
![](https://www.isdp.eu/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/720x405_north_korea_flag_corona_virus_shutterstock.png)
Sangsoo Lee
Abstract
In his speech at the Workers’ Party at the end of December 2022, the North Korean leader Kim Jong Un stressed that 2023 is the third year of key significance in implementing the Five-Year Plan (2021-25). However, his only specific plan to that end is to build a new street with 3,700 new apartments in 2023. On the security front, Kim ordered “exponential” expansion of his country’s nuclear arsenal and the development of a solid-fueled ICBM, as well as launching a spy satellite in 2023 – all of which require significant financial resources. To achieve its goals for 2023, the government seems to need a new strategy. Its self-reliant economic system has already been exhausted after spending three years with strict limits on cross-border trade and traffic because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Sangsoo Lee writes for The Diplomat.
Related Publications
-
Deciphering North Korea’s Military Activities
In 2024, the growing tensions on the Korean Peninsula have highlighted the unpredictability of North Korea’s military intentions. This issue brief evaluates the strategic behaviors of North Korea, particularly under […]
-
Anticipating North Korea’s Next Nuclear Test
This issue brief provides a comprehensive analysis of the anticipated technical and strategic objectives behind North Korea’s potential seventh nuclear test, along with an examination of the probable timing for […]
-
ISDP Annual Report 2023
ISDP’s Annual Report for the year 2023. We look back on 2023, a year in which tensions and conflicts captured the strategic space in ISDP’s focus areas, making headlines around […]
-
What Comes Next for North Korea-Russia Relations?
North Korea and Russia have taken their relations to a new level after the leaders of the two countries held an in-person summit meeting on Wednesday. While Pyongyang and Moscow […]
-
South Korea’s Indo-Pacific Strategy, Atmanirbhar Bharat, and the IPEF: Convergence and Commonality
For some time now, the existing multilateral networks such as those of the United Nations (UN) system have been largely ineffective in providing good global governance and helping create resilience, […]