Self-criticism and aggression. Pyongyang is in a difficult situation (economic, political, health), and now the North Korean leader is catching up with what appears to be competition within the system. The messages of friendship in Beijing also reach Washington

North Korean marzipan Kim Jong-un He sent his personal message to Beijing on the occasion of the centenary of the Communist Party of China, stressing his country’s will and need to further strengthen relations with China – the main, if not the only, ally of North Korea, which is often the People’s Republic of China. The past was found awkward by Pyongyang’s threats of schizophrenic (atomic) missiles.

According to Kim, only Chinese support will enable his country to “confront crises such as the epidemic crisis.” A direct message to Beijing as much as it is to Washington, after he himself had spoken to members of the Labor Party in plenary session, he demanded that he also be prepared for diplomacy with the Americans. His sister denied him, although not publicly Kim Yoo JongNow the North Korean leader is catching up with what appears to be an internal competition within the regime, all the while searching for narrative terrain in the face of (unusually) increasingly recognized difficulties.

According to my greeting card report KCN“The fierce slander of hostile forces and all-out pressure on the CPC are only a last-ditch effort and will not be able to control the continuous progress of the Chinese people,” Kim said. A clear reference to the United States is a common enemy.

With whom, however, Kim himself does not exclude contacts. The North Korean leader is in a complicated situation: Evidence (now beyond propaganda) summoned him to admit responsibility for running the country, and he faces the need for protectors and help. These are unlikely to come from the West (read the USA), but completely closing the door to diplomacy with Washington is risky.

More so, if we consider that the Biden administration appears to have put the North Korea file in a well-closed drawer — waiting for better times, for resolving conflicts within the system, and logical preference in managing higher-priority files. . Kim sees the world moving around him, though: Recently the South Korean president, Moon Jae In, futile in Washington, where the diplomat was also assigned تعيين Sung Kim As the US special envoy to North Korea.

Pyongyang suffers from difficult economic conditions, which Kim himself forced to admit during a meeting of the Politburo two years ago. Meanwhile, the leadership has pushed the narrative around developing infrastructure projects rather than arms, but even this sector is one that is struggling due to an economy that is also (or above all) hampered by sanctions. In addition, there is the problem of Covid which is contributing to this endemic state of distress among North Koreans, who do not have access to adequate food supplies. A situation that Kim also recognized at a party meeting a few weeks ago.

Another admission that in recent days he joined one on managing the pandemic. North Korea is one of the places where restrictive measures are still very severe today – and a lack of supplies (including food) is burdening the closure of links with China. However, the epidemic does not appear to be under control, despite the positive story the regime has told so far.

Dealing with certain circumstances is not unusual for Pyongyang, which is also using it as a way to offload responsibility for what happens to some of the ranks and officials who have fallen victim to new purges. Blaming them strengthens the regime’s control of the country, but it also opens up the possibility of aid from abroad, while at the same time leaving room for the double line. Indeed, in the ambiguous North Korean context, it is difficult to understand whether the statements of satrap sister Kim Yo Jong were a sign of effective internal divisions or reassurance to the more conservative hierarchical authorities who do not appreciate much of the leader’s pseudo-slots. or both cases.