Meanwhile, the locals are starving: Kim Jong-un shows off a new nuclear submarine

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With drums and trumpets, the latest military achievement of North Korean ruler Kim Jong-un (39) was presented on Thursday: the nuclear-capable submarine number 841 ‘Hero Kim Kun Ok’. The submarine will fulfill its “combat mission as one of the core elements of the underwater offensive vehicles,” ruler Kim was quoted as saying by state-controlled media on Friday.

It’s not Kim’s first military novelty this year. Several major missile tests have been conducted since the beginning of the year. According to the US State Department’s 2021 World Military Expenditure and Arms Transfers report, North Korea may have spent approximately $4 billion on defense in 2019, equivalent to 26 percent of estimated gross domestic product and the highest share of the 170 countries surveyed.

The army gets money, the population suffers

According to the report, North Korea’s arms development continues along Soviet lines. That means: the party leadership around Kim has complete control over the arms industry and the amount of money pumped into the sector. This, in turn, means that because it is so important for the North Korean ruler to be militarily strong, the rest of the country’s economy suffers.

As a result, people in the country are neglected. The North Korean population is facing a famine that has already claimed many lives, the BBC reports. The shortage has worsened dramatically since the start of the corona pandemic. The closed borders not only prevent people from entering the country, but also food and other important imports. In addition, aid organizations and diplomats had to leave the country.

But instead of helping his people, Kim prefers to increase the military budget. Because: North Korean officials have marked 2023 as a critical year for achieving Kim’s military-economic goals, which Defense News says are laid out in a five-year plan through 2025.

Famine doesn’t stop at the military

The reason for Kim’s drastic rearmament: he wants to send a signal to the US and its allies. In late August, Kim announced a further buildup of tactical nuclear weapons in response to the United States’ increased defense cooperation with South Korea and Japan. “He finally wants to be taken seriously as a nuclear power,” North Korea expert Hanns-Günther Hilpert of the Science and Politics Foundation explains to Blick.

What is forgotten with all the splendor that Kim organizes for his army: the famine does not stop at the army either. As a result, the precarious humanitarian situation also has an impact on the country’s military capabilities, says Hilpert. “Due to malnutrition, North Korean soldiers are very small and weak. Even the best weapons are useless if the personnel are too weak to operate them.”

Source: Blick