North Korea – misery piles on misery

‘The Arduous March’ is Kim Jong Un’s euphemistic description of the approaching famine he has flagged up in North Korea, similar he said to the 1990s years of starvation which killed several million people. The 1994-98 disaster years were caused by economic mismanagement and the loss of Soviet support after the collapse of the USSR. This time round trade with China has come to a standstill with the borders shut due to coronavirus and international sanctions are still in place.