{"id":12226,"date":"2021-07-14T06:17:01","date_gmt":"2021-07-14T13:17:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/?p=12226"},"modified":"2021-07-14T06:17:45","modified_gmt":"2021-07-14T13:17:45","slug":"kim-jong-un-grapples-with-the-worst-crisis-in-his-reign-so-far-a-crippled-economy-no-covid-19-vaccines-and-food-shortages-australian-broadcasting-corporation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/?p=12226","title":{"rendered":"“Kim Jong Un grapples with the worst crisis in his reign so far: A crippled economy, no COVID-19 vaccines and food shortages”, Australian Broadcasting Corporation"},"content":{"rendered":"
As the rest of the world grapples with dangerous new variants, North Korea continues to proudly proclaim it remains COVID-19 free.<\/p>\n
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<\/div>\n<\/div>Kim Jong Un slammed top officials for neglect,\u00a0and said they failed to implement important long-term measures to fight the pandemic.\u00a0(Korea News Service via AP)<\/cite><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
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Its\u00a0virus control strategy to date has been simple and effective:\u00a0strict quarantine measures have kept the virus from coming in by keeping everything else out.<\/p>\n
But while North Korea may not have the virus within its\u00a0borders,\u00a0its pandemic defence has come at a cost.<\/p>\n
Along with crippling its economy,\u00a0the\u00a0closure has also meant there is no clear strategy on how the regime will vaccinate its population to protect it against a wave of the coronavirus.<\/p>\n
In fact, the best intelligence is that North Korea has so far not managed to acquire any vaccines against COVID-19, not even for leader Kim Jong Un himself.<\/p>\n
Without access to vaccines and no real plan on how to get them, the population and regime remain\u00a0vulnerable to any breach of the fortress.<\/p>\n
And now the country appears in turmoil as its 37-year-old leader faces\u00a0the worst crisis in his nearly decade-long reign.<\/p>\n
North Korea may pay huge toll for pandemic restrictions<\/h2>\n
As reports first swirled at the beginning of last year that the coronavirus was spreading, North Korea pulled up its drawbridge.<\/p>\n