{"id":4456,"date":"2020-01-24T13:52:27","date_gmt":"2020-01-24T04:52:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.01.asiapress.org\/rimjin-gang\/?p=4456"},"modified":"2020-01-30T17:18:22","modified_gmt":"2020-01-30T08:18:22","slug":"demar","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.02.asiapress.org\/rimjin-gang\/2020\/01\/society-economy\/demar\/","title":{"rendered":"\uff1cInside N. Korea\uff1e Boiling Point: Frustration With Regime Grows amid Rising Rumors of Sanctions Relief"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Kim Jong-un takes notes during his meeting in China with President Xi Jinping. Originally broadcast by China Central Television in January, 2019<\/p><\/div>\n

\u25c6 Increasing demand for an end to Chinese and Russian sanctions<\/h2>\n

Rumors are spreading inside North Korea that the UN Security Council's economic sanctions are likely to be lifted soon.<\/p>\n

In mid-January, a reporting partner in North Hamkyung Province spoke with ASIAPRESS about the rising rumors.<\/p>\n

According to the reporting partner, a visiting trade official from Pyongyang had shared the following words:<\/p>\n

\"In Pyongyang, many people are saying that the sanctions will soon be lifted. This is because Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Putin are strongly demanding for Trump to lift the economic sanctions against North Korea, and because the United States no longer expects our country to give up its nuclear weapons program.\"<\/p>\n

Another official to speak with the reporting partner, a regional representative of the Pyongyang-based 'Eunpansan' trade company, had this to say about the situation:<\/p>\n

\"The international community seems to be resisting U.S. dogma and tyranny, and not actively supporting the sanctions against our country. Is it not true that China tolerates the active smuggling at the border by our state agencies? Perhaps in anticipation of sanctions being lifted, the authorities have even tasked each trading company with paying 20% more in taxes to the government than they did last year.\"<\/p>\n

Next page :Would Trump's impeachment ease sanctions\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u25c6 Would Trump's impeachment ease sanctions?<\/h2>\n

After huge trade slumps and a market recession, North Koreans are understandably desperate for the sanctions to be lifted. However, there are no prospects of the sanctions being lifted at this point. Rather, unfounded rumors continue to spread over the news that China and Russia submitted a resolution at the UN Security Council late last year to ease sanctions as well as over the news of President Trump's impeachment trial in the United States.<\/p>\n

According to the reporting partner, \"Though they have been suffering under the strong sanctions for quite some time, the trading companies in Pyongyang are still in a total state of confusion. If China moves to ease sanctions, the first changes would be seen at the border with smuggling and trade. But we are yet to see a change of any kind from the Chinese side.\"<\/p>\n

In North Korea, expectations for sanctions relief swelled during the Hanoi summit with the U.S. in February of last year. The breakdown of the talks, however, caused immense disappointment. Since November of last year, though, news of Trump's impeachment trial brought fresh rumors of an impending end to the sanctions. To avoid blame for the failing economy and to limit the public's rising expectations, the regime tried and failed to control the spread of such rumors.<\/p>\n

Indeed, the Kim Jong-un regime, yet to find a way out of the prolonged economic slump, has become the target of growing voices of discontent. A Pyongyang trade official, visiting China late last year, did not hide his frustration, saying,\" Who can speak well of a government that only places burdens on its people and demands of them 'self-reliance'? All that trading companies can do is wait and pray for an end to the sanctions.\" (Kang Ji-won)<\/p>\n

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