North Korea spent about $650 million to launch 33 rockets this year, amid the country’s battle against the spread of the Covid-19 epidemic, and food shortages worsening after. 2 years to close borders to prevent epidemics.
Bloomberg, citing data from the Korea Institute for Defense Analyzes, said the North Korean government has spent between $400 million and $650 million to produce and test 33 missiles launched since the beginning of this year.
Shin Won-sik, a former South Korean army general, said that the cost of North Korea’s missile testing program shows the wrong priorities of Chairman Kim Jong-un, while North Korea is in the middle of nowhere. group of poorest countries in the world.
In particular, the cost of each test launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) costs 30 million USD. Spending on testing short-range ballistic missiles is $5 million per missile. This figure is only half of the cost that Russia spends to test missiles of the same type.
Most recently, on June 5, North Korea launched eight short-range ballistic missiles at the same time. This is a record number of rockets tested by Pyongyang in a day under Kim’s leadership.
For decades, North Korea’s propaganda programs have emphasized that heavy spending on the military sector is necessary to prevent attack from the US, as well as preserve the unique cultural value of North Korea. Korean people.
For its part, the US warned that it would take tough sanctions if North Korea conducted a 7th nuclear weapons test. According to Washington, Pyongyang is likely to test nuclear weapons in the coming days. . This could be the first nuclear test carried out by North Korea in more than five years.
Experts say North Korea could use the test to prove its claim to be capable of developing small nuclear bombs to be integrated on ICBMs, or mounted on solid-fuel rockets short range to increase the threat potential to South Korea and Japan.
US officials have also repeatedly reiterated Washington’s longstanding position that there is no hostile intent against Pyongyang.
Worth mentioning, on June 8, North Korean media reported that Chairman Kim Jong-un convened a plenary meeting of the Central Committee of the Workers’ Party of Korea. However, the content of the meeting was not announced.
Due to a series of sanctions imposed by the international community, North Korea’s economy is now smaller than when Kim took office 10 years ago, according to the Bank of Korea.
The United Nations World Food Program (UN), which has worked for many years in North Korea, says about 40% of the country’s population is currently undernourished, while “food insecurity and malnutrition is widespread”.
However, since the Covid-19 epidemic appeared more than two years ago, Kim’s government still refuses to receive support from the international community and to fund a Covid-19 vaccine.
According to a recent UN report, North Korea and Eritrea are the only two countries in the world that do not have a Covid-19 vaccination program.
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