[NTD News on August 6, 2021, Beijing time]Since the outbreak of the Chinese Communist Party virus, North Korea has blocked the border, and North Korean diplomats living abroad cannot return to China, and embassies abroad are also facing a crisis of closure. In order to survive, North Korean diplomats have to go to the sauna to rub their backs on behalf of the guests, and their wives often go to the sea to help.
At the end of 2019, after the Chinese Communist Party virus outbreak broke out in Wuhan, China, North Korea quickly closed its borders. However, due to multiple blows such as the epidemic, sanctions and natural disasters, North Korea’s economy is in trouble and domestic food is in short supply.
According to a report by the Korean media Chosun Ilbo, North Korea’s closed-door lockdown has prevented North Korean diplomats and traders from returning to the country, and embassies abroad are also facing a crisis of closure due to shortage of funds.
A source familiar with North Korean diplomacy revealed that the North Korean government only provides funds for the operation of embassies abroad. The rent of the embassy and the salaries of diplomats are not included. Diplomats have not received salaries for many months. As for North Korean traders overseas, their income has dropped sharply due to the impact of the epidemic, and they have even been driven out because they cannot pay office rent.
Sources said that North Korean diplomats and traders stationed in mainland China are in trouble in their lives and are forced to go to the sauna room to rub their backs and baths to make a living.
He said that Scrubbing mainly works at night, not only can he conceal his identity, but his income is also quite good. Therefore, the wives of diplomats and traders often go to the sea to take part in the sauna.
According to the “Annual Estimates of the North Korean Economy” released by the Bank of Korea, North Korea has blocked borders to prevent epidemics, and trade with China has almost ceased. According to data from the Chinese Communist Party’s Customs, last year, bilateral trade dropped by more than 80% compared with 2019.
In 2020, North Korea’s trade volume plummeted by 73.4% to only US$860 million. The North Korean economy experienced its worst contraction in 23 years.
In June of this year, a South Korean government source said that North Korea is facing its worst economic crisis since the great famine in the 1990s.
North Korean diplomat flees
Under the dictatorship of the Kim Jong Un family, incidents of North Korean diplomats fleeing frequently occurred.
In February of this year, South Korean Congressman Tae Young-ho’s assistant stated that North Korea’s acting ambassador to Kuwait, Yoo Hyun-woo, entered South Korea in September 2019. A new member has been added to the ranks of senior North Korean diplomats who have defected.
Prior to this, North Korea’s acting ambassador to Italy, Cho Sung-gil, also secretly fled to South Korea in July 2019. Cho Sung-gil is the highest-ranking North Korean official who has defected to South Korea since Huang Changye, secretary of the Workers’ Party of North Korea in 1997.
According to a diplomatic source familiar with the situation in North Korea, the Chosun Ilbo told the Chosun Ilbo: “Zhao Sung-gil once tried to flee to a third country such as the United States or Europe due to concerns about the safety of his family in North Korea, but he failed to do so. The South Korean government contacted and finally chose South Korea.”
Unfortunately, Cho Sung Gil’s daughter has been brought back to Pyongyang from Italy by the North Korean authorities, and she may be cruelly punished because of her parents’ surrender.
South Korean member of parliament Tae Young-ho was also the North Korean Minister to the United Kingdom, and fled South Korea in 2016.
(Reporter Luo Tingting Comprehensive Report / Chief Editor: Wen Hui)
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