North Korean official says purge won’t hurt economic policy
A senior North Korean official said on Sunday that the execution of leader Kim Jong-un’s once-powerful uncle will not lead to changes in economic policies and vowed that the nation would push ahead with an ambitious plan to develop new economic zones to attract foreign investment.
Jang Song-thaek’s wife, meanwhile, has been named to an ad-hoc state committee, the country’s official media reported, an indication that Jang’s execution has not immediately diminished her influence.
The execution on Friday of Jang, considered to be North Korea’s second most powerful man and a key architect of the country’s economic policies, should not be taken as a sign that the North will change its economic course or its efforts to lure foreign investment, Yun Yong-sok, a senior official in the State Economic Development Committee, said.
Luring foreign investment is critical to garnering badly needed foreign currency and funding for infrastructure projects so the Kim regime can live up to its promise of raising the impoverished nation’s standard of living.
By eliminating the Jang Song-thaek group, the unity and solidarity of our party and people has become much stronger
“Even though Jang Song-thaek’s group caused great harm to our economy, there will be no change at all in the economic policy of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea,” Yun said. “It’s just the same as before.”
