How the Kim-Trump summit could deliver a major payday for North Korea’s military

While raising hopes for denuclearisation and a peace treaty to finally end the Korean war, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s newly found focus on diplomacy comes with an unexpected flip side: it could be a godsend for his generals.

Kim’s thinking on how his military fits in to his plans to foster detente on the Korean Peninsula and negotiate security guarantees from Washington may become clearer when he sits down with President Donald Trump next week in Singapore.

But one thing is already clear. Kim cannot survive without his loyal troops. Whatever grand strategy he has in mind will strongly reflect their interests – and that includes the ability to make lots of money.

Along with the nuclear bombs and intercontinental ballistic missiles that have attracted the world’s attention, the Korean People’s Army is deeply involved in everything from raising mushrooms and apples to running its national airline and selling the country’s mineral resources abroad.

So they stand to benefit greatly if Kim succeeds in depleting support for sanctions by negotiating with Trump and the North’s affluent neighbours.

Rivalled only by the ruling party itself, with which it is carefully intertwined, the military is the biggest and most formidable organisation in North Korea. It consumes roughly one-third of the country’s annual budget and employs 1 million-plus personnel, making its standing army one of the world’s largest despite the North’s small population of less than 25 million.

From the reign of Kim’s father, one of North Korea’s most important slogans has been “Military First”. And since he took power, Kim has set his sights on simultaneously developing the nation’s nuclear forces and its economy. His current diplomatic overtures to China, Seoul and Washington are based on his claim, laid out to party elites in April, to have already “completed” the development of his nuclear arsenal.