North Korea is said to have spent up to $ 650 million this year on its weapons tests, which could be used to buy vaccines for the entire population, according to a study released Thursday.
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According to the Korea Institute for Defense Issues Analysis (KIDA), Kim Jong Un’s regime has spent between $ 400 million and $ 650 million developing and testing 33 missiles launched this year.
The KIDA report, an think tank affiliated with the South Korean government, underscores that “this money may have helped to alleviate food shortages this year or to give all North Koreans a dose of the Govt-19 vaccine.”
Pyongyang conducted a record 18 weapons tests this year and continued its campaign after the country’s Kovid-19 eruption in May, which has so far affected more than 4.3 million people.
Despite official media assurances that the corona virus infection is under control, the WHO last week assessed the situation as “deteriorating and not improving”.
“We urge all staff to strictly adhere to anti-infective rules by launching a maximum emergency anti-infective device,” hospital president Kim Hai-kyong told AFP on Thursday. Disinfected a bus in the capital.
North Korea has repeatedly denied offers of vaccines, including the WHO, and recently boycotted medical assistance from Seoul and Washington.
North Korea is facing chronic food shortages, exacerbated by a self-imposed siege to protect against the epidemic and international sanctions in response to its weapons programs.
The official media, which usually announces successful weapons tests within 24 hours, makes no mention of the latest missile launches.
This means that North Koreans “know very little about the resources their government throws into the sea,” Sokeel Park, director of South Korea at the North Korean charity Liberty, said on Twitter.
Washington and Seoul have been making sure the North Korean regime has been preparing for a nuclear test for weeks.
On Tuesday, US Assistant Secretary of State Wendy Sherman warned that there would be a “quick and strong” response if Pyongyang carried out its seventh test.
