North Korean Media Preparing Population for “Belt Tightening”

I would love to know what the Kim regime’s internal timeline is for when they expect sanctions to be dropped?:

North Korean state media urged the country’s people to be ready for “belt-tightening” Monday amid signs of stalled denuclearization talks with the United States.

The Rodong Sinmun, the official newspaper of the ruling Workers’ Party of Korea, reminded them of the harsh period of Arduous March in the 1990s, when the country suffered from extreme poverty and massive starvation in the wake of the collapse of socialism in Russia and Eastern Europe.

“Even if (we) have to travel a long distance through snowstorms with our belts tightened, we will go straight to the people’s road which was proved as immortal in the process of the 70-years-long struggle and to the road of socialism,” the newspaper said.

The call comes as concerns are growing about the denuclearization talks between the North and the U.S. The slower-than-expected progress clouds the prospects for any immediate sanctions relief, which Pyongyang might be pursuing to bolster its anemic economy in return for giving up its nuclear weapons.

The call for belt-tightening might be intended to tamp down expectations among its people that have been high since North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s summits with South Korean President Moon Jae-in, followed by his meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump, observers said.  [Yonhap]

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