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2020 has arguably produced the most challenging set of circumstances for the DPRK leadership since Kim Jong Un took power in Dec. 2011. While COVID-19 has disrupted many countries around the world, the global pandemic arrived at a particularly challenging time for Pyongyang.

Harsh international sanctions imposed in 2017 have remained fully in place for almost three years now due to the failed Hanoi summit in 2019. Partially because of these sanctions, Kim Jong Un warned in Dec