Reports in 2018 suggested that Kim Jong-un’s regime was facing depletion of secret funds due to nuclear and missile programs and tightening international sanctions.
North Korea’s conciliatory gestures toward South Korea, including participation in the PyeongChang Olympics, were seen as efforts to break through financial hardship.
This piece examines how sanctions shaped Pyongyang’s diplomatic strategy.

North Korea is seen as staging a conciliatory posture toward South Korea, including participation in the PyeongChang Olympics, as a “breakthrough” to overcome financial difficulties.
2018-01-29
As for my subscription to the Asahi Shimbun, I had continued it with the intention of never again allowing Japan to be shaped according to their wishes… maintaining it as a way of monitoring their pages.
However, I hardly read it at all.
I only glanced at it from time to time.
Yesterday’s paper… even the front page was truly dreadful… I felt nauseated, and upon seeing that front page, I threw the Asahi Shimbun aside.
The Moritomo issue, bringing up Mrs. Akie Abe’s name… what on earth is going on in the minds of the reporters at this newspaper company?
Or is there some reason they must continue serving as agents for China or the Korean Peninsula?

The following article appeared on page 3 of yesterday’s Sankei Shimbun, and as of yesterday, it was probably only the Sankei that carried this story.
Kim Jong-un’s Secret Funds Running Dry?

U.S. Report: Due to Nuclear and Missile Development
By the 27th, Radio Free Asia (RFA), a U.S. government-affiliated broadcaster, reported that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s secret funds were nearing depletion due to a series of nuclear and missile development programs.
The strengthening of international sanctions against North Korea has also had an impact, and North Korea’s participation in the PyeongChang Olympics is said to be aimed at escaping its economic hardship.
Several Chinese sources with connections to high-ranking North Korean officials revealed this to RFA.
According to the report, the secret funds were inherited from his father, Kim Jong-il, and are managed by “Office 39” of the Workers’ Party of Korea, which oversees foreign currency earnings through activities such as currency counterfeiting and drug production, reportedly collecting $500 million to $1 billion annually.
Sources stated that much of the funding for nuclear and missile development comes from Kim’s secret funds.
Large sums are also said to be “wasted” on construction projects personally promoted by Kim, such as the Masikryong Ski Resort in eastern North Korea.
Furthermore, a United Nations Security Council resolution adopted after North Korea conducted its sixth nuclear test last September effectively banned the acceptance of North Korean laborers, making it more difficult to earn foreign currency and further exacerbating the financial shortage.
North Korea is thus believed to be staging a conciliatory stance toward South Korea, including participation in the PyeongChang Olympics, as a “breakthrough” to overcome financial difficulties.
However, within the country, there are reports of rising dissatisfaction as even funding for facilities for the elderly has become insufficient.
(Seihei Mitsuka)