North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-un “harshly criticized” his government agencies for mishandling the economy, the country’s state media reported on Monday, as new data revealed just how much the pandemic had slashed the country’s already dwindling trade with China.

Signs had already emerged earlier this month that North Korea’s economic trouble was deepening, driven by long-standing international sanctions and the impact of the pandemic. According to customs data released by Beijing last week, North Korea’s imports from China from January to October plummeted by 76 percent to $487 million, while its exports shrank 74 percent to $45 million in the same period.

​China is North Korea’s only major trading partner, accounting for more than 90 percent of its external trade. In October, the North’s import from China amounted to a mere $253,000, nearly a 99-percent drop from the previous month. South Korean officials and analysts have warned that a sharp decline in imports from China in recent months could drive up domestic prices in the North.

The Chinese government only ​records official trade and does not cover smuggling that takes place across the borders​ between the two neighbors​. Still, the figures provide​d​ fresh evidence that the coronavirus was squeezing the North Korean economy more effectively than international sanctions ever have.

During a meeting of the Workers’ Party that Mr. Kim presided over on Sunday, the government agencies responsible for the economy w​ere harshly criticized for “failing to provide scientific guidance” and “failing to overcome subjectivism and formalism in their work,” the North’s official Korean Central News Agency reported.

But this was not the first time Mr. Kim has admitted to his country’s deepening economic woes, acknowledging in August that his five-year plan for economic growth had failed. Mr. Kim all but sealed North Korea’s borders with China​ earlier this year over fears of the potentially catastrophic consequences the pandemic could inflict on the country’s poor health system.

North Korea insists that it has registered no coronavirus cases, but outside experts remain skeptical.
— Choe Sang-Hun The New York Times