Kim Jong-un's overseas labor dispatch and missile provocations: a desperate effort to sustain a shaky regime

Even when large numbers of workers are sent to countries such as Russia or China, the primary exploitation of labor costs falls to the North Korean government. Kim Ju-sung explained that there is a pervasive attitude that North Korean workers need not be paid properly.

North Korea's expansion of overseas dispatch is driven by an intent to stop young people from defecting. Kim Jong-un appears to be sending the message: send your young people abroad to earn money, and they will not need to defect. This is interpreted as Kim Jong-un's regime strategy to quell internal discontent and prevent exits from the system.

The main reason North Korea fires missiles into the East Sea is less about hitting specific targets than about the lack of other places to launch them. Kim Ju-sung stressed that apart from the East Sea, there is no suitable space to fire missiles. Missile launches also translate into pressure on neighboring countries, especially Japan. It is only natural for the Japanese government to take measures to defend itself, and North Korea's behavior is providing a pretext for strengthening Japan's military.

He regards himself as equal to Trump, Putin, Xi Jinping, and the South Korean president, yet because of North Korea's weak national strength he is always uneasy. He clings to missile and nuclear development as a means of easing this anxiety and maintaining the regime.

Although North Korea holds many weapons, its storage conditions are extremely poor. Much like how a personal refrigerator cannot function properly when electricity is not reliably supplied, military facilities struggle to store explosives properly in the intense heat. This carries a high risk of self-detonation. Even in underground facilities, accidental explosions caused by this problem are reportedly frequent. Kim Ju-sung pointed out that this fragile infrastructure is a fatal limitation in managing missiles.

The current armistice line was set by the UN Command, and North Korea cannot unilaterally redraw it as a border. Kim Ju-sung criticized Kim Jong-un for trying to have it recognized as a border by building walls, and for writing a 'fiction' in which a South Korean military crossing of the armistice line would be treated as an invasion.

North Korea's construction of military roads in Gangwon Province carries strategic meaning. Gangwon is among the regions North Korean conscripts least want to be sent to, and building military roads there serves several purposes. The roads enable rapid movement of military forces, and there may also be an aim to motivate conscription by exploiting the fact that soldiers who fail to meet nutrition targets get sent to Gangwon. Many tunnels are reportedly already dug in this area.