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One of COVID-19's greatest impacts has been that on the global
economy. Due to the pandemic, unemployment rates have rapidly
increased all around the world while economic growth rates in many
countries including the United States and China are suffering from a
decline. Dr. Soo-hyung Lee, a senior fellow of the Institute for National
Security Strategy, points out three major phenomena that will appear
after COVID-19. These include the strengthening of countries’ strategic
autonomy, heightened self-reliance, and the international community's
shared recognition of the need for international cooperation through a
multilateral system. For North Korea, Dr. Lee argues that COVID-19 does
not only threaten the lives of the North Korean people but also its
regime security. While North Korea continues to rely on China, it is likely
for the regime to seek for dialogues with South Korea if the COVID-19
threat continues for the long-term. He also suggests that South Korea
carefully devise a North Korea strategy for building new dynamics in
inter-Korean relations in case Pyongyang reaches out to Seoul.
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