"Officially, North Korea was an extremely prosperous industrial state. It generated 95 per cent of its energy, and agricultural production was at an all time high. The country supported an enormous military establishment. If the figures could be believed, juche was working, but crisis was at hand. The collapse of the Soviet Union devastated North Korea which, despite juche, depended heavily on Soviet food, fuel, and weapons. To make matters worse, China established relations with South Korea in 1992, although it maintained a flow of aid to North Korea. The new economic situation brought a drastic fuel shortage. Factories were closed and the economy contracted at a dangerous rate. Kim turned to large scale production of missiles and development of nuclear technology, to raise funds and, implicitly, to pose a threat that the international community would have to ward off by a large payment. This produced a crisis with the US, finally defused by the visit of ex-President Jimmy Carter in June 1994. The Great Leader surprisingly agreed to stop development of the nuclear programme, and seemed about to embark on a new opening to the West, when he suddenly died on 8 July. After 49 years in power and 30 or more as an undisputed dictator, Kim died peacefully, his control of the country unshaken. His funeral was enormous and the mourning genuine, as North Korea faced a future without the only leader it had ever known."