27 Feb. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The leadership of the Korean Labor Party met on Monday to address land issues and take action in the face of severe food shortages and food insecurity in North Korea.
Among those present is the North Korean leader, Kim Yong Un, who chairs the plenary session in which these issues have been addressed, according to information from the North Korean state news agency KCNA.
The meeting comes at a time of worsening food crisis in the Asian country, which is suffering from serious economic problems, especially as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.
The assistants will take measures on “important tasks to promote economic development at the national level in a practical way, as indicated by the aforementioned media outlet.
South Korean sources have indicated that this meeting shows the urgency of North Korea in dealing with the current food situation. North Korea’s crop output was around 4.5 million in 2022, down 3.8 percent from the previous year, according to South Korean government sources.
The Politburo already indicated earlier this month that a “turning point” is necessary to encourage a “radical change in agrarian development.” However, Pyongyang adopted a new policy in October to tighten state control over the distribution of rice and other grains, but observer countries estimate that this supply would have been hampered as farmers have stopped selling these grains to state facilities before the fear of loss.
North Korea suffered a severe famine between 1994 and 1997. The South Korean authorities, who have warned that the situation is serious, have qualified that it is not similar to what was experienced then in the 1990s.
