North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has convened a rare meeting of the ruling party’s Central Committee to discuss agricultural improvements, amid outside assessments of a worsening food crisis in the isolated country. According to state media, the seventh enlarged plenary meeting of the 8th Central Committee of the Workers’ Party of Korea on Sunday was attended by Kim and senior officials such as Cabinet Premier Kim Tok Hun and Jo Yong Won, one of Kim’s closest aides.
The meeting is the party’s first plenary session dedicated solely to agriculture, with KCNA saying it was “a very important and urgent task to establish the correct strategy for the development of agriculture”. South Korean government assessments indicate that the food situation in North Korea has deteriorated, with the United States-based 38 North programme reporting that “food availability has likely fallen below the bare minimum with regard to human needs”.
Experts believe that poor harvests due to extreme weather conditions, combined with lockdowns and a sharp reduction in trade with China due to border closures during the COVID-19 pandemic, have all contributed to the crisis. North Korea is also under strict international sanctions over its banned nuclear and ballistic missile programmes. Last year, the country’s grain production was estimated at 4.5 million tonnes, a 3.8 percent drop from 2020.
It is unclear what action North Korea will take to quickly address its food problems, but the country’s official newspaper has called for economic self-reliance. Some experts suggest that Pyongyang will use this week’s plenary meeting to boost public support for Kim during his confrontations with the US and its allies over his nuclear ambitions. Despite limited resources, Kim has been aggressively pushing to expand his nuclear weapons and missile programmes to pressure Washington into accepting the idea of North Korea as a nuclear power and lift international sanctions.
The current food crisis in North Korea is a result of multiple factors, including poor harvests due to extreme weather conditions, lockdowns, reduced trade with China due to border closures during the COVID-19 pandemic, and international sanctions over its banned nuclear and ballistic missile programmes. Last year’s grain production was estimated at 4.5 million tonnes, a 3.8 percent drop from 2020.
In response to the crisis, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has convened a rare meeting of the ruling party’s Central Committee to discuss agricultural improvements. The seventh enlarged plenary meeting of the 8th Central Committee of the Workers’ Party of Korea on Sunday was attended by Kim and senior officials such as Cabinet Premier Kim Tok Hun and Jo Yong Won. It is the party’s first plenary session dedicated solely to agriculture, with KCNA saying it was “a very important and urgent task to establish the correct strategy for the development of agriculture”.
The country’s official newspaper has called for economic self-reliance, while some experts suggest that Pyongyang will use this week’s plenary meeting to boost public support for Kim during his confrontations with the US and its allies over his nuclear ambitions. Despite limited resources, Kim has been aggressively pushing to expand his nuclear weapons and missile programmes to pressure Washington into accepting the idea of North Korea as a nuclear power and lift international sanctions.
It remains to be seen what action North Korea will take to quickly address its food problems. In the meantime, South Korean government assessments indicate that the food situation in North Korea appears to have deteriorated, with the United States-based 38 North programme reporting that “food availability has likely fallen below the bare minimum with regard to human needs”.