North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has urged his citizens to cut back and eat less over the next few years. According to the British newspaper "Mirror," Kim called on his people to accept the situation in the country until the reopening of borders with China in 2025, which were closed due to the outbreak of the novel coronavirus. The closure of the borders with China has severely impacted North Korea's economy, leading to shortages of goods and significant price increases.
Radio Free Asia reported a North Korean citizen stating that the monitoring committee in his neighborhood issued a directive indicating that the "food emergency" status would continue until 2025. According to estimates from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Pyongyang is facing a food shortage of about 860,000 tons. Additionally, the World Food Programme estimates that around 40% of North Korea's population suffers from malnutrition.
The North Korean government is attempting to blame food shortages on the American sanctions imposed on them, alongside natural disasters and the COVID-19 pandemic. The country was severely affected by floods last year, and there were also floods and droughts in 2021. Authorities asked citizens in April to prepare for a situation that could be worse than the famine of the mid-1990s, which killed millions of Koreans and affected up to 10% of the population, according to several reports.
