North Korea food crisis: Kim Jong-un urges citizens to consume less until 2025

Team Udayavani, Oct 29, 2021, 2:15 PM IST

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has advised North Korean citizens to eat less food until 2025, citing the country’s food storage. Notably the Supreme Leader has recently shed around 20 kg.

Officials in North Korea are grappling with rising food prices and shortages of medicine and other basic supplies, which have exacerbated the development of water-borne diseases like typhoid fever. According to Lawmaker HaTae-account keung’s of the NIS briefing, which was carried by news agency PTI, the country has also been unable to import the paper and ink it requires to produce banknotes, prompting North Korean officials to issue temporary currency.

Kim is struggling to overcome what appears to be the most difficult era of his presidency, owing to economic hardships exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic. According to the NIS North Korea’s yearly commerce with China, its primary ally and economic lifeline, fell by two-thirds to 158 million in September this year as compared to the previous year.

“The authorities stated at the neighbourhood watch unit meeting that the food crisis will persist until 2025,” a source told Radio Free Asia in an interview. They also indicated that restoring customs between North Korea and China before 2025 is “very unlikely.”

“Urging us to suffer hardships till 2025 is the same as telling us to starve to death,” the source continued. Citizens have expressed their distrust and hatred of the authorities, saying, “We should restrict the amount of food we eat and tighten our belts more than ever.”

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un recently described K-Pop as a cancerous disease. He even threatened citizens who watch South Korean movies, K-dramas, or K-pop videos with heavier sanctions.