Citizens of North Korea have been ordered by their communist government to consume less food as the hyper-reclusive country deals with a food emergency that is expected to draw out at least until 2025. The food shortage was in part caused by its leader Kim Jong Un's decision to close the North Korean border with China in 2020 to slow the spread of COVID in the country.
However, the decision heavily impacted North Korea's economy, causing food prices to skyrocket, leading to starvation deaths among its 25 million population, Fox News reported. Some North Korean citizens believe that the Kim regime's order to decrease food consumption suggests that the communist leader "is not aware of how serious the food situation is," Radio Free Asia reported.
Meanwhile, the U.N. World Food Program has estimated that up to 40% of North Korea's population is now undernourished as the country has had a lack of food by about 860,000 tons o two month's worth of food, as per the U.N.'s Food and Agriculture Organization. A source in Sinuiju, North Korea admitted that some residents believe that the "situation right now is so serious they don't know if they can even survive the coming winter."
Faithwire reported that the already deplorable conditions in North Korea are worsening and were even recently described by one source to persecution watchdog Open Doors USA as something similar to "hell." An unnamed North Korean source told the group, "This situation is like hell - it can't be imagined or understood without experiencing it."
The dire situation has become so severe that North Korean leaders have made the unusual choice to openly talk about it to the nation's citizens, Open Doors said. Earlier this year, Kim admitted that North Korea is facing its "worst ever situation." In this month's 6th anniversary of the Workers' Party, he made an address in which he noted that "unprecedented" challenges are sparking his officials to take action to deal with the current issues. Kim even described the nation's current state as a "grim situation."
"Normally, North Korea is slow to admit anything negative in the county or ask for help from the international community," Open Doors reported. "But in April, North Korean ruler Kim Jong-un made public statements about the crisis-signaling a dire situation."
Kim spoke to his party officials, calling upon them to "wage another, more difficult 'Arduous March' in order to relieve our people of the difficulty, even a little," the report said. The Arduous March refers to the great famine that took place in the 1990s, which took the lives of two to three million people.
North Koreans who have been in contact with Open Doors warned that food prices continue to skyrocket as resources become even more scarce than normal. The COVID pandemic did not help at all, as it fueled an already chaotic situation. The North Korean government on Monday directed their citizens to brace for an extended food shortage well until 2025.
In the midst of all the chaos, North Korea has re-engaged communications with South Korea for the first time in months. In addition, Kim appears to be determined to carry out North Korea's military activity and missile tests despite the nation's hunger problems.
