North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said his country’s food situation is "getting tense” due to typhoons last year that wiped out crops, comments that underscored farm-sector shortfalls made worse by his decision to close borders to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
Kim told a plenary meeting of the Central Committee of his ruling Workers’ Party of Korea "the agricultural sector failed to fulfill its grain production plan,” and now is "high time to give full play to the indomitable revolutionary spirit and the fighting traits of self-reliance and fortitude,” state-run Korean Central News Agency reported Wednesday.
The North Korean leader also said the country’s economy "has shown improvement as a whole,” on the back of increased industrial output. This comes after Kim has already made a rare admission that policy was falling short when he replaced his point man in charge of the economy last summer.