North Korea Ruling Party Convenes Amid Claims of Food Crisis

Facts

• North Korea's state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported Monday that the Central Committee of the ruling Workers' Party gathered Sunday to discuss agricultural issues, with Kim Jong Un presiding over the meeting.¹
• The conference is reportedly focusing on agricultural improvements, reviewing rural development projects, and determining 'immediate, important' tasks at the 'present stage of the national economic development.'²
• This plenary meeting comes just two months after another session that also focused on agricultural issues, fueling speculation from South Korea that the North could be facing pressing food shortages. South Korea's unification ministry has claimed that there have been reports of starvation deaths in the North.³
• Food supply in the North, which is run by the government's public distribution system, has allegedly become insecure after Pyongyang closed its borders with China because of the pandemic and the country has faced international sanctions on its nuclear and missile programs.⁴
• Official state media stated on Friday that a reporting partner had revealed, on condition of anonymity, that Kim Jong Un deployed the Korean People's Army to the agricultural front 'to secure an ample supply of food this year.'⁵
• Despite growing external concerns that the situation in North Korea could soon become comparable to the 1990s 'Arduous March' — which is estimated to have claimed up to a million lives — Pyongyang has continued its missile tests.⁶

Sources: ¹Korea Herald, ²Al Jazeera, ³France24, ⁴Korea joongang daily, ⁵Daily nk and ⁶Itn.

Narratives

• Narrative A, as provided by 38 north. Kim's failed economic and foreign affairs policies, as well as his costly nuclear program, are pushing North Korea into a humanitarian crisis not seen on the Peninsula for decades. As it risks another episode of mass hunger, the only way out is for Pyongyang to promote deep reforms like strengthening property rights and opening its economy while also giving up its nuclear and missile programs.
• Narrative B, as provided by Kcna watch. This meeting has nothing to do with Western-led, fabricated claims of a food crisis in North Korea, but, rather, to review the government's policies of 2022 — the country's first year implementing its rural revolution program. Beyond that, the plenary meeting is also being held as a means of discussing new tasks to support the economic development of North Korea and practical ways for implementing them.

Predictions