Kim absent as famine threatens North Korea
North Korea is facing a shortfall of more than 1.2 million tons of grain, raising the spectre of another famine.
The isolated country’s main agricultural regions were affected by bad weather once again last year, with a series of powerful typhoons and floods destroying crops.
The government’s decision to close its border with China to stop the spread of Covid-19 has also had an impact, preventing imports of food, fertilisers, and parts for farm machinery.
“North Korea has been identified as experiencing a food crisis, with many households experiencing undernourishment or minimal levels of nutrition,” the Korea Development Institute think tank said.
“People’s basic household assets are being sold off to procure food.
This is not sustainable and action needs to be taken immediately.”
The report estimated that North Korea produced just under 4 million tons of grain last year, far short of the estimated 5.2 million tons needed to sustain a population of 26 million.
“We are hearing through our contacts that people there are suffering and dying,” said Youngchae Song, from the Worldwide Coalition to Stop Genocide in North Korea.
The UN’s World Food Programme has previously estimated that more than 40 per cent of the population were already undernourished before the nation’s borders were closed.
Even Kim Jong-un, the North Korean leader, has called on citizens to brace themselves for another “Arduous March” — a term used to describe a four-year famine that
Supreme Leader missing in action
Rumours regarding the whereabouts of Kim Jong-un are compounding after another questionable absence from the elusive North Korean leader.
He recently skipped a key photo opportunity in a political congress held in Pyongyang, making it weeks without an official public sighting.
He was last seen on May 6 at an event for military families, according to state media.
Fears about his health have begun to grow as his list of public absences extends.
North Korean state media reported he sent a letter with detailed instructions that were read aloud at a General Federation of Trade Unions of Korea (GFTUK) event. The leader, who is suspected to be in his late
30s, did not attend.
The dictator has kept a particularly low profile since the beginning of the pandemic.
In February
2020, he disappeared for nearly three weeks without any speculation surrounding his health. In April 2020, he disappeared for 12 days, sparking speculation that he had died or was gravely ill after a botched heart operation.
His most recent disappearance comes after he ordered a man shot by the firing squad in front of 500 people for illegally selling music and films.
The engineer was executed last week as his family were forced to watch after he was caught secretly selling CDs and USBs with South Korean content. Lee reportedly confessed to selling the material and authorities are now hunting down who bought them from him.