N. Korea's state media mentions 'grave' situation in food supply in Kaesong in 2023
Published: 13 Jul. 2025, 17:24
![North Korean leader Kim Jong-un leads the 8th Enlarged Meeting of the 8th Central Military Commission of the Workers’ Party at the party’s Central Committee headquarters on June 28. [YONHAP]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2025/07/13/4d25f361-6df3-4fa8-af44-2673cbfdbfdc.jpg)
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un leads the 8th Enlarged Meeting of the 8th Central Military Commission of the Workers’ Party at the party’s Central Committee headquarters on June 28. [YONHAP]
North Korea's state media has reported that a "grave" situation in food supply might have occurred in the city of Kaesong in early 2023, in what could be a rare admission of food shortage in the reclusive state.
In 2023, unconfirmed media reports had said starvation-related deaths were witnessed in North Korea, including Kaesong, at that time, due to border lockdowns caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.
The North's quarterly magazine Korean Architecture has reported that the North's farm controls in 2022 "created a grave situation that could cut off food supply to people in Kaesong" in January 2023.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un had ordered officials to distribute "strategic reserve crops" to Kaesong and people in the North Korean city expressed gratitude, according to the report.
North Korea suffered a massive famine and related deaths during the period of the Arduous March in the 1990s.
North Korea adopted a new policy in October 2022 to tighten state control on the distribution of rice and other grains. But the move was believed to have disrupted food supplies, as farmers and merchants refrained from selling rice to state-designated facilities due to fears of losses, observers said.
Yonhap
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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