“North Koreans are being asked to eat less food as the communist nation deals with a food emergency that is expected to continue at least until 2025, according to reports. A shortage of food in the nation led by dictator Kim Jong Un has resulted from a shutdown of its border with China, an action that was taken in 2020 in a bid to slow the spread of the coronavirus, Radio Free Asia (RFA) reported. But the move has devastated North Korea’s economy as food prices have spiked, and has resulted in starvation deaths among its population of 25 million, the report said. About 40% of North Korea’s population is estimated by the U.N. World Food Program to be undernourished and the nation has been short of food this year by about 860,000 tons – or the equivalent of two months’ worth of food, according to the U.N.’s Food and Agriculture Organization, RFA reported. … Meanwhile, Pyongyang has recently resumed the testing of missiles after a hiatus. The most recent tests occurred Tuesday when the North fired two ballistic missiles into the Sea of Japan.”
“North Korea,” New York Times Post, Oct. 28, 2021