North Korea's ruler Kim Jong-un has admitted that the food supply in his country is increasingly "tight".

As a reason, he cited crop failures as a result of violent storms and floods in the past year.

At a meeting of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party, Kim announced unspecified "measures" to "solve the problem."

The party must focus on agriculture, said the ruler, according to a report by the KCNA news agency on Wednesday.

The economic situation is made more difficult by the "unfavorable conditions" of the corona pandemic, said the ruler.

Friederike Böge

Political correspondent for China, North Korea and Mongolia.

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    Back in April, Kim had sworn his country to face hard times and spoke of an "arduous path". This was unusual in that it was used in North Korea to describe the great famine of the 1990s that cost hundreds of thousands of lives. According to official, hardly reliable figures, food production fell by 15 to 20 percent in the past year. Since almost all employees of aid organizations have left the country in the past few months because of the strict corona prevention measures, there is hardly any reliable information about the nutritional situation. One indicator is the food rations for the needy, which fell from 540 grams per day per person to 370 grams in the past year.The UN Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights Situation in North Korea warned in March of a "serious food crisis". There are already reports of starvation and an increase in begging children and the elderly who can no longer be looked after by their families.

    What is certain is that the strict preventive measures against the corona pandemic have further worsened the already precarious supply situation in North Korea. The country has largely stopped border traffic, so urgently needed food deliveries could not be imported. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) expects a supply shortfall of 860,000 tons of food for this year if there are no additional imports or aid deliveries. Parts of the population could then suffer deficiencies between “August and October”, according to a current report on Tuesday.

    However, the FAO contradicts Kim Jong-uns' statement that the shortage was due to weather-related failures. This damage was largely offset by additional plantings, so that there was an almost average harvest last year, writes the FAO. The harvest prospects are "favorable" for this year as well. From the FAO's point of view, the problem lies in the harsh border regime. North Korea has so far refused aid deliveries from international organizations. It officially named the pandemic as the reason. Experts suspect, however, that Pyongyang also wants to avoid independent helpers from getting an idea of ​​the situation. On the other hand, North Korea apparently let China help it.In April, according to a report by Radio Free Asia, a freight train with relief supplies crossed the border for the first time in more than a year. The broadcaster reported that there were 300 tons of corn on board.