North Korea: Officials reportedly warn of food shortage until 2025

With the pandemic leading countries to close their borders from neighboring nations, North Korea is facing yet another crisis within its walls. A report has now claimed that the food crisis that the nation is currently facing may last until 2025.

Radio Free Asia reports that two sources familiar with the situation in North Korea have revealed the nation’s dire food shortage situation. The sources said that the nation is in an emergency, as one source recalled North Korean officials telling their neighborhood watch units that a food shortage would continue until 2025. They noted that the possibility of North Korea opening the border it shares with China was very slim.

North Korea closed its border with China in an effort to curb the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020. This also led to all regular imports of food and other goods from China to cease.

“The food situation right now is already clearly an emergency, and the people are struggling with shortages,” said the source in the report. “When the authorities tell them that they need to conserve and consume less food until 2025 … they can do nothing but feel great despair.”

The report goes on to note that citizens are growing frustrated with the North Korean government following the orders to eat less food to be able to make it through the crisis. The other source noted that some citizens are also growing skeptical of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s handling of the pandemic in the nation.

“Some of the residents are saying that the situation right now is so serious they don’t know if they can even survive the coming winter. They say that telling us to endure hardship until 2025 is the same as telling us to starve to death.”

In the midst of a food crisis, North Korea previously moved forward with testing its missiles. State media has confirmed several weeks back that Pyongyang has test-fired a smaller ballistic missile from a submarine. The state media’s confirmation follows the report by the South Korean army and is thought to be the latest in North Korea’s missile tests.