North Korea 'Multiple Starvation Deaths'... Unusual Reassembly of the Plenary Meeting

"People Starving to Death Even in the Affluent Area of Kaesong
North Korea Calls 'Agricultural Issue' Plenary Meeting After Two Months
'A Sign of Desperation... Possible Aid from China'"

North Korea held a Workers' Party plenary meeting with the single agenda of 'farming.' The reconvening of the plenary meeting just two months after the end of last year is interpreted as a signal that North Korea's food situation is that serious. Recently, reports have emerged that starvation deaths are occurring even in Kaesong, considered a 'wealthy area' in North Korea.

Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) announced on the 27th that the expanded 7th plenary meeting of the 8th Central Committee of the Party was convened at the Party Central Committee headquarters on the 26th. Chairman Kim Jong Un personally presided over the meeting, with key figures such as Premier Kim Tok Hun of the Cabinet and Vice Chairman Ri Yong Gil of the Party Central Military Commission seated on the presidium. However, Kim Yo Jong, the Party Vice Department Director and Kim Jong Un's younger sister, was seen sitting in the meeting hall rather than on the presidium.

The Korean Central News Agency reported on the 27th that the expanded meeting of the 7th plenary session of the 8th Central Committee was convened at the Party Central Committee headquarters on the 26th. Chairman Kim Jong Un attended the meeting and presided over it.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

The news agency explained, "At the plenary meeting, the business performance of 2022, the first year of implementing the 'New Era Rural Revolution Program,' will be analyzed and summarized, and urgent tasks arising at the current stage for national economic development and practical measures to resolve them will be discussed and decided." Although specific agenda items were not disclosed, since the meeting was reported to be ongoing, discussions on food issues are expected to continue for several more days.

After adopting a new socialist rural development strategy focused on solving food problems at the plenary meeting at the end of December 2021, North Korea concentrated on increasing food production throughout last year. However, due to spring droughts, summer floods, and the impact of COVID-19, food production has hardly improved, and recently, severe food shortages have been reported, with starvation deaths occurring even in peripheral areas such as North Hamgyong Province and Kaesong.

Experts analyze that the fact North Korea reconvened the Party plenary meeting, which is usually held once or twice a year, just two months after December last year, signals how desperate the food situation is. It is expected that specific supplementary measures will be prepared through this plenary meeting, and since trade is gradually resuming in the North Korea-China border area, there are also prospects that North Korea will seek aid from China.

Yang Moo-jin, president of the University of North Korean Studies, said, "The expression 'urgent tasks' seems to be closely related to the recent food crisis in North Korea," adding, "The meeting is expected to be held under a serious atmosphere chaired by Kim Jong Un, and this meeting is anticipated to be a turning point in solving agricultural problems." Jeong Seong-jang, head of the Unification Strategy Research Division at the Sejong Institute, analyzed, "It is unusual to hold a Party plenary meeting just two months apart, which indicates how severe the food crisis is. However, since trade with China is gradually increasing, there is a possibility that the food shortage will partially improve through Chinese aid."