North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has for the first time compared the current economic situation in his country to a 1990s famine that killed hundreds of thousands.
Mr Kim had previously said North Korea faces its “worst-ever” situation due to factors including the coronavirus pandemic, US-led sanctions and natural disasters last summer.
But his latest announcement marks the first time he has publicly drawn a parallel with the deadly famine, which was also known as the “march of suffering” or the “arduous march”.
North Korea for years depended on international aid after the famine in the mid-1990s, which was precipitated by the loss of Soviet assistance, mismanagement and natural disasters.
The famine’s exact death toll is not clear, varying from hundreds of thousands to between two million and three million.
North Korea monitoring groups have not detected any signs of mass starvation or a humanitarian disaster.
But Mr Kim’s comments still suggest how seriously he views the current difficulties, which foreign observers say are the biggest test of his nine-year rule.
“There are many obstacles and difficulties ahead of us, and so our struggle for carrying out the decisions of the Eighth Party Congress would not be all plain sailing,” Mr Kim told lower-level ruling party members on Thursday, according to the Korean Central News Agency.
“I made up my mind to ask the WPK (Workers’ Party of Korea) organizations at all levels, including its Central Committee and the cell secretaries of the entire party, to wage another more difficult ‘arduous march’ in order to relieve our people of the difficulty, even a little,” he added.
The speech came at the closing ceremony of a party meeting with thousands of grassroots members of the ruling party, called cell secretaries.
During his opening day speech on Tuesday, Mr Kim said improving public livelihoods in the face of the “worst-ever situation” would depend on the party cells.
During the party congress in January, he ordered officials to build stronger self-supporting economy, reduce reliance on imports and make more consumer goods.
But North Korea’s problems are the result of decades of mismanagement, self-imposed isolation and sanctions over its nuclear program, analysts say.
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here