SEOUL, March 2 (Reuters) – North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has ordered infrastructure improvements and farm expansion to boost food production, state media said on Thursday, amid warnings of a looming economic crisis. food
Kim gave instructions to revamp irrigation systems, develop modern farming machines and create more fertile soil as he wrapped up the seventh enlarged plenary meeting of the ruling Party’s powerful Central Committee. Worker on Wednesday.
The meeting began on Sunday to discuss the “urgent” task of improving the agricultural sector.
South Korea has warned of a worsening food crisis in the remote North, including a recent surge in starvation deaths in some regions.
North Korea’s economy has been battered by floods and typhoons, sanctions over its nuclear and missile programs, and a sharp decline in trade with China amid border closures and COVID-19 lockdowns.
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South Korea’s rural development agency estimates that crop production in the North fell nearly 4% last year from the previous year, due to heavy summer rains and other economic conditions.
Kim laid out plans and specific tasks to build “rich and highly civilized socialist rural communities with advanced technology and modern civilization,” the official KCNA news agency said.
He emphasized the need to tighten discipline in the implementation of the national economic plan, warned against “practices to weaken the organizational and executive power of the cabinet,” and ordered all party units to “prove their work efficiency,” KCNA said.
The Central Committee also discussed ways to improve the country’s financial management, KCNA said, without elaborating.
Reporting by Hyonhee Shin; Editing by Stephen Coates
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