Is North Korea fighting a food crisis?

Farmers plant rice at the Namsa Co-op Farm of Rangnang District in Pyongyang, North Korea, in 2021 [File: Jon Chol Jin/AP]

North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un has ordered agricultural improvements amid reports from outside the country of a worsening food crisis.

South Korea has said its neighbour seems to be dealing with a “grave” food situation, while the Washington, DC-based think tank 38 North, which is part of the Stimson Center, has said the country is on the brink of famine.