North Korea facing tense food situation- Kim Jong-un

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un “solemnly swore” to navigate his country out of deepening economic troubles as he concluded a major ruling party meeting, acknowledging food shortages and urging officials to prepare for both dialogue and confrontation with the U.S. Addressing a meeting of senior leaders,  Kim said the people's food situation is now getting tense. He said the agricultural sector had failed to meet its grain targets because of last year's typhoons, which caused widespread flooding. There are some reports that food prices have spiked. The NK News reports that a kg of bananas cost $45. During the meeting,Kim said that national industrial output had grown by a quarter compared to the same period last year.
North Korea has closed its borders to contain the spread of COVID-19. Trade with China has plummeted as a result. North Korea relies on China for food, fertiliser and fuel. North Korea is also struggling under international sanctions, imposed because of its nuclear programmes.The authoritarian leader of the single-party state talked about the food situation at the ruling Workers' Party central committee which began this week in the capital Pyongyang. Officials were expected to discuss relations with the US and South Korea during the event but no details have been released yet.

Kim has threatened to bolster his nuclear deterrent and says the fate of diplomacy and bilateral relations depends on whether Washington abandons what he calls hostile policies. Meanwhile, North Korea’s state media released Kim’s comments shortly before   President Joe Biden’s special representative for North Korea, Sung Kim, arrived in South Korea on Saturday for talks over stalled nuclear diplomacy with the North.