Authorities have insisted Kim is simply eating less "for the sake of the country," which is grappling with severe food shortages
Summary
- The Workers’ Party’s Central Committee met to decide policies meant to “guide the struggle of our party and people … to the next stage of victory,” according to the official Korean Central News Agency.
- The agency did not carry any remarks by Kim.
- The meeting comes as Kim marks 10 years since assuming power after the death of his father, Kim Jong Il, in 2011.
- North Korea’s economy has been devastated by the Covid-19 pandemic, international sanctions over its nuclear and missile arsenals, and mismanagement, however, experts believe Kim’s grip on power is not being seriously challenged.
- The impoverished country is facing a food crisis amid the Covid-19 pandemic and after being hit by severe flooding in recent years.