Concerns Over Accelerating Food Shortage in the North... Typhoon 'Maysak' Approaches, Raising Emergency Alert

Kim Jong Un Visits Hwanghae Province's Granary Twice
"Reducing Crop Damage Is Self-Reliance and Strength"

North Korean State Affairs Commission Chairman Kim Jong-un visited Hwanghae Province, which was hit by Typhoon No. 8 "Bavi," to inspect the damage in the affected areas, the Korean Central News Agency reported on the 28th of last month.

Amid forecasts that grain harvests will sharply decline this year due to heavy rains and typhoons, North Korea has entered an emergency state ahead of the northward approach of Typhoon Maysak, the 9th typhoon of the season.

On the 1st, North Korea's state media, the Korean Central News Agency, reported that urgent measures have been prepared as heavy rain accompanied by downpours and strong winds are expected in several parts of North Korea due to Maysak.

Workers (cadres) from the Party and government institutions have been informing residents about crisis response methods and have conducted assessments of key infrastructure such as buildings, roads, farmland, railways, and train tunnels.

They repaired roofs of major buildings, street trees, and streetlights, and maintained drainage systems and rainwater pump facilities to ensure proper water runoff.

Additionally, preparations were made to prevent power outages by protecting transmission and transformation facilities and transmission towers from wind damage.

Areas around dams and sluice gates were closely monitored for meteorological and water gate data, and the fisheries and aquaculture sectors along the East Coast evacuated boats to safe locations.

Maysak is expected to make landfall near Busan in the early morning of the 3rd, then move northward over the seas near the East Coast before making landfall again in North Korea. North Korea is particularly concerned about flooding damage to farmland.

Experts have analyzed that North Korea's grain harvest this year could decrease by approximately 300,000 tons compared to the previous year. There are also projections that the food shortage this year will exceed 1.2 million tons.

Following Kim Jong-un’s inspection of the Hwanghae Province area, which suffered damage from the rainy season and typhoons last month, Party Vice Chairmen Ri Pyong-chol and Pak Pong-ju have also consecutively visited flood-affected areas to focus all efforts on recovery. Hwanghae Province is North Korea’s largest granary and a key base for food security.

The Workers' Party organ, Rodong Sinmun, emphasized in an editorial titled "An Important Task That Determines the Outcome of the Year’s Farming" on the 31st of last month that "Minimizing crop damage is an urgent demand to vigorously open the path to self-reliance and self-prosperity." This clearly reveals that reducing damage in the agricultural sector and securing food are central to self-reliance and regime maintenance.

Meanwhile, on the 21st of last month, Lee In-young, Minister of Unification, reiterated the necessity of humanitarian aid to North Korea at the Peaceful Unification Forum commemorating the 75th anniversary of Liberation, stating, "There must be no halt to the supply of medicines and goods to heal the pains of the elderly and children, and food support for women and children’s health due to political reasons."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.