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[00:00.14] North Korea has held a major agriculture conference as experts warn about worsening food shortages in the country.

[00:13.15] State media reported North Korean leader Kim Jong Un began the high-level meeting of the ruling Workers’ Party on Sunday.

[00:26.17] Officials said the purpose of the conference was to discuss ways to improve agriculture to strengthen North Korea’s economy.

[00:39.19] The official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported Workers’ Party leaders are seeking ways to establish a “rural revolution” for North Korea.

[00:55.13] The report said the meeting was meant to help identify “immediate, important” agricultural issues to help improve the state of “national economic development.”

[01:10.79] KCNA did not say whether Kim spoke during the meeting or how long it would last.

[01:19.82] International experts have warned that food insecurity issues have worsened in North Korea.

[01:29.13] The difficulties are linked to economic restrictions placed on the country over its nuclear weapons and missile programs.

[01:40.27] In addition, lockdowns related to the COVID-19 pandemic severely hurt the economy.

[01:49.84] Earlier this month, South Korea’s unification ministry said the planned meeting to discuss agriculture added to evidence that the food situation in North Korea “seems to have deteriorated.”

[02:08.96] The U.S.-based 38 North program is a policy group that watches developments in North Korea.

[02:18.79] It said in a report last month that "food availability has likely fallen below the bare minimum with regard to human needs."

[02:32.07] The group noted that food insecurity was at its worst level since severe starvation rates affected the country in the 1990s.

[02:45.62] Most experts have said North Korea's current food situation is not near the extremes of the 1990s, when hundreds of thousands of people died of starvation.

[03:01.03] However, some experts have said the country’s food insecurity is likely at its worst point since Kim took power in 2011.

[03:14.31] North Korea needs about 5.5 million tons of grain each year to feed its 25 million people.

[03:25.46] Last year, the country’s production was estimated to be 4.5 million tons.

[03:33.44] That was a 3.8 percent drop from 2020, South Korea’s government estimates showed.

[03:42.99] It is not clear what action the meeting will result in.

[03:47.77] Some experts say North Korea will use the gathering to increase public support of Kim during his disputes with the United States and its allies over his nuclear weapons program.

[04:05.83] Although North Korea’s economic situation remains difficult, Kim has pushed to expand his nuclear weapons and missile programs.

[04:18.59] He has sought to position North Korea as a nuclear power and has called for economic restrictions on the country to be removed.

[04:31.08] Last year was a record year for weapons testing activities in the country.

[04:37.45] This month, the North launched ballistic missiles and carried out tests on other weapons too.