About the Author
Colin Zwirko
Colin Zwirko is a Senior Analytic Correspondent for NK News based in Seoul. Follow him on Twitter @ColinZwirko.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un demanded the country’s farmers stop illegal black market sales, get proper haircuts and turn out to solve “critical food problems,” according to state media reports Sunday on a farmers’ union congress held last week, as the country continues its new year’s focus on agriculture amid apparent shortages.
Kim sent a long list of demands largely focused on worker ideology and lofty food production goals in a letter that was read aloud at the 9th Congress of the Union of Agricultural Workers of Korea (UAWK), held from Jan. 27 to 29, according to the party-run Rodong Sinmun. But Kim did not attend the event.