N. KOREA PLANS PLENARY MEETING THIS MONTH

[Anchor Lead]

North Korea is to convene a plenary meeting of Workers' Party's Central Committee in late February, two months since their previous one. The sole agenda item for the upcoming session is agriculture, hinting at North Korea's worsening food shortage situation.

[Pkg]

North Korean state media has reported that an extended plenary meeting of the ruling Workers' Party’s Central Committee will convene late this month. It will be the second such meeting to be held in just 2 months since late December. The sole agenda item for the upcoming session is agriculture.

[Soundbite] (N. Korean Central TV) : "Measures to address agricultural issues are a very important and pressing matter."

Calling the move rather unusual, South Korea's unification ministry said it will keep close tabs on North Korea's food situation and internal conditions. According to government estimates, the North's food production stood at 4.5 million tons last year, down 3.8% from 2021. The US Department of Agriculture also estimated that North Korea was short of some 1.2 million tons of food last year, greater than the past average of 800-thousand tons. Sources familiar with North Korean affairs also mention cases of vulnerable residents in the suburbs starving to death and people owing debt fleeing to the mountains. North Korean authorities are increasingly encouraging agricultural achievements day in and day out but food shortages appear to be worsening due to the impact of natural disasters and Covid-induced border closures.

[Soundbite] Koo Byoung-sam(Spokesperson, S. Korea’s Unification Ministry) : "S. Korea is paying close attention to related moves including the N. Korea’s discussion of agricultural issues at the Supreme People’s Assembly and Cabinet meeting in January."

Despite the dire situation, the regime is expected to go ahead with a major military parade to mark the 75th founding anniversary of its armed forces which falls on Wednesday. The South Korean military said it was closely monitoring increased rehearsal activities related to the parade and vowed to stay vigilant as the anniversary approaches.