North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un urged ruling party officials to wage another "Arduous March" of work and sacrifice, state media reported on Friday, linking the current economic crises to a period in the 1990s of famine and disaster. 
 
"Arduous March" was a term adopted by officials to rally citizens during a famine that killed as many as 3 million North Koreans after the fall of the Soviet Union, which had been a major backer of Pyongyang`s communist founders. 
 
The period is often talked about as a historic event, but Kim`s apparent comparison to current problems comes after he earlier in the week said the country faces the "worst-ever situation." 
 
His comments were made in a speech on Thursday at the closing of a conference for low-level Workers` Party of Korea (WPK) officials, where he had urged them to be more proactive and responsible in carrying out the country`s new five-year economic plan, adopted at a party congress in January. 
 
"I made up my mind to ask the WPK organizations at all levels ... to wage another more difficult `Arduous March` in order to relieve our people of the difficulty, even a little," Kim said, according to a report by state news agency KCNA. 
 
The party must reward the people`s loyalty and become a genuine "servant" to them, he was cited as saying. 
 
North Korea has not reported a single confirmed case of the novel coronavirus, but American and South Korean officials have cast doubt on the notion that it has escaped COVID-19. 
 
The country ended almost all cross-border travel, restricted trade to a trickle, and imposed other restrictions to prevent an outbreak. 
 
Those measures, combined with ongoing international sanctions imposed over North Korea`s nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programmes, have taken a toll on the country`s economy and raised concerns of humanitarian crisis. 
 
An independent panel of experts monitoring U.N. sanctions recently reported that international aid groups were struggling to reach vulnerable women and children inside North Korea because of the pandemic lockdowns, leaving potentially hundreds of thousands without access to needed nutrients. 
 
An official at North Korea`s Ministry of Public Health released a statement on Tuesday denying that any children face malnutrition and that such reports aim to tarnish the country`s image.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un urged ruling party officials to wage another "Arduous March" of work and sacrifice, state media reported on Friday, linking the current economic crises to a period in the 1990s of famine and disaster.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un urged ruling party officials to wage another "Arduous March" of work and sacrifice, state media reported on Friday, linking the current economic crises to a period in the 1990s of famine and disaster. "Arduous March" was a term adopted by officials to rally citizens during a famine that killed as many as 3 million North Koreans after the fall of the Soviet Union, which had been a major backer of Pyongyang`s communist founders. The period is often talked about as a historic event, but Kim`s apparent comparison to current problems comes after he earlier in the week said the country faces the "worst-ever situation." His comments were made in a speech on Thursday at the closing of a conference for low-level Workers` Party of Korea (WPK) officials, where he had urged them to be more proactive and responsible in carrying out the country`s new five-year economic plan, adopted at a party congress in January. "I made up my mind to ask the WPK organizations at all levels ... to wage another more difficult `Arduous March` in order to relieve our people of the difficulty, even a little," Kim said, according to a report by state news agency KCNA. The party must reward the people`s loyalty and become a genuine "servant" to them, he was cited as saying. North Korea has not reported a single confirmed case of the novel coronavirus, but American and South Korean officials have cast doubt on the notion that it has escaped COVID-19. The country ended almost all cross-border travel, restricted trade to a trickle, and imposed other restrictions to prevent an outbreak. Those measures, combined with ongoing international sanctions imposed over North Korea`s nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programmes, have taken a toll on the country`s economy and raised concerns of humanitarian crisis. An independent panel of experts monitoring U.N. sanctions recently reported that international aid groups were struggling to reach vulnerable women and children inside North Korea because of the pandemic lockdowns, leaving potentially hundreds of thousands without access to needed nutrients. An official at North Korea`s Ministry of Public Health released a statement on Tuesday denying that any children face malnutrition and that such reports aim to tarnish the country`s image.

North Korea's Kim cites 1990s famine in urging work to alleviate economic crises

North Korea's sanctions-hit economy shrank in 2018 by its largest margin since the country's devastating famine in the 1990s, the South's central bank said on Friday.

North Korea, which holds most of the peninsula's mineral resources, was once wealthier than its southern neighbour, but decades of mismanagement and the demise of its former benefactor the Soviet Union have left it deeply impoverished.

The isolated nation saw its gross domestic product contract 4.1 per cent last year, the second consecutive year of decline after a 3.5 per cent slump the year before, Seoul's Bank of Korea (BOK) said.

It was the worst drop since 1997, during the peak of a nationwide famine that saw hundreds of thousands -- some estimates say millions -- die of starvation.

The North does not publish economic statistics of its own, leaving outside estimates as the only available figures for its financial performance.&nbsp;

The UN Security Council in 2017 banned North Korea's main exports -- coal, fisheries and textile products, among others -- to cut off its access to hard currency in response to Pyongyang's pursuit of nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles.

The sanctions cut the North's exports by more than 85 per cent last year while the country's international trade fell in value by nearly half, the BOK said.

"On top of the sanctions, which really affected the North's export of textiles and minerals, we also think last year's heatwave played a factor in its agriculture industry," a bank official told AFP.&nbsp;

The country's gross national income in 2018 was estimated at 35.9 trillion won ($30.35 billion) -- just two per cent of that of the South. 
Its per capita income was $1,119 last year, while the South's was 26 times higher, according to the BOK.

Despite historic summits between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and US President Donald Trump, nuclear negotiations between the two countries remain stalled, with the North firing two short-range missiles into the sea on Thursday.&nbsp; 
&nbsp;

North Korea's sanctions-hit economy shrank in 2018 by its largest margin since the country's devastating famine in the 1990s, the South's central bank said on Friday.

North Korea's sanctions-hit economy shrank in 2018 by its largest margin since the country's devastating famine in the 1990s, the South's central bank said on Friday. North Korea, which holds most of the peninsula's mineral resources, was once wealthier than its southern neighbour, but decades of mismanagement and the demise of its former benefactor the Soviet Union have left it deeply impoverished. The isolated nation saw its gross domestic product contract 4.1 per cent last year, the second consecutive year of decline after a 3.5 per cent slump the year before, Seoul's Bank of Korea (BOK) said. It was the worst drop since 1997, during the peak of a nationwide famine that saw hundreds of thousands -- some estimates say millions -- die of starvation. The North does not publish economic statistics of its own, leaving outside estimates as the only available figures for its financial performance. The UN Security Council in 2017 banned North Korea's main exports -- coal, fisheries and textile products, among others -- to cut off its access to hard currency in response to Pyongyang's pursuit of nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles. The sanctions cut the North's exports by more than 85 per cent last year while the country's international trade fell in value by nearly half, the BOK said. "On top of the sanctions, which really affected the North's export of textiles and minerals, we also think last year's heatwave played a factor in its agriculture industry," a bank official told AFP. The country's gross national income in 2018 was estimated at 35.9 trillion won ($30.35 billion) -- just two per cent of that of the South. Its per capita income was $1,119 last year, while the South's was 26 times higher, according to the BOK. Despite historic summits between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and US President Donald Trump, nuclear negotiations between the two countries remain stalled, with the North firing two short-range missiles into the sea on Thursday.

North Korea economy shrinks most since 1990s famine: Seoul

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