North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un has issued a brutal threat to anyone who is caught wasting food in his hermit kingdom as it faces yet another famine.

“At the beginning of this month, the Central Committee [of the Korean Workers’ Party] ordered residents to actively participate in solving our food crisis this year as part of a food-saving struggle,” a North Korean official from the nation’s North Hamgyong province told Radio Free Asia.

“The order emphasized that the struggle not only solves the problem of how we will eat, it is a matter of protecting the socialist system,” added the official, who was speaking on the condition of anonymity. “It also warned that authorities will step up crackdowns and punishment for any actions related to food waste.”

This comes after North Korea became even more isolated during the COVID-19 pandemic, and three typhoons devastated the country’s farmland. One defector told The New York Post two month ago that before she and her family fled the hermit kingdom, she saw mass starvation that impacted millions of people.

The North Korean official said that food conservation warnings have come before the country’s major end of the year holidays, which traditionally include celebratory feasts.

“The Central Committee also instructed us not to set the ceremonial table with foods made from grains,” the official explained. “They have ordered a ban on rice cakes and bread, suggesting we use only fruits and vegetables. They said that simply serving noodles as a meal to attending guests is an important way to save food.”

“The Central Committee is also warning of strong legal punishment for those who waste food by secretly brewing alcohol from grains and drinking socially,” the source added. “There’s even an order to crack down on covert alcohol production, and an inspection team has been formed and are already operating in some residential areas.”

The source concluded by saying that officials who have been tasked with enforcing the food crackdowns will be severely punished if they are caught using their positions to get around the order themselves.

“They warned that if officials are caught wasting food, they will be subject to criticism and severely punished,” the official said.

Similar orders have been issued all over North Korea, according to a second source.

“Farmers who have to sell grain to purchase other things they need have been greatly inconvenienced because rural residents are now prohibited from selling grain on the market,” said the second source. “Inspectors are stationed on roads just outside the downtown areas to check passing cars, carts and even luggage carried on people’s backs, to ensure people don’t transport grain. Food prices are rising in the market as grains are forbidden, and this threatens residents’ livelihoods.”

This source went on to say that the North Korean government’s refusal to ask for help from the rest of the world has only made this problem worse.

“People are angry,” the source said. “They say that controlling food distribution will make everyone’s difficult situation even worse.”

This piece originally appeared in UpliftingToday.com and is used by permission.

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