A number of conflicting reports surfaced in June about the severity of food shortages in North Korea.

Most notably, the BBC reported that North Koreans said “food is so scarce their neighbors have starved to death.” This followed reports about fluctuating food prices and what Pyongyang itself described as a “food crisis” since closing the country’s borders at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.

On the other hand, Russian Ambassador to the DPRK Alexander Matsegora told NK News that the BBC report was “so biased and so far from the truth,” while Cuba’s