Mick Hartley

Here's how the official Rodong Sinmun reported those comments from Kim Jong-un about the food situation in North Korea getting "tense". It was at the 3rd Plenary Meeting of 8th Central Committee of WPK (the Workers' Party of Korea):

The moment Kim Jong Un appeared at the meeting hall to mount the platform together with members of the Political Bureau of the Party Central Committee, all the participants broke into enthusiastic cheers for the respected General Secretary wisely leading the historical struggle of our Party and people toward the new victory of socialist construction with his outstanding ideology and theory and energetic leadership activities.

Besides the members of the Party central leadership organ, officials of the departments of the Party Central Committee, officials of ministries, national institutions and armed forces organs and leading officials of the province-level guidance organs, cities, counties and complexes were present there as observers.

Kim Jong Un presided over the plenary meeting upon authorization of the Political Bureau of the Party Central Committee.

The General Secretary said with high appreciation that positive achievements have been made in the Party and the state work and the revolutionary zeal of our people have been boosted up to now since the whole Party confirmed and started implementing the first-year plan for implementing the decisions of the Party congress.

The subjective and objective conditions and environment for the revolutionary struggle have become worse upon entering this year but the country's economy has shown improvement as a whole as evidenced by the implementation of the first half-yearly plan for total industrial output at 144 percent, 25 percent increase as against the same period last year, and huge growth made in terms of actual amount of goods, he said.

He said that a series of deviations were revealed in the course of carrying out the state plan and policy tasks owing to several obstacles and difficulties facing us at present.

Saying that in particular, the people's food situation is now getting tense as the agricultural sector failed to fulfill its grain production plan due to the damage by typhoon last year, he stressed that the plenary meeting should take a positive measure for settling the problem.

Noting that now is high time to give full play to the indomitable revolutionary spirit and the fighting traits of self-reliance and fortitude, the vital power peculiar to the Korean revolution, he said that it is the main purport of convening the plenary meeting to take thorough measures for fulfilling this year's policy tasks without fail by further arousing the high fighting spirit of the whole Party and all the people.

That should do the trick.

From the Daily NK, meanwhile:

A growing number of households in South Pyongan Province are suffering from food shortages due to the prolonged closure of the Sino-North Korean border, Daily NK has learned. 

In a telephone conversation with Daily NK on Wednesday, a source in the province said that since the beginning of June, a growing number of people have “sold their homes and are roaming around” due to financial difficulties. “They had hoped the border closure would be lifted in May, but with the border closure continuing, they could no longer endure [such dire circumstances].”…

The source noted that since the start of the spring season, more and more families in financial straits have been going homeless, even if they were able to survive on corn gruel at the start of the year. They are unable to borrow money, and have nothing of value to sell even if they try to acquire rice or corn on credit. That is why an increasing number of people are living on the streets after selling their homes. 

Meanwhile, rice prices in North Korea have been climbing since early last month. Though the country’s rice prices had remained relatively stable even after authorities closed the border last year, they have skyrocketed over 20% since the end of last month. As of June 8, a kilogram of rice was selling at KPW 5,000 in Pyongyang. 

Corn prices, too, are continuously climbing, recently hitting KPW 3,000 a kilogram in Pyongyang.

The chronic food shortages and rising market prices are hitting many North Korean farmers hard. As a result, a growing number of rural families are apparently suffering from food shortages, too.

The source told Daily NK that the number of food-short households in the agricultural regions of South Pyongan Province (including Gaechon, Sinyang County, and Yangdok County) have noticeably increased. Less than 30% of local households are reportedly having proper meals. 

“A growing number of people are hitting their breaking point, be it in the city or the country,” said the source. “There is even talk that if the border remains closed, the whole country will face even tougher times.”