Kim Jong Un warns of ‘tense’ food situation and longer Covid lockdown

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un speaks during a Workers’ Party meeting in Pyongyang on Tuesday (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service/AP)

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un warned of possible food shortages and called for his people to brace for extended Covid-19 restrictions as he opened a major political conference to discuss efforts to salvage a broken economy.

The North’s official Korean Central News Agency also said on Wednesday that Mr Kim called for discussions on how the North should deal with the “current international situation”, though it did not mention any specific comments from Mr Kim about the US or South Korea.