Kim Jong-un, the leader of North Korea, maintains a firm grip on information within his country, particularly by exerting strict control over the media. However, recent reports suggest that a significant issue is plaguing the nation.
According to undisclosed officials from the North Korean government who allegedly spoke with Radio Free Asia, Kim Jong-un has issued a covert directive requiring local authorities to take measures to prevent suicides. The officials relayed this order during emergency meetings with party leaders at the city, provincial, and local levels.
Kim Jong-un has recently designated suicide as an act of “treason against socialism,” formalizing its classification within North Korea. This decision was prompted by a surge in fatalities across the country. According to statistics, two specific counties have already reported 35 suicide cases this year.
Notably, the official who disclosed this information about the new mandate mentioned that numerous suicides involved entire families. In a separate incident, a 10-year-old boy, whose parents had succumbed to starvation, found himself living with his grandmother. Tragically, both the child and the elderly woman opted to consume rat poison.
According to reports, the suicides are believed to be directly linked to Kim Jong-un’s ineffective governance. The United Nations estimated that from 2019 to 2021, approximately 42% of North Koreans suffered from malnutrition, highlighting an ongoing food shortage in the country. Experts have further approximated that North Korea has experienced significant loss of life, numbering in the hundreds of thousands, due to widespread starvation since the 1990s.
During the emergency meetings in the Ryanggang province, attendees expressed criticism towards the country’s social system, as shared by an undisclosed government official. Despite Kim’s directive for local officials to address the suicide crisis, they have been unable to devise effective solutions.
According to the official, the root causes of the suicides are hunger and poverty, which are persistent problems expected to continue in the foreseeable future. They noted that suicide is increasingly viewed as a final act of rebellion against a system perceived as devoid of hope.
