N. Korean leader calls for increased poultry production amid food shortages

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, left, and his daughter, known as Ju-ae, visit Kwangchon Chicken Farm, a newly built chicken factory in Hwangju County of North Hwanghae Province, in this file photo carried by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency, Jan. 8. Yonhap

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has visited a newly built chicken factory and called for increasing poultry production for a "substantial change" in the people's standards of living, state media reported Monday.

Kim visited Kwangchon Chicken Farm in Hwangju County of North Hwanghae Province on Sunday, accompanied by his daughter, known as Ju-ae, according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

He underscored the need to "constantly increase the production capacity so as to provide the people with much more meat and eggs," the KCNA said, adding that the country is planning to build another chicken farm in Pyongyang this year.

The visit comes as North Korea has been focusing on boosting grain production due to the country's chronic food shortages, which have resulted in reported deaths from starvation in some regions.

Kim also called for taking the farm as a standard model for modernizing poultry factories across the nation to "bring about a substantial change in the people's living," the report said.

In July 2020, the North's leader visited the construction site of the Kwangchon chicken factory. The North's state media claimed at that time that the factory could produce thousands of tons of meat and tens of millions of eggs per year.

Kim's latest visit appears to be aimed at portraying himself as a leader who cares about the people's lives in the new year. His daughter Ju-ae also made a rare public appearance at economy-related sites, after mostly accompanying her father to military events before.

South Korea's unification ministry handling inter-Korean affairs said Friday that she has made 24 public appearances since November 2022 and 19 of them have been to military-related events. (Yonhap)