The situation really IS dire! Kim Jong Un wears sandals and socks as he orders officials to tackle North Koreans' 'grim' difficulties buying clothes

  • Kim Jong Un, 37, wore socks and sandals beneath his suit at a speech on Sunday
  • His fashion choices come under scrutiny as people seek clues about his health 
  • In the speech, he told officials to overcome North Korea's current 'grim situation'
  • Leader spoke of a five-year plan to solve 'food, clothing and housing problems' 
  • The impoverished country has been hit by flooding and is tackling a food crisis 

Kim Jong Un captured attention during a speech where he urged his officials to overcome the 'grim situation' facing North Korea - although it was not his remarks but his choice of footwear that caught people's eye.

The dictator, 37, strutted up the red carpet of a lavish hall bizarrely wearing what appeared to be black sandals and black socks beneath his formal dark suit and burgundy necktie, video broadcast by state media showed.

The unusual fashion statement came as he arrived to make a speech to mark North Korean ruling party's founding on Sunday, where he said his party was determined to achieve the economic goals set out during their congress in January, which includes solving the country's food, clothing and housing problems.

Colin Zwirko, senior analytic correspondent for Seoul-based NK News, said it was unclear why Kim decided to wear the sandals, or whether he'd worn them before. 

Although the reason for Kim's footwear choice is not known, his clothing is often carefully scrutinized by international analysts seeking clues about his health, which is a closely guarded secret in the North. 

The dictator, 37, strutted up the red carpet of a lavish hall wearing what appeared to be black sandals which he bizarrely paired with black socks beneath his formal dark suit

The dictator, 37, strutted up the red carpet of a lavish hall wearing what appeared to be black sandals which he bizarrely paired with black socks beneath his formal dark suit

The unusual fashion statement (pictured: his black socks and sandals) came as he arrived to make a speech to mark North Korean ruling party's founding on Sunday

The unusual fashion statement (pictured: his black socks and sandals) came as he arrived to make a speech to mark North Korean ruling party's founding on Sunday

There were rumours that the leader was dead or seriously ill following his disappearances - including a three-week absence in April - which no explanation had been given for.

Since returning to the limelight Kim has lost a noticeable amount of weight, seeming to lend credit to speculation that he has been suffering health problems. 

When Kim reappeared in state media in June after not being seen in public for almost a month, analysts noted that his watch appeared to be fastened more tightly than before around an apparently slimmer wrist. 

Zwirko said: 'He lost a significant amount of weight in a short period in May and in September he was seen standing on padded mats during long speeches, which is not typical.

'It appears he's being extra careful with COVID and may be dealing with ongoing health issues.' 

Separately, North Korea state media attempted to explain away Kim's frequent absences from public view last year by saying he was busy approving designs - from wine labels, to school uniforms, buses, and signs for two new tourist resorts. 

According to Korea's state-owned TV channel - the so-called Supreme Leader's absences saw him helping to design everyday objects.

A billboard from North Korea's recent industrial design expo which was shown during a broadcast included a list of dates when Kim was supposedly helping 'guide' 110 designs to their final versions.

North Korea's Kim Jong Un said his party was determined to achieve the economic goals set out during the party's congress in January, according to the Korean Central News Agency

North Korea's Kim Jong Un said his party was determined to achieve the economic goals set out during the party's congress in January, according to the Korean Central News Agency

Among the designs were advertisements, information boards, logos and outdoor signs at the tourist resort of Samjiyon, whilst also working on designs for businesses at the Wonsan-Kalma resort.

Designs for buses and a huge new cargo ship, labels for a wine and kimchi bottles, and school uniforms also had Kim's input.

All of the dates when Kim was supposed to be working on these projects coincided with dates he was absent from public view, analysts working for NK News said.

State TV also aired an image of what appears to be Kim reviewing a notepad while on board one of his boats. 

It mirrors propaganda about Kim's father and grandfather, who were often shown agonising over factory quotas or production figures in state media.

Kim's address on Sunday came amidst widespread problems in North Korea that threaten to destabilize his control over the Hermit Kingdom.  

The impoverished, nuclear-armed country has been hit by severe flooding in recent years which has left families without homes and is currently tackling a food crisis as the nation struggles to feed itself amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

Mr Kim was said to have analysed the 'unprecedented difficulties' facing the country in his speech and called for the party's single-minded unity in developing the state economy in the face of the 'grim situation'.

He failed to win vital sanctions relief in summits with then-President Donald Trump in 2018 and 2019, while the Covid pandemic then forced North Korea to close its borders.

This unleashed further economic shock after decades of mismanagement and US sanctions over Kim's nuclear weapons programme.

The World Health Organisation said last week some Covid medical supplies had arrived at a North Korean port, an indication the North was easing one of the world's strictest pandemic border closures to receive outside help.

The impoverished, nuclear-armed country, has been hit by flooding in recent years and is tackling a food crisis in a nation that has struggled to feed itself amid the Covid crisis

The impoverished, nuclear-armed country, has been hit by flooding in recent years and is tackling a food crisis in a nation that has struggled to feed itself amid the Covid crisis

Last month, the dictator ordered his officials to tackle the effects of the 'abnormal climate' during a Politburo meeting where he said the 'danger' of global warming has become higher in recent years, according to the Korean Central News Agency

During the meeting, Kim said the 'disastrous weather' is becoming more pronounced worldwide. 'Our country is also lying vulnerable to its danger,' Kim said.

He called for senior province, city and county officials to focus largely on improving land management to help the country become more resistance to the changing climate. 

He ordered the officials to adopt an 'ambitious plan' that calls for river improvement, reforestation for erosion control, dyke maintenance and tide embankment projects.  Kim also called for a sustainable flood management infrastructure.

Last year, North Korea suffered severe flooding which damaged vital crops and left hundreds of families without homes. This year, crops were also damaged by droughts and subsequent flooding. 

In August, heavy rains in northeastern North Korea destroyed or flooded 1,170 houses and forced 5,000 residents to evacuate to safety, North Korea's state TV reported.

The downpour in South Hamgyong Province washed away hundreds of hectares of farmlands and destroyed many bridges. Footage showed houses submerged up to their red-brick roofs, a severed bridge over muddy water and a swollen river.

Summer rains in North Korea often cause serious damage to its agricultural and other sectors due to poor drainage, deforestation and dilapidated infrastructure in the impoverished country. 

Kim has acknowledged a 'tense' food situation that could worsen if all of the crops fail, exacerbating economic problems amid strict self-imposed border and movement restrictions that have slowed trade to a trickle.

North Korea is a mountainous nation, meaning suitable land for farming is in short supply and many of its farmers lack access to tools such as tractors, combine harvesters and threshers.

North Korea's capital launched missile last month, prompting UN Security Council to hold an emergency meeting. Pictured: Photograph apparently showing a hypersonic missile launched from Toyang-ri, Ryongrim County, on September 28

North Korea's capital launched missile last month, prompting UN Security Council to hold an emergency meeting. Pictured: Photograph apparently showing a hypersonic missile launched from Toyang-ri, Ryongrim County, on September 28

As a result, it is thought that North Korea relies on foreign imports and aid to feed around a third of its population.

Even with those imports, a 2017 UN report concluded that two fifths of the population are undernourished - meaning they don't have access to the number of calories needed per day to maintain a healthy weight.

A third of North Korea children are also thought to be stunted, meaning they did not get enough calories during the early years of their life. 

In April this year, Kim warned that North Korea is facing a famine comparable with one in the 1990s during which millions of people are thought to have died.  

He said his country is in its 'worst ever' situation due to natural disasters last summer that devastated farmland, the Covid pandemic which has halted trade, and US-led sanctions over its missile programme. 

Kim previously called for North Koreans to brace for prolonged Covid-19 restrictions, indicating the nation's borders would stay closed despite worsening economic and food conditions. 

Since the start of the pandemic, North Korea has used tough quarantines and border closures to prevent outbreaks, though its claim to be entirely virus-free is widely doubted.

Elsewhere in his speech on Sunday, Kim did not make any specific comments about Washington and Seoul amid reports on Kim's speech marking the 76th anniversary of the founding of the ruling Workers' Party, the KCNA reported.

Nuclear negotiations between Washington and Pyongyang have stalled for more than two years over disagreements in exchanging the release of crippling US-led sanctions against North Korea and the North's denuclearisation steps.

The country has ramped up its missile testing activity in recent weeks while making conditional peace offers to Seoul, reviving a pattern of pressuring South Korea to secure what it wants from the US. 

Earlier this month, North Korea's capital Pyongyang launched a string of missile tests in the span of a few weeks, which sparked international concern and prompted the UN Security Council to hold an emergency meeting.

The two Koreas signaled a surprise thaw in relations in late July by announcing the resumption of cross-border communications, which were severed more than a year earlier. 

Nuclear negotiations between Washington and Pyongyang have stalled for more than two years over disagreements in the release of crippling US-led sanctions against North Korea

Nuclear negotiations between Washington and Pyongyang have stalled for more than two years over disagreements in the release of crippling US-led sanctions against North Korea

However, the détente was short-lived and North Korea stopped answering calls just two weeks later in response to Seoul staging annual military drills with the U.S. 

In September, it launched what it said was a long-range cruise missile, and earlier this month it tested what it described as a hypersonic gliding vehicle, which South Korea's military said appeared to be in the early stages of development.

A UN rights investigator urged UN sanctions imposed for its nuclear and missile programmes to be eased earlier this month as North Ko9rea faces starvation.  

The worsening humanitarian situation could turn into a crisis and it is coinciding with a global 'creeping apathy' about the plight of North Korea's people, said Tomas Ojea Quintana, UN special rapporteur on human rights in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

'Sanctions imposed by the UN Security Council should be reviewed and eased when necessary to both facilitate humanitarian and lifesaving assistance and to enable the promotion of the right to an adequate standard of living of ordinary citizens,' he said in a final report to the UN General Assembly, to be presented on October 22.

North Korea does not recognise Ojea Quintana's mandate or cooperate with him and its mission in Geneva did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The government in Pyongyang does not take questions from foreign media.

Leader Kim Jong Un in June said the food situation was 'tense' because of natural disasters last year and acknowledged citizens faced sacrifices during the pandemic. In April, North Korean officials called a UN report on child malnutrition a 'sheer lie' 

But many North Koreans relying on commercial activities along the border with China have lost their incomes, and that has been compounded by the impact of sanctions, Ojea Quintana said.

'People's access to food is a serious concern and the most vulnerable children and elderly are at risk of starvation,' he said, adding that North Koreans 'should not have to choose between the fear of hunger and the fear of Covid-19'. 

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