North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un attends farm ground-breaking

North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un was photographed attending the ground-breaking ceremony of a new greenhouse farm amid reports of a worsening food crisis in the hermit kingdom. 

The Kangdong Greenhouse Farm in North Korea’s capital city of Pyongyang is at least the third large-scale agricultural facility under construction on the peninsula as Kim pushes for self-reliance amid international sanctions over the country’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs.

North Korean media reports that Kim “shoveled the first spadeful of earth” during the ground-breaking and “colorful fireworks were displayed” during the publicity stunt. 

The bleak socialist wasteland has struggled with worsening food shortages of late, according to reports. 

Reuters reported on Wednesday that Kim appears to have recently cut food rations for his soldiers, a desperate move not seen in more than two decades, according to South Korean officials.

North Korean state media reported earlier this month that there were plans for an “urgent” ruling party meeting on agriculture related to the food crisis, according to Reuters.

“Its food situation seems to have deteriorated,” South Korea’s unification ministry said in a statement.

North Korea suffered a devastating famine in the 1990s that resulted in the deaths of some 235,000 people, according to the dictatorship. However, Western officials believe that a figure between 2.5 million and 3.5 million deaths is more accurate. 

The ground-breaking at the Kangdong greenhouse follows the start of construction in November at the Ryonpho Greenhouse Farm in eastern North Korea at a site the country has previously used to test-fire missiles, according to Reuters. Kim attended that ground-breaking ceremony as well.

It’s unclear if Kim’s young daughter, Kim Ju Ae, was at Wednesday’s ceremony. 

Rumors have swirled that the girl, believed to be 9 or 10 years old, will become her father’s eventual successor. 

Kim Ju Ae made two rare public appearances with her father last week: one at a lavish military banquet and another at a parade of intercontinental ballistic missiles in Pyongyang.