North Korea's Kim cites 1990s famine in urging work to alleviate economic crises

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un speaks during a conference of cell secretaries of the ruling Workers' Party in Pyongyang, in this undated photo released on April 9, 2021 by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). KCNA/via REUTERS

SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korean leader Kim Jong Un urged ruling party officials to wage another "Arduous March" of work and sacrifice, state media reported on Friday, linking the current economic crises to a period in the 1990s of famine and disaster.

"Arduous March" was a term adopted by officials to rally citizens during a famine that killed as many as 3 million North Koreans after the fall of the Soviet Union, which had been a major backer of Pyongyang's communist founders.