Photographs from the Korean Central News Agency show North Korean leader Kim Jong Un looking slimmer than ever before.

The photos were taken during a ruling party meeting on Dec. 28. North Korean authorities have claimed that Kim, 37, is choosing to eat less as the country struggles with severe food shortages, the Daily Mail reports.


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The meeting comes as the country celebrates the 10th anniversary of Kim replacing his father, Kim Jong Il, as supreme leader in 2011. The KCNA did not report any details of what was discussed during the meeting, and journalists were reportedly barred from the room, according to the Daily Mail.


"The plenary meeting is to review the implementation of main Party and state policies for the year 2021," the KCNA reported. The meeting would also involve a discussion on policies and steps for "dynamically guiding the struggle of our Party and people to usher in a new period of the development of socialist construction to the next stage of victory," KCNA said.

North Korea has been hit by severe flooding in recent years as well as a famine that has exacerbated food shortages that were already reportedly severe.

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"Telling us to endure hardship until 2025 is the same as telling us to starve to death," an anonymous North Korean resident said.