A surprising weakness of the North Korean military.

Prolonged sanctions and drought threaten to cripple the lives of millions of North Koreans, including the country's military.

The Guardian, citing information from UN organizations and contacts in North Korea, reported that a devastating drought in early summer this year will leave North Korea without enough food to supply its population, including soldiers in the military.

The North Korean military currently has over 1 million active-duty soldiers. Photo: Reuters

Jiro Ishimaru is a Japanese documentary filmmaker who has a network of citizen journalists inside North Korea. This network is equipped with smuggled mobile phones.

He stated that while living standards have improved for some under Kim Jong Un's leadership, many of North Korea's 25 million people are now facing food shortages. Some are at risk of losing their jobs due to the new round of international sanctions.

"Another problem is that there are too many soldiers to feed," Ishimaru told The Guardian at his Asia Press office in Osaka.

Ishimaru said he had contacted several collaborators about living conditions in North Korea earlier this month. "One of them told me that there was talk of war with the U.S., but many North Korean soldiers were in poor health and not fit to fight," he recounted.

North Korea often suffers from severe droughts. Photo: REX/Shutterstock

Concerned about the prospect of widespread malnutrition and disease in North Korea following its worst drought since 2001, the United Nations approved $6.3 million in aid to help the isolated nation cope with shortages of corn, rice, potatoes, and other agricultural products.

Recently, the Rodong Sinmun newspaper of the Workers' Party of North Korea also reported on "preventive battles" being waged to prevent a "severe drought" that began in May.

In a special alert in July, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization estimated that North Korea's early crop yield had fallen to about one-third of what it was during the same period last year. Without rain, North Korea's food security would worsen.

According to Vietnamnet.vn