South Korea’s ambassador to the UN Hwang Joon-kook has blamed North Korea’s regime for starvation in the country.

During an open debate of the UN Security Council on famine and conflict-induced food insecurity on Thursday, Hwang said he believes the regime’s wrong choices worsened the food crisis in the reclusive state.

The ambassador said the North had wasted resources that could be used to tackle the food crisis by engaging in 12 missile launches during the past year and a half, including launches of intercontinental ballistic missiles.

Hwang then cited Pyongyang’s refusal of humanitarian aid from the international community by closing its borders, using the COVID-19 pandemic as an excuse.

The ambassador said the North’s ban on private transactions of food products that was implemented in the second half of last year had further aggravated most of the populace’s food shortage.