Demagogue

Yes, that was rather crass, but my Irish heritage instills a certain instinct toward black humor. More to the point, Reuters reports:

North Korea has cut daily food rations to 250 grams (8.8 ounce) per person, just half the minimum daily energy requirement, officials from the World Food Programme said on Monday.

... The reclusive communist state has suffered from persistent food shortages, although conditions appear to have improved since famine caused by drought and flooding in the mid- and late-1990s were believed to have led to the deaths of a million people.

But there seems to be different views as to how long the bealeaguered people of North Korea must endure Kim Jong-il's latest order:

Richard Ragan, the U.N. food agency's country director for North Korea, said the cut from 300 grams per day appeared to be temporary and was not unprecedented in a country where fluctuations in public food distribution have been a regular occurrence.

... Gerald Bourke, the World Food Programme's public affairs officer for Asia, said the cut was likely to be in effect at least until the middle of the year.