Food is so scarce in North Korea that people starve to death. In 2020 the government tightened control over people’s lives and sealed its borders. The BBC secretly interviewed three North Koreans who said they were afraid they will either starve to death or be executed for flouting the rules. It is extremely rare to hear from North Koreans: they face starvation, brutal crackdowns and no chance to escape. A devastating tragedy is unfolding. In the 1990s North Korea experienced a devastating famine which killed about three million people. Recent rumours of starvation prompt fears of being on the brink of another catastrophe. A construction worker said five people in his village had already died from starvation. ‘I was afraid of dying from Covid, but now I worry about starving to death’. he said. Kim Jong Un prioritised his nuclear weapons programme in 2022; it cost more than the amount needed to make up for the annual grain shortfall.