North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on Thursday compared his country's economic struggles to the devastating 1990s famine that left hundreds of thousands of people dead.

The Korean Central News Agency reports that while speaking to lower-level Workers' Party of Korea members, Kim said there are "many obstacles and difficulties ahead of us," and it's up to everyone in the WPK to "wage another ... arduous march in order to relieve our people of the difficulty, even a little." Earlier in the week, he told party members the country is facing its "worst-ever situation."