SEOUL (Reuters) -&nbsp;North&nbsp;Korean leader&nbsp;Kim&nbsp;Jong Un has inspected&nbsp;typhoon-hit&nbsp;farmlands, state media said on Friday, after tropical storm Khanun swept over the Korean Peninsula last week&nbsp;amid&nbsp;mounting&nbsp;concerns&nbsp;over a&nbsp;food&nbsp;crisis in the reclusive country.
Kim&nbsp;praised the military's efforts to salvage crops and said the troops were mobilised because they cannot lose a patch of farmland "to the natural rampage on the agricultural front directly related with the people's living," news agency KCNA reported.
The&nbsp;North&nbsp;has suffered serious&nbsp;food&nbsp;shortages in recent decades, including famine in the 1990s, often as a result of natural disasters. International experts have warned that border closures during the COVID-19 pandemic worsened matters.
"He made sure that helicopters and light transport aircrafts of air force units ... were mobilised as a step to improve the growth of crops in flooded fields, and personally organised and commanded the work for spraying pesticides," the report said.
Khanun, which was downgraded from a&nbsp;typhoon&nbsp;to a tropical storm, made landfall on the Korean peninsula last week, prompting South Korean authorities to evacuate more than 14,000 people and close schools in flood-hit&nbsp;areas.
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(Reporting by Soo-hyang Choi; Editing by Stephen Coates)

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North Korea's Kim visits typhoon-hit farmlands amid food shortage concerns