North Korea drops annual spring festival

PYONGYANG, North Korea, March 23 (UPI) -- North Korea's annual art festival marking the birthday of the country's founding leader, Kim Il-sung, reportedly has been changed into a biennial event.

North Korea's April Spring Friendship Art Festival will be held once every two years beginning this year, in what some say is a sign of deteriorating economic conditions in the reclusive communist nation, Yonhap news agency reported Sunday.

An aid group in Seoul, South Korea, said last week that North Korea is bracing for worsening food shortages. Moreover, the World Food Program has warned North Korea could face its worst food shortage in years because of last year's floods and a winter drought.

The South Korean news agency said the North began the spring festival in 1982 on the occasion of the founding leader's 70th birthday. For the festivities, Pyongyang customarily hosts big-name foreign musicians and art groups.

Last year, the North Korean paid airfares and accommodations for British opera singer Suzannah Clarke and the popular U.S. gospel music group Casting Crowns, Yonhap reported.