Informing humanitarians worldwide 24/7 — a service provided by UN OCHA

DPRK

Aid groups say North is heading for major famine

North Korea's food crisis is more severe than previously estimated due to last year's poor harvest, Good Friends, a human rights group focused on North Korea, said yesterday.

The group said the current situation is a prelude to a recurrence of the massive famine of the 1990s.

Meeting with journalists yesterday, the group said North Korea produced 2.5 million tons of food last year, 300,000 tons less than 2006.

Good Friends said 600,000 tons are needed immediately to feed North Koreans in June and July alone, urging that South Korea provide at least 200,000 tons right away.

Other assessments of the North's food shortage vary. The United Nations-led Food and Agricultural Organization estimated North Korea produced 3 million tons of grain last year, 1.66 million tons short of what it needs.

The Rural Development Administration, a Seoul-run farming agency, has said the North produced more than 4 million tons, estimating the food shortage to be up to 1.1 million tons. The aid group said floods were the main reasons for the poor harvest last year.

'If this situation continues, we will starve to death in June,' a North Korean official was quoted as saying in the activist group's report. 'We don't have a single grain of rice, and that is our reality,' said another.

The group said the food crisis is particularly severe for factory workers and other professionals outside Pyongyang, while government officials, soldiers and residents of the capital city are given priority rations.

During the infamous food crisis of the 1990s, the North's population fell by between 2.5 million and 3 million, a rare North Korean government survey showed.

The relief group's claim is contrary to the assessment of South Korea's main spy agency.

'We have judged that the situation is not as severe as that in the mid-1990s, when massive famine-related deaths were reported,' Jeon Ok-hyeon, a deputy director at the National Intelligence Agency, was quoted as saying on Friday. Jeon said the North needs 5.4 million tons of food this year, and has secured 4.2 million tons. 'By the end of October, China and the World Food Programme will provide 300,000 tons and the U.S. another 200,000 tons,' Jeon said. 'The North will manage to survive.'

The Unification Ministry also said the food shortage does not require an immediate response, but that it will check into the situation further.

Meanwhile, United Press International reported yesterday that North Korea and China have boosted border patrols to stop North Koreans trying to escape poverty and hunger. U.S. aid group Helping Hands Korea also said it has received reports of 'shoot-on-sight'' orders given to North Korean border guards who encounter people trying to cross the border illegally.

By Ser Myo-ja Staff Reporter [myoja@joongnag.co.kr]

Disclaimer

JoongAng Daily
(c)JoongAng Ilbo, The information provided in this product is for personal use only. None of it may be reproduced in any form whatsoever without the written permission of JoongAng Ilbo.