According to the South Korean authorities, in some areas of the neighboring country there are already cases of death due to lack of food. Experts believe that the DPRK has reached its worst point since the 1990s, when famine combined with an economic crisis killed hundreds of thousands of people.
In North Korea, the humanitarian situation is deteriorating, and due to chronic food shortages, the country may plunge into mass starvation. This was reported by the American television channel CNN, after talking with experts.
North Korea has reached its worst point since the 1990s, when a famine known as the “Hard March” coupled with an economic crisis killed hundreds of thousands of people. It was estimated that then the death rate was 3%-5% of the then 20 million population.
According to Lucas Rengifo-Keller, an analyst at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, trade data, satellite imagery, and estimates by the UN and South Korean authorities indicate that food supplies in the DPRK have fallen below the level necessary to meet minimum human needs.
There will be starvation in the country, he said, even if the North Korean authorities share food equally, which is almost unthinkable because the priority is given to the elites and the military.
The South Korean authorities agree with these claims. In their opinion, in some parts of the country there are already cases of death from starvation. However, accurate information on this issue is difficult to obtain due to the isolation of the DPRK.
Various experts argue that Pyongyang blames only itself for the problems that have arisen. During the coronavirus pandemic, North Korea stepped up its isolationist tendencies and erected a second layer of barriers along 300 kilometers of its border with China. In addition, the country’s authorities have reduced what little cross-border trade with Beijing they had access to.
In 2022, Kim Jong-un spent precious resources on a record number of missile tests.
South Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin told CNN reporters that North Korea’s only way out of the food disaster is to sit down at the negotiating table and accept Seoul’s offer of humanitarian aid.
Recall, on March 2, the media reported that Kim Jong-un is building the largest restaurant in Pyongyang with dishes from dog meat. According to journalists, a gourmet restaurant is being built in an exclusive area of Pyongyang on the banks of the Taedong River.
On February 7, a girl from North Korea appeared on YouTube, which talks about the “ideal” life in Pyongyang. A girl named Song Ah posts videos in English, saying that she reads Harry Potter books and enjoys ice cream.
