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Á¦¸ñ   Starvation lingers in impoverished North Korea
ÀÛ¼ºÀÚ AFP (2003.11.13) Á¶È¸ 2559
Source: Agence France-Presse (AFP)
Date: 18 Feb 2003

--------------------------------------------------------------
------------------

Starvation lingers in impoverished North Korea

by Peter Harmsen
PYONGYANG, Feb 18 (AFP) - Famine, which may have wiped out
one-eighth of North Korea's population, lingers on in the
reclusive state and the regime's responses are woefully
inadequate, observers say.

With foreign aid dwindling to a trickle, one tragic aspect of
the recent mass starvation is being played out again with the
weakest members of society being hit the hardest.

"Under-nourishment still affects mothers and children, and
will continue to do so because international assistance is
decreasing," said Siri Tellier, a representative for the
United Nations Population Fund.

A famine in the 1990s, triggered by natural calamities but
worsened by dated technology and an inefficient economic
system, is one of the under-reported tragedies of the late
20th century.

Because of the highly restricted access given to foreign
visitors, estimates of the death toll range anywhere from
500,000 to three million.

Officials prefer to be vague about the extent of the
catastrophe late last decade, and some pretend it did not
even exist.

"It was definitely a difficult time, and people had much less
to eat," one told AFP. "But no one starved to death."

For an event that never happened, the famine has triggered
remarkable changes in the way people live their lives.

North Koreans who have never known anything but socialist
economics are now much more familiar with the marketplace,
and know where to swap tradable commodities -- such as
furniture -- for food.

In a country where the government has traditionally kept
strict curbs on movement, people are also traveling
relatively freely from one place to the other in search of
means to survive.

And throughout the day, when they are officially working,
many of Pyongyang's residents venture out on the frozen
Taedong river to angle for fish.

"The good thing is that through the hardship and starvation,
they now know how to survive," said Katy Oh, a California-
based expert on North Korea. "They have become more creative,
and dont just sit there and die."

Even more creativity could soon be needed, as the country
will face a shortage of 1.43 million tonnes of grain this
year, according to South Korean estimates.

To make matters worse, the United Nations World Food Program
said last month it urgently needed 80,000 tonnes of food to
feed some three million North Koreans who have not received
food aid since the autumn.

The result will almost certainly be cuts in daily rice
rations, which according to a local official were 700 grams
(24.5 ounces) before the famine and have never returned to
that level.

There is a long tradition for the regime to react to crises
by asking more of its people.

In the early 1990s, an extensive campaign urged North Koreans
to "eat only two meals a day", which in itself became an
impossible dream for most as the decade dragged on.

Planners in Pyongyang are also banking on wonder crops that
will offer an escape route for a country where only 14
percent of the land area is arable.

Late dictator Kim Il Sung praised the virtues of corn, while
his son Kim Jong Il has chosen the potato as his produce of
choice.

He has urged it planted throughout the country and has at the
same time called for a "seed revolution".

"If we introduce this kind of new technology, we will be able
to meet the demand of our people," said Ryu Sung Rim, a
foreign affairs official.

"As far as I know, it could take us only five to six years to
become self-sufficient in food," he said.

But this kind of optimistic timeta¡Úble amounts to "wishful
thinking", according to Oh, the California-based observer.

"North Korea has never been a food-self-sufficient country,"
she said. "It has never been a breadbasket."

ph/mp/th AFP


¹øÈ£Á¦¸ñÀÛ¼ºÀÚÆÄÀϵî·ÏÀÏÁ¶È¸
20 UNICEF Master Plan of Operations 2004 UNICEF
2004.02.15 2874
19 CARITAS - APPEAL dprk -2004 CARITAS
2004.02.15 2928
18 DPR Korea Appeal No. 01.67/2003 Programme Update No. 2 IFRC
2003.12.28 2912
17 Analysis of the situation of children and women in DPRK UNICEF
2003.11.28 2948
16 Seoul to give food donations to N. Korea KOIS   2003.11.13 2890
15 UN CHRÀÇ ¼¼°è ÀαÇħÇØ º¸°í UN CHR   2003.11.13 3027
14 UN hails South Korean support for aid programmes in North Korea UNICEF   2003.11.13 2669
13 WFP Emergency Report No. 13 of 2003 WFP   2003.11.13 2560
12 ACT appeal DPRK Target : 835,000$ ACT   2003.11.13 2735
11 DPR Korea OCHA Situation Bulletin Feb 2003 OCHA   2003.11.13 2949
10 North Korea Urges Married Women to Bear More Babies KHN   2003.11.13 2533
9 MSF pushes for rights of fleeing North Koreans MSF   2003.11.13 2426
8 Nutritional survey of DPRK(2002) KHN
2003.11.13 2845
7 Child nutrition survey shows improvements in DPRK, but UN agencies con... KHN   2003.11.13 2390
Starvation lingers in impoverished North Korea AFP   2003.11.13 2559
5 North Korean economy plunging towards sub-Saharan status AFP   2003.11.13 2650
4 Lives being lost in North Korea as public health care crumbles AFP   2003.11.13 2527
3 Starving North Korea pleads for aid amid nuclear standoff KHN   2003.11.13 2588
2 Report of the Third International NGO Conference kHN   2003.11.13 2777
1 Nutrition Survey of The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (1998) kHN
2003.11.13 2595

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