North Korean famine

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North Korean famine

Hangul	고난의 행군
Revised Romanization	ko'naneui haenggun
McCune-Reischauer	ko'nanŭi haenggun

The North Korean famine began in 1995 in North Korea. The famine killed an unknown number of people so far. No official numbers have been released.

Although sometimes the figure is said to be as high as more than 3 million, or 10% of North Korea's population, this figure is considered problematic because it is based on the experience of North Koreans in the province of North Hamgyŏng. The province was one of the most devastated due to its urban environment and lack of agricultural production. Additionally, the original study warned not to extrapolate the death toll of the famine to the whole of North Korea. [1]

Famine struck North Korea in the mid-1990s, set off by unprecedented floods and the collapse of the Soviet Union. This autarkic urban, industrial society had achieved food self-sufficiency in prior decades through a massive industrialization of agriculture. The economic system relied on "friendship prices" trade with the Soviet Union. The state-controlled economy continued to stagnate throughout the 1990s as a result of poor industrial and agricultural productivity, and the loss of guaranteed markets following the fall of the Soviet Union.

In 1992-1993 the North Korean media began to argue the benefits of having only two meals a day as opposed to the traditional three, claiming the latter was unhealthy and excessive. By 1994, people in some remote areas could not get food for days at a time. They were issued the usual rationing coupons, but no foodstuffs were available in the shops. Rations were also cut. These were signs of things to come.

In 1995, responding to the North Korean flood that helped cause the famine, the United States government initially provided over $8 million in general humanitarian assistance (China was the only country to initially contribute more aid). However, eight years later, the United States government had provided $644 million in aid to the country, which comprised nearly 50% of the aid going to North Korea.

The vulnerable agricultural sector experienced a massive failure in 1995-96, expanding to full-fledged famine by 1996-99. In 1995, a series of floods devastated over 400,000 hectares of arable land. As a result, grain production was reduced by 1.9 million tons, or about 30% of the total amount of grain necessary to feed the people. This trend continued in 1996. In 1997, North Korea was the victim of tidal waves and drought. This was the final shattering blow to an already teetering economy. By late 1995, the "North Korean famine" was becoming public knowledge all over the world, and by early 1999 it was being estimated that three million people had died prematurely because of the food crisis. Scholars estimate 600,000 died of starvation (other estimates range from 200,000 to 3.5 million).^[1] The famine was at its peak in mid 1996 to late 1997, much of the destruction occurred in this year. By 1999, food and development aid reduced famine deaths, but North Korea's continuing nuclear program led to a decline in foreign aid.

As late as 2000, there were frequent reports from certain sources (such as the UN) of famine in all parts of North Korea except Pyongyang. North Korean citizens ran increasingly desperate risks to escape from the country, mainly into China.

North Korea has not yet resumed its food self-sufficiency and relies on external food aid from China, Japan, South Korea and the United States. In 2002, North Korea requested that food supplies no longer be delivered. (Woo-Cummings, 2002)

In the spring of 2005, the World Food Program reported that famine conditions were in imminent danger of returning to North Korea, and the government was reported to have mobilized millions of city-dwellers to help rice farmers.^[2]^[3]