Reports of starvation and food shortages in North Korea are perpetually surfacing with constant appeals for food assistance. MD NASRUDIN MD AKHIR and LEE EE WERN ask if the country is really seeking help for its people or is there an agenda behind its food appeal
NORTH Korea appears to be heading towards the same condition in the 1990s that led to a famine and resultant five per cent loss in population. Although records may have indicated a resurgence in food levels since the last decade of the 20th century, international aid has provided a significant supplement to the continual shortfall.
Up to July, North Korea was suffering a flood disaster, which swept away tens of thousands of farmland hectares, leaving a quarter of the country’s 24 million population at risk of starvation.
On the surface, it looks like another hunger crisis is hitting North Korea since the last catastrophe which killed between 600,000 and three million in the mid-1990s.
Bernd Göken from the German relief organisation Cap Anamur, who visited the country between April 26 and May 5, described the situation in North Korea: “The people are starving. They have nothing left to eat… emaciated children and elderly women on the edge of the road stuffing weeds into their mouths.” It was reported in The Korea Herald that cases of cannibalism because of severe hunger had arisen. According to the European Union aid team, state-distributed food rations had been trimmed down from 400g of cereal per person a day in early April to barely 150g in June, which amounts to less than 400kCal or a fifth of the daily average nutritional consumption.
Insufficient food supplies have led to many people facing malnutrition, especially infants and young children.
Each year, thousands of refugees escape from North to South Korea through China, Laos and Thailand with the constant fear of being arrested along their hazardous journey and being taken back to face torture, imprisonment and execution.
The question here is, “is North Korea truly in need of instantaneous food aid”? Despite claims by the World Food Programme (WFP) in its rapid food security assessment that North Korean food stocks are running out, there may be more than meets the eye in the impression of food starvation in North Korea.
According to the Crime Against Humanity Investigation Committee, North Korea claimed 5.11 million tonnes of grain production last year, which exceeded its 2009 production by 100,000 tonnes.
In terms of food aid to North Korea, China contributed the most, amounting to 26.9 per cent (South Korea: 26.5 per cent, United States: 17.5 per cent, Japan: 10.7 per cent) from 1995-2008.
The Malaysian Medical Relief Society contributed medical relief and a humanitarian assessment team along with medical supplies wor th RM50,000 in 2004 following the Ryongchon train tragedy where two trains carrying highly explosive ammonium nitrate exploded, killing 160, injuring 1,300 and damaging 1,850 homes.
Since 1996, the Congressional Research Service reported that North Korea had received more than 2.2 million tonnes of food aid worth nearly US$800 million (RM2.4 billion) from the US, which made the country by far the largest cumulative contributor to the WFP’s North Korean appeals.
With this amount of assistance from major contributors, why is North Korea still claiming a food deficiency? In addition, upon reporting food shortages last December, barely two months after the autumn grain harvest season, the country embarked on an aggressive campaign desperately begging 40 countries, including international organisations for 800,000 tonnes of food assistance to fill the gap. Is the country really asking help for the people or are there other motivations behind the appeal for food aid? Last November, North Korea launched an attack on South Korea’s Yeonpyeong island, which houses military installations and a small civilian population.
According to Reuters, the artillery attack came just six weeks after North Korean leader Kim Jong-il revealed his youngest son as his successor.
Little is known about Kim Jong-un. Some analysts say that North Korea has a new uranium enrichment facility.
On the one hand, the regime claims it is in need of food supplies but on the other, it remains highly motivated in developing nuclear weapons.
As of February, the US has stopped providing any aid to North Korea except for a small medical assistance programme because steps to dismantle its nuclear programme in the sixparty talks are on hold.
American officials are considering whether to resume aid. Other international actors are holding back food assistance to North Korea because of the confusion.
Should the US and other donors be held responsible for the hunger crisis in North Korea? According to Korea Times, the North is pressing to secure food but many South Korean officials are sceptical about whether the situation is serious enough to warrant aid.
North Korea could have been saving the food supplies for the regime and its military forces.
Next year marks the 100th anniversary of the birth of the late founder of the nation and the current leader’s 70th birthday.
The North Korean regime has repeatedly preached to its people that in 2012 the nation will become “powerful and prosperous”. What is the significance between the apparent food shortage and appointment of the new successor? Following the 18th Asean Regional Forum in July, it was reported in The Manila Times that North Korea would appoint a full-time ambassador to Asean. This could be a positive decision for both parties to leverage on their strengths in terms of maritime and agriculture industries, which may in turn contribute to the growth of foreign investment and gross domestic product.
It is hoped that the food crisis in North Korea can be subdued and tensions between the country and international community can be moderated in the long run.
Dr Md Nasrudin Md Akhir is executive director and Lee Ee Wern is research assistant at the Asia-Europe Institute, University of Malaya
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