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SEOUL – The food security situation in North Korea is expected to deteriorate in the next four months, reported Yonhap news agency citing a United Nations report on limited humanitarian access and trade disruption as key factors leading to the widening food gap in the country.
The Food and Agriculture Organisation and World Food Programme in a joint report released yesterday forecast that Pyongyang is expected to be facing a food shortage of around 860,000 tonnes this year, “which is equivalent to approximately 2.3 months’ worth of food use”, reported Yonhap.
“Concerns are mounting over the food security situation in North Korea due to strained access and the potential impact of trade limitation, which may lead to food gaps,” said the August-November outlook report.
North Korea is among six countries newly added to the “hunger hotspots” list. It has tightened border controls and restricted trade to prevent Covid-19 from spreading in the country since the early stages of the pandemic.
“Measures to facilitate the import of bilateral and multilateral food assistance, and/or significant levels of commercial imports will be required if this gap is to be covered,” said the report.
North Korea is known for chronic food shortages, which appear to have been aggravated last year due to back-to-back typhoons and flooding in key farming areas.
At a key party meeting last month, the supreme leader Kim Jong-un acknowledged that his country is facing a “tense” food shortage, calling for measures to resolve the problem. – Bernama, July 31, 2021