North Korea’s population is starving. In addition to food, there is also a lack of medication. Ruler Kim Jong-Un reacts with draconian penalties.
Pyongyang – North Korea is experiencing famine. Numerous people have been lacking food for months. The government has already stated that weather-related crop failures are primarily responsible for the need. North Korea strictly rejects aid deliveries due to strict Corona regulations – and rejects them at the border. The United Nations has been warning of the misery people are experiencing for some time. According to UN special investigator Tomás Ojea Quintana, children and the elderly in particular are at risk of starvation. According to the World Food Organization, more than 40 percent of the North Korean population has no regular access to food.
According to a report by the BBC, North Korea is preparing to reopen the border with China. Still, the problems are too big to be solved by importing food. The United Nations estimates that North Korea will be short of food for at least two to three months. In addition, there is a lack of medication. Several NGOs as well as the UN report that this development is accelerating the spread of infectious diseases such as typhoid in North Korea.
Famine in North Korea: Kim Jong-Un creates “atmosphere of fear”
North Korea’s ruler Kim Jong-un recently announced that anyone who eats should help with the harvest. The technological perspective is problematic: The country is investing in research into long-range missiles, for example, but the population lacks efficient harvesting machines.
“The lower classes in North Korea are suffering more and more,” reports Lee Sang Yong, editor-in-chief of the BBC’s South Korean newspaper Daily NK. In addition to the harvest call, Kim Jong-un has also tightened the penalty system. Theft and fraud in particular are punished more severely: “It creates an atmosphere of fear,” said Yong. Kim Jong-un was not seen in public for a long time: there were rumors of his death. (do)
