Many people are worried that this famine could be as severe as the famine of the mid-1990s. Occurring shortly after the death of North Korean dictator Kim Il Sung, 15% of North Korea’s population died of starvation from rampant food shortages. The famine ended only after several million tons of food were given to North Korea by the UN.
According to German news agency Deuche Welle dissident North Korean nationals, known as “Citizen Reporters”, have reported that about 10,000 people have died as a direct result of this most recent outbreak of famine. Many people are speculating that this most recent famine was caused by the government of North Korea spending millions of dollars on a lavish celebration in its capital, Pyongyang, commemorating the 100th birthday of North Korea’s eternal leader Kim Il-Sung.
This elite party diverted millions of dollars to North Korea’s privileged few, when it should’ve been use to rescue it’s starving citizens. According to the New York Times, there are also confirmed reports of cannibalism. This fall, millions North Koreans will live in constant fear of starvation.
Traditionally, the North Korean government repairs the damage from an outbreak of famine, by sending North Korean troops to “assist in recovery.” According to Sang-Hyun, often this does more harm than good, as the malnourished soldiers steal what is left of the civilians’ crops and food.
Through the U.N., several nations, including the United States, Russia, China, Japan, and South Korea are again donating millions of tons of food aid to the recluse state. For the last 20 years, the steady stream of food aid has been severed only once. North Korea immediately saw a spike of starvation in its populace at that time. The U.N. only agreed to resume food aid on the condition that Pyongyang stop all nuclear testing, an agreement the North Korea has honored more often in the breach. All of these countries are well within the range of North Korea’s missile system. With the military that consists of over 1 million troops, and 8 million reserves, North Korea poses a legitimate threat to even the most technologically advanced military.
Though it is impossible to conjecture the exact amount that North Korea spends on its military, it is widely thought to be about one third of its national budget. According the Christian Science Monitor, North Korea’s recent military advances are not just a danger to its own citizens. Their military imposes a very real threat to all countries that that surround the hermit state of North Korea.
North Korea and the U.N are caught in a vicious circle. If the U.N. decided to stop sending aid to North Korea, the hostile government would fall, but countless millions would die in the famine that would follow. Millions more would flee to China, a country that routinely imprisons millions of its own citizens without due process. North Korea’s refusal to step down its nuclear program and military spending and spend its resources on its people is a problem for which the rest of the world has no immediate solution.
