North Korea is a powerhouse that holds fear over a majority of the world’s governments. They have enough supposed nuclear power to blow up the whole western hemisphere if they wanted and have one of the strongest military powers we have seen in a while. If one digs a little deeper into this hidden nation, they can see the astonishing truth behind the poverty-stricken country. The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea has some of the poorest economies in the world, highest rates of child orphans and now the worst drought they have seen in over a ten years according to The New York Times.
The United Nations “called for $111 million to fund its humanitarian operations in North Korea, saying that 70 percent of the country’s 25 million people were 'food insecure.'" The country withholds its money and has little to no support for their people. Now paired with the drought, humanitarian officials are warning North Koreans — especially children, nursing mothers and other vulnerable people — that they are likely to suffer worse food shortages than in most years because of the drought.
Decades of deforestation and soil erosion, as well as government mismanagement with their nuclear power has left North Korea vulnerable to drought and floods. Combined with the famine that struck their country in the 1990s, killing thousands, North Korea has faced multiple food shortages and has to have humanitarian food supplied to them. Reports from the World Health Organization (WHO) stated that “one in three children in North Korea under the age of 5 are stunted due to malnutrition.”
The drought will only hit the economy of North Korea harder. A North Korean state agency report said that more than 30 percent of the country’s rice paddies were drying up. This could make the crop production fall by 15 percent if the drought carries on throughout July.
According to The Guardian, on the other side of the drought is an abundance of seafood, particularly squid. The news of the profits availability has spread rapidly, spurring a growth in seasonal jobs and a huge increase in the price of housing along the country’s coast. A source from the South Hamkyung Province said “though no official statistics have been released, I suspect that around 150,000 people have flocked to seaside towns in the province.”
The boom of the people migrating to the south for squid is not only because of the drought, but also because Kim Jong-un has promised more fish for the people this year. The boats are technically required to have licensing, but now that the country is in need of another food source it seems as if there are plenty of ways to bribe officials and obtain a license for the boats.
Will this drought make North Korea reach out more and open its long locked doors to help from outside sources? Hard to say at this point, but with the country having a centralized economy and poor planning, it seems as if they will need more than a helping hand from China or South Korea.
