Abstract

Famine is the one of the biggest problems in the world. More than 800 million people are suffering from hunger. The people of North Korea suffer from hunger on the level of the notorious Somalia, Sudan, and Ethiopia famines. They just suffer in silence behind the world media. There are several facts about the North Korea famine. One of the main factors for the North Korea famine is political problems: The North Korean government ignores s people’s everyday lives and only does things for preparing war. Moreover, the North Korean government, North Korea dose not like allow relief agencies to personally deliver the grain to those who need it most, causes some general problems for getting contribution from other countries. My research paper reports fact about the North Korean famine. For example, how serious the North Korea famine is, what problems North Korea have. This paper suggests before considering a lot of problems; everybody in the world should help North Korea hungry people for economical, political, and national reasons. There are a lot of innocent people, especially children.

Introduction

What is happening in North Korea?

Why is it happening?

A Hungry child knows no policy.

Introduction

Famine is the one of the biggest problems in the world. A lot of children die from hunger. What is famine? The problem of famine is manifold. Famine is not only a condition of a lack of food but of inadequate planning, inadequate notification, slow responds, government pride, misdirected aid, politics, ignorance, and incompetence. North Korea is a current example of all of these facts. In North Korea, many people are suffering in silence without attention of the world’s media. The tragic Ethiopian famine of 1985, during which about one million people died, was the result of a 35% food deficit. The impending famine in North Korea may be several times worse, with millions of people currently facing starvation and a 55% food deficit (1). There are several factors. The first fact for this famine is the natural disaster in North Korea. The second fact in this famine is the North Korea uses a nationwide public distribution system, steadily diminishing rations means that nearly the entire population has been weakenended by slow starvation and all food could run out at the same time. The third fact for this famine is that contributions for food relief to North Korea are so slow.

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What is happening in North Korea?

International relief agencies and other recent visitors to North Korea such as US Representative Tony Hall report increasingly widespread and obvious pre-famine indicators: families eating grass, weed and bark, orphans whose growth has been stunted by hunger and diarrhea, and children going bald for lack of nutrition. Food supplies have already stopped arriving at many nurseries and kindergartens, where many small children and babies are dying of malnutrition. The most severe threat of mass starvation is believed to exist in the northern and northeastern sections of the country, where relief workers have been granted access in March. Officials from the UN World Program (WFT) have just dispatched an assessment team to survey these areas and expect to release an assessment team to survey these areas and expect to release a report on condition there in the coming week (2). Also South Korean Broadcasting System (KBS) ran a rare documentary late Sunday showing the children, some barefoot and wearing short-sleeves in icy weather, looking for scraps of food in the street at a black market outlet. KBS said, "Not having anything to eat, a young child looks for food in the street while a North Korean soldier buys food, not taking any notice of the child"(3).

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Why is it happening?

The first problem is their natural disaster. In 1995 and 1996 North Korea was overwhelmed by the most devastating floods in its history. *The map indicates the flooded areas of Democratic People’s Republic of Korea Flood affected Areas (4).

These floods struck the provinces that produce 60 percent of North Korea’s grain. Last year in August a tidal wave destroyed a 494,000-acre of rice paddy fields and demolished newly rebuilt homes. Areas of the West Coast have been devastated by tidal waves. There are fields of rice that have been completely destroyed by salty water. Now, after two years of devastating floods, North Korea is in the grip of what may be its worst drought of this century. The drought has destroyed almost three-quarters of the corn corp. Livestock is dying, and the rice crop is threatened. Maize and rice crop has been affected by disease following the harsh conditions. Food productivity had fallen to around 30 percent of previous levels in some areas. (4)

How much food aid does North Korea needs?

Amount needed to feed 6 million of the vulnerable population in North Korea: $95,500,000

Amount pledged by the U.S government toward North Korea famine relief aid:

$ 25,000,000

Amount spent to station 37,000 U.S. troops in South Korea: $3,000,000,000 (per year)

The main problem is that North Korea, is a communist country, which is closed to the out side world. Very few North Koreans ever have an opportunity to leave the country and those who do are the most loyal to their communist leaders. North Koreans do not hear news from the outside world. They only get a report that is monitored from their government. Foreigners are rarely allowed to visit North Korea. And those who do get the opportunity report that they are watched, followed and monitored during the entire time they are there and are very restricted as to where they are allowed to go. Most North Koreans do not realize that they are now the poorest nation on earth and do not have enough food to eat. THEY ARE NOT REALIZE THAT THE REST OF THE WORLD IS NOT LIKE THEY ARE. (5) They have been told that eating one meal a day is actually healthier then eating three. If the North Korean people could see how the rest of the world really lives they would probably realize how their nations leaders have deceived them.

The worst problem is that communist country is cause brings sequence problems inside and outside. In side problem is that thepeople in North Korea for many years have not been allowed to choose their own business or occupation. They have been taught that the government will take care of them. In this environment with no free enterprise there has been no incentive for people to do anything on their own. After almost 50 years of this indoctrination crop planting practices have been poor. When North and South Korea were one country the breadbasket was always in the south. Now that North Korea and South Korea are not one country and land is worn out. Food grows on any patch of land available: atop the rice paddy walls, along the shoulders of roads, in river-flood plains, and on the slopes of steep hills. Land is not permitted to lie fallow, there is no investment in fertilizers and pesticides, deforestation leads to soil erosion that ruins once-productive land, and bad yields are the result of it all.

An out side problem is that the North Korean government attitude is makes it hard to get help from other nations. NORTH KOREA DOSE NOT LIKE TO ALLOW RELIEF AGENCIES TO PERSONALLY DELIVER THE GRAIN TO THOSE WHO NEED IT MOST. When relief agencies try to give aid to North Korea the North Korea government is very rigid about only accepting aid on their terms which often means that much of the aid goes to their large military (some 35% of the economy goes to support the military). Helping to relieve the famine won’t do anything to relieve the political tensions between North Korea, South Korea and the U.S.

Aid to North Korea will only be abused by the government, which has clearly demonstrated that it is unwilling to cooperate with the rest of the world unless doing so would strengthen their position. As Nicholas Eberstadt of the American Enterprise Institute says, "The North Koreans may be the most skillful in the universe at picking big powers’ pockets"(6).

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A hungry child knows no policy (7).

It is clear that emergency situations remain in the relationship between politics and humanitarianism. I would like to challenge the reader to think about the other side of the world and decide what role politics should play in humanitarianism crises particularly concerning the North Korean famine. The Crisis in North Korea could be solved through increasing humanitarian food aid. Regardless of nationality or political ideology, the people starving in North Korea have a right to eat and live. "A Hungry Child knows no policy" (7).
 

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Created 4-27-99

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