International concerns are rising over the food shortages in North Korea, as there are predictions that the hunger-stricken nation may face a serious food crisis comparable to that of the so-called “Arduous March” period in the 1990s when the nation suffered a severe famine. Kwon Tae-jin, director of the Global Cooperation Center at the Korea Rural Economic Institute, forecasts that North Korea will run short of 1 million tons of food this year, considering last year’s agricultural production, which stood at 3.8 million to 4 million tons, is down 9 percent from the previous year. The impoverished nation is up to 1.43 million tons short of its annual demand of 5.23 million tons. Even if North Korea imports some food, it will still run about 1 million tons short this year. North Korea has so far secured food through domestic agricultural production, trade and international aid, but Mr. Kwon warns that these three channels are in a precarious state.

For North Korea, the best way is to produce enough food on its own to fully meet the demand. This is impossible, though, as you may expect. Also, cash-strapped North Korea finds it hard to import sufficient food. The North may import food on loans, but this isn’t easy, either, because the nation has defaulted on foreign loans before. The last option is to solicit for international aid, which was the most common and effective method for solving the food shortage in the past. But now, North Korea isn’t enjoying a very good relationship with the international community, so this method isn’t going to work. Therefore, all the three food-securing channels will be difficult to access right now.

Some foreign experts and media agencies analyze that the food situation in North Korea has aggravated since the nation carried out its currency reform and tightened control over the market economy late last year. However, Mt. Kwon says that the core reason behind the North’s food problem can be traced back to years before the currency reform was enacted. Farming tools and technology are in very poor condition in North Korea and the nation is vulnerable to climate change. As a result, agricultural output has decreased since 2008, worsening the already serious food shortages. In May or June this year, North Korea could find itself in a similar state to the “Arduous March” period in the 1990s, if the current situation continues.

This coming May and June will be the most critical time. Around that time, North Korea may nearly run out of the crops that were harvested last year. North Korea was hit by a great flood back in 1995. Floods continued until 1998, resulting in severe food shortages. Countless people starved to death at the time. The disastrous period is called the “Arduous March.” The current situation is similar to that devastating period, although the food shortages today are less severe than those of the 1990s. At that time, there were no markets. But today, many North Korean citizens tend to solve the food problem on their own through market activities. But we’re still concerned that the present situation is very similar to that of the 1990s.

Sources say rice prices in North Korea, which had soared since the currency reform, began falling considerably from late March. The N.K. Intellectuals Solidarity, a group of North Korean defectors here in South Korea, quoted a North Korean correspondent as saying that the rice price in the city of Hoeryeong was 1,200 North Korean won per kilogram on March 19 but it fell to 850 won on March 21. Experts view the declining rice prices in North Korea as only a temporary phenomenon resulting from the distribution of reserved rice by the authorities. They note that North Korea is getting more desperate for food, and is therefore increasingly dependent on China.

China is the only country that exports food to North Korea. The North imported 17,000 tons of rice in January and February this year, a 50-percent increase year-on-year. The problem is that North Korea has few countries to fall back on, other than China, in terms of international politics. North Korea’s heavier reliance on China will influence its food and energy security negatively over the long term. China, as a food exporter, will take greater control of trade with North Korea, and the North may have to endure unfair trading. North Korea depends heavily on China for economic cooperation as well. Foreign countries are, no doubt, expecting to secure resources from North Korea. There is a high possibility that resources in North Korea will flow outward at giveaway prices, which is very undesirable for both South and North Korea.

There are diverse opinions about potential solutions to ease the food shortages in North Korea. During the 13th United Nations Human Rights Council on March 15, a Swiss representative stressed that North Korea should make greater efforts to increase food production rather than depending on aid from the international community. That is, North Korea needs to exert its own efforts by improving the food management system as well as by expanding family-based farming and allowing incentives. Mr. Kwon says, apart from international aid, the South Korean government needs to provide assistance to North Korea from a long-term perspective to help the North stand on its own.

Food aid is considered a humanitarian act, but under the current circumstances, it’s hard for the South Korean government to provide massive food aid to North Korea. Yet, the government won’t necessarily ban private relief groups from providing humanitarian aid to North Korea. It’s necessary to encourage the private organizations to engage in relevant activities vigorously, while securing transparency for a more effective provision of aid. From a longer perspective, the government could also provide assistance to North Korea consistently, though only on a small scale, in order to help the communist neighbor nurture its own ability to boost agricultural production independently.

The food crisis is directly related to the survival of North Korean people. Unfortunately, the food problem is getting more serious year after year. Along with food aid on the humanitarian grounds, the international community needs to show consistent interest in this matter so North Korea can eventually resolve the food shortage on its own.


[Interview] U.S. State Department Recognizes Defector-Turned-Professor
I don’t think I’m qualified for this honorable award. I’m really grateful for receiving it. I believe the award is not for what I’ve done but for what I will have to do and for many North Korean people who are still leading hard lives. I hope this award will give hope and courage to my fellow North Koreans. It is yet another acknowledgement of the international community’s love and interest in North Korean defectors and the North Korean human rights issue.

This is Lee Ae-ran, a former North Korean defector who now serves as a professor at a South Korean university, expressing her impressions of winning the Award for International Women of Courage in March. Around International Women’s Day every year, the U.S. State Department confers this award on 10 women leaders from around the world who have contributed to promoting human rights for women. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton explained that Professor Lee has taken the lead on improving the quality of life and education of North Korean defectors in South Korea and contributed to letting the public know the dire human rights abuses in North Korea. During the awarding ceremony on March 11th, first lady Michelle Obama delivered a congratulatory address.

It felt like if I was dreaming. I was wondering if all this was really happening. We, North Korean defectors, are so used to difficulty and unhappiness, and I just couldn’t believe the goddess of fortune smiled on me. Am I really allowed to enjoy good luck? I shook hands with Michelle Obama, the first lady of the U.S., the world’s most powerful country, and she even praised me. Also, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, one of the prominent women leaders in the world, directly mentioned my name and encouraged me. During the awarding ceremony, I realized the virtues leaders have and what I should learn to become a leader.

Professor Lee is the first North Korean defector to earn a doctoral degree in South Korea. It’s been 13 years since she escaped North Korea, her four-month-old son in her arms. In North Korea, Lee majored in food engineering in a college in Shinuiju and worked at the Science and Technology Committee, a similar agency to the Korea Food and Drug Administration in South Korea. Unfortunately, she faced discrimination and social restraint because her grandparents had defected to South Korea. Lee finally fled from North Korea in 1997. It wasn’t easy to keep up with her studies in South Korea because she had to earn her livelihood. But she never gave up on her studies in the hope of fulfilling her dream and giving courage to younger North Korean defectors struggling for success, just as she did.

I had to study, so I couldn’t hold a job. I could hardly afford to pay my living expenses. I even suffered from depression due to my financial difficulties. Fortunately, I was entitled to a scholarship. I thought if I failed to complete my studies even with the scholarship, other North Korean newcomers would have fewer opportunities to receive scholarships. That meant I would inflict damage on my fellow North Koreans. So I studied very hard and I was able to earn a doctoral degree. Also, I couldn’t give up because of my son. If I didn’t handle my work properly, I couldn’t tell my son to study hard, could I? I thought I should be a confident mother.

Currently, Lee serves as the director of the North Korean Food and Culture Research Institute. She started lecturing in Kyungin Women’s College this year to devote herself to promoting North Korean traditional food in the South Korean public. She has committed herself to fostering the expertise she accumulated in North Korea and to reducing the gap between South and North Korea. And her steady efforts are producing results little by little. She has also been assisting women defectors overcoming their own difficulties and encourages them to stand on their own two feet, while providing scholarships to elementary and middle school students from North Korea. Her activities have, no doubt, greatly contributed to many defectors’ resettlement in South Korean society. In addition to providing material support to younger newcomers, she is willing to offer them some advice, based on her experience.

From time to time, I feel it is more difficult, in a sense, to resettle here in South Korea than to escape North Korea. In my experience, however, I can say for sure that freedom is guaranteed and democracy works in South Korean society. In North Korea, no matter how hard people may try and no matter how enthusiastic they are, they can’t achieve anything. In South Korea, where the principles of a free democracy are ensured, you can produce results as long as you continue to mount fresh challenges and try hard in a responsible, honest and faithful manner. I’d like to tell North Korean newcomers not to give up however difficult their lives are. It’s important for them to remember the resolution they had at the time of escaping North Korea and do their best here in the South.