Humanitarian aid needed to ease military tension

• Published date: 05 March 2023
• Publication title: The Korea Times

Well-fed people are rarely seen in photos and videos of North Korea.

One notable exception is its leader Kim Jong-un who is severely obese. Kim's second child, his daughter Ju-ae, who has been seen accompanying her father frequently at official events in recent months, also appears to be very well-fed. According to Radio Free Asia, North Koreans were angered to watch the plump, well-clothed third grader, comparing her with their skinny children.

Food shortages have been a chronic problem in the isolated country. Nearly half of its residents are malnourished, with one-fifth of children having stunted growth problems. And the food crisis seems to have aggravated sharply in recent years.

Last Thursday, Kim called on state-managed farms to step up their grain production and meet their goals for this year "without fail," wrapping up a four-day plenary meeting of the Workers' Party of Korea.

It was unusual for Pyongyang to hold the yearly or twice-yearly plenary session in little more than two months. At a similar meeting in December, the North identified grain production as the No. 1 task among 12 major economic priorities for 2023. Some watchers say the reclusive country could face the worst famine since the "Arduous March" of the late 1990s when 3 percent to 5 percent of its 20 million population starved to death.

Reasons vary. Some things are beyond the North's control, such as its mountainous terrain and increasingly frequent droughts and floods. Prolonged economic sanctions, though resulting from North Korea's violation of international rules, are also an external factor. The COVID-19 pandemic and consequent lockdowns for nearly three years were critical blows to grain imports. The ongoing Russia-Ukraine war sharply raised grain prices.

However, the food shortage is also an artificial crisis for at least two reasons.

One is military. According to a unification ministry spokesperson, if North Korea had spent the money for all its missile launches last year on food imports, it would have been able to buy more than 1 million tons of grain to cover its annual food shortage.

The other is systemic. For unknown reasons, Kim recently tightened the state's grip on "free...