flickering pictures

Spurred by rising world food prices, local flooding and Pyongyang’s nonsensical economic policies, widespread famine is threatening millions of North Koreans — even more than usual.

From Reuters:

[…] more than half of North Korean households had cut the number of meals they eat each day from three to two and close to three-fourths had reduced their food intake.

The price of rice has risen nearly three times over the last year while that of maize has tripled or even quadrupled, he said, adding that the standard government ration in cities had been cut drastically.

Many people are resorting to scavenging for wild fruits and vegetables, including seaweed, grass and roots, contributing to an apparent rise in malnutrition, de Margerie said.

“They’re simply running out of options,” he said.

In May, even the serious, staunchly anti-sensationalist Economist reported that famished North Koreans are supplementing their diets with twigs and bark. Even in good years, it reported, Kim Jong-Il’s government seems determined to starve its people into submission:

In 2005, after a decent harvest, the regime sought to stamp on burgeoning markets, redirect grain supplies through the public-distribution system and get people to return to their work units: male vendors were banned from markets and then, last year, women under 50. Yet the public system is under strain. Andrei Lankov of Kookmin University says that some cities have not accepted ration coupons for food since last year. It is not just grain itself: electricity and fuel for threshing and transport are also short. People are forced on to the black market, where rice has shot up from 860 won (about $6) a kilo a year ago to 3,100 today. Income per head is perhaps $500 a year.

Image via MSNBC.

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