North Korea plagued by worst famine, wary of impact

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, second from left, checks crops in a rice paddy in North Hwanghae Province after the September 2020 floods. Korea Times file

By Kang Hyun-kyung

• Published Jun 26, 2023 4:22 PM KST
• Updated Jun 27, 2023 2:23 PM KST

Violent crimes committed by soldiers against civilians increase amid deaths due to worsening starvation, says defector

By Kang Hyun-kyung

Dozens of North Korean soldiers were embroiled recently in a violent dispute with health authorities in the reclusive state, according to a defector.

Citing a source, Lee Ae-ran, an expert in North Korean cuisine, who became the first defector to earn a doctoral degree in the South, said that the deadly clash occurred as the soldiers took collective action against North Korean authorities, which is a rare occurrence in the totalitarian state.

According to Lee, the soldiers arrived in Pyongyang early to prepare for a military parade scheduled for July 27 to mark the 70th anniversary of the Korean Armistice Agreement that halted fighting in the Korean War.

“Some of them had the flu and were separated from other soldiers for social distancing purposes. After they recovered, the soldiers were ordered to go back to their units against their will,” she told The Korea Times in a telephone interview, Friday. “All of the soldiers who participate in the military parade are supposed to get special gifts from Kim Jong-un. The soldiers were upset when they were kicked out and headed directly to the health authorities to confront their decision to send them back to their military units.”

Security personnel guarding the health authorities deterred the rebellious soldiers triggering a clash, which led to some soldiers getting killed.

“In North Korea, challenging the authorities is an unthinkable act,” Lee said. “Collective action, committed by soldiers in particular, is deemed as a serious threat to the regime, because soldiers are the ones who are allowed to be armed. The North Korean regime took the case very seriously because of that.”

Lee said she recently heard numerous accounts of violence involving soldiers, including cases of sexual assault on civilians and theft, adding that North Korean residents have been increasingly anxious of such troops, who locals refer to as bandits. She added that what is happening there reminds her of a sequence of ominous events that had occurred in the North before the great famine in the 1990s.

Among other things, Lee said a food shortage was a critical factor that pushed the soldiers to become violent and rebellious.

“When people are starving, isn't it natural for them to become unruly and harbor resentment toward the government?” she asked.

Her testimony about the violent confrontation involving the soldiers comes as North Korea suffers from an extreme food shortage.

Tim Peters, a Seoul-based American humanitarian activist, said North Korea has been going through severe food shortages since COVID-19.

“My contacts in North Korea confirmed the food situation as very dire, and has been so through the years of the pandemic,” he told The Korea Times.

North Korea has gone through chronic crop shortages for decades.

But this time, activists who are familiar with the North said that the food situation is more severe than in the past. Some said North Korea is experiencing the worst famine since its foundation in 1948.

Peters said COVID-19 dealt a big blow to the impoverished North as an extended border lockdown, which has been in place since May 2020, blocked trade with China.

On top of the pandemic, he added that North Korea's systemic inefficiencies due to its top-down management of the agricultural sector and the development of weapons of mass destruction are also among other reasons causing the worsening food situation in the North.

He said poor people are suffering the most.

“Food shortages to the most vulnerable in the North have been exacerbated by rising food prices that further puts vital food out of the reach of those who need it desperately,” he said.

Deaths due to starvation are increasing in the North and even in its capital, according to media reports. Previously, Pyongyang was thought to be a relatively affluent part of the country.

In a report to the U.N. Human Rights Council, Elizabeth Salmon, the U.N. special rapporteur for human rights in North Korea, said that about 40 percent of North Koreans are malnourished because of food shortages.

Seo Jae-pyeong, president of the Seoul-based non-profit group, Association for North Korean defectors, said that the food situation in the North is even worse than the Arduous March period in the mid-1990s when a great famine killed hundreds of thousands of people.

Despite the dire food situation, Seo said that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is still in control.

“There has been no sign of social unrest whatsoever, because the society is tightly controlled by the Kim regime,” he said. “Even though people died of starvation, their neighbors or families kept their mouths shut about the cause of their deaths because they are not allowed to speak to others about it. Those who breached this rule are sent to prison camps.”

The North Korean regime fabricated the causes of their deaths and told residents that they died because of fever, pneumonia or other diseases, according to Seo.

The great famine of the mid-1990s created drastic social changes in the North, such as the introduction of certain capitalist elements. Markets popped up across the totalitarian country as hungry residents became determined to make a living by selling products smuggled in from China.

It remains to be seen how the latest famine will affect North Korean society. But Lee said that the famine might lead to social unrest or political chaos in the North.

“These days, people are different. North Koreans are no longer obedient to the regime,” she said.

Seo, however, remained cautious about discussing repercussions caused by the famine, such as a groundswell of protest against the North Korean leader.

“This is not the first time North Korea was hit hard by food shortages,” he said.

The famine occurred at a time when rumors about the North Korean leader's health are rampant.

Based on an estimate, the National Intelligence Service said that Kim is believed to weigh around 140 kilograms.

He is also believed to be suffering from a cardiac-related disease and diabetes. In addition, Kim is rumored to have a kidney problem. At the same time, his children are still too young to ascend to power.

If Kim was to be unable to rule as the nation battles the famine, few know how a possible leadership vacuum could impact the North.