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Jodie deVries

BBC News - Charities warn of food shortages in North Korea - 1 views

www.bbc.co.uk/...world-asia-pacific-12563670

northkorea starvation food bbc

shared by Jodie deVries on 10 Mar 11 - No Cached
  • they saw evidence of looming food shortages and alarming malnutrition, including people picking wild grasses to eat.
  • North Korea has suffered major food shortages in the past.
  • A famine in the 1990s saw hundreds of thousands of people - perhaps as many as two million - die of starvation.
  • ...11 more annotations...
  • It is well documented that during food shortages in the North, people will forage for weeds, herbs and wild grasses to supplement their meagre diet.
  • The charity workers
  • spent a week in North Korea earlier this month, invited by the government
  • 50% and 80% of the wheat and barley planted for harvesting in the spring has been killed by the extreme cold of the past two months, as well as potato seedlings.
  • ncrease in malnutrition over the past six months
  • acute cases
  • last vegetable harvest was much poorer than expected.
  • North Korea's embassies have been asking foreign countries to provide aid.
  • One concern of America, which until 2009 was one of North Korea's biggest food donors, is whether food reaches those in need or is given to the military and political elite.
  • Aid from South Korea was stopped too - apart from one small shipment last year - in protest at the lack of progress on denuclearisation.
  • The current issue of possible humanitarian need is set against difficult political relations after a military confrontation last year in which the North shelled a South Korean island near their disputed sea border.
  • Jodie deVries on 10 Mar 11
     
    How does North Korea's communist government and nuclear technology influence the lives of its people? Ravenscroft, Nick. "Charities warn of food shortages in North Korea." BBC News. BBC, 24 Feb. 2011. Web. 9 Mar. 2011. .Summery: Recently a group of Humanitarians went into North Korea as invited by the Government. They discovered that North Korea is in a desperate situation. They are quickly running out of food and their people are malnourished. The harvest of wheat and barley has been mostly killed by a severe cold and their veggie harvests have been low. Some people are resorting to eating wild grasses. In 1990 North Korea faced a similar situation and millions of their people died. Now North Korea is pleading for help but because of their past actions people are hesitant to give it. The US, South Korea and the UN are afraid that food they may give to North Korea will only go to serve the government elite and the military. They are also holding this over North Korea to change Nuclear policy. Reflection: I want to simply say North Korea brought this upon itself, which is somewhat true, but I can't because the people who are starving are not the people who have caused the problems. It is extremely unfair that the people who have done nothing wrong are being starved because of the actions of their government. I wish there was a simple solution but unfortunately there just isn't. Questions: 1) What options do the US, South Korea and the UN have to get people in North Korea food?2) If the North Korean government is pleading for help, will they be willing to compromise for it?3) How is the North Korean government going to deal with the issues they have created for themselves?
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