"No grass to pluck" ... "Starvation deaths" occur in North Korea's mountainous areas
"The grass to be plucked has not yet grown."

Radio Free Asia (RFA), a US radio station, reported that "In the remote mountains of North Korea, people are starving to death one after another due to food shortages."

According to the report, a source living in the hinterlands of Hamgyongnam-do said, "Early this month, a resident in his 40s who lived in the same village eventually died due to food shortages."

He continued, "The woman who died lost her husband two years ago. She raised three children by herself and was the poorest family in the village. People were very disappointed."

The source said, "Last December, a resident in her 60s who lived in the village also starved to death. Two people have already died in one village due to the death of a woman this year." As a healthy resident with no chronic illnesses, he was enthusiastically participating in the work on the farm, but the food shortage continued and he was unable to eat properly, so he lost his energy and died."

He went on to say, "Many people die of starvation in mountainous areas far away from cities. The grass has not yet grown to replace it, and there will be more cases of people starving to death."

South Korea's National Intelligence Service (NIS) reported to the National Assembly's Intelligence Committee on the 7th that the number of starvation deaths in North Korea was "not to the point of threatening the North Korean regime, but it is difficult to accurately calculate the scale of the deaths."

The causes of starvation include North Korea's grain policy, distribution process problems, and the COVID-19 virus infection situation.

According to the National Intelligence Service, North Korea is short of about 800,000 tons of rice annually.
2023/03/14 09:49 KST