No end in sight for North Korea's malnutrition crisis

Abstract

North Korea's food crisis has deepened since the death of Kim Jong-il, and despite recent aid deliveries, malnutrition rates remain high throughout the country. Justin McCurry reports.Relief agencies have warned that millions of North Koreans are malnourished, with the most vulnerable facing starvation in the coming months, despite reports that the impoverished state has received food aid from China and South Korea.The warning comes after the sudden death of the North Korea's former leader, Kim Jong-il, put on hold a possible deal in which it was preparing to accept 240 000 tonnes of food aid from the USA in return for suspending its uranium enrichment programme, which would give it a further means of developing nuclear weapons.Late last month, just weeks after Kim's youngest son, Kim Jong-un, was named the North's new leader, reports said thousands of Chinese lorries had been seen crossing the border to deliver shipments of rice. The Tokyo Shimbun, a daily newspaper in Japan, earlier reported that China had agreed to provide North Korea with 500 000 tonnes of rice and 250 000 tonnes of crude oil.China provides 45% of North Korea's food, according to the Council on Foreign Relations in New York. South Korea's Government cut off official aid in 2008 after its conservative president, Lee Myung-bak, ended the country's “sunshine” policy of engagement with its neighbour.As the North's new leadership warned the South against having military drills near their maritime border, it accepted a shipment of 180 tonnes of flour to primary schools and day-care centres from the Seoul-based Korea Peace Foundation. South Korea's Government has said it will not resume large-scale aid provision until the North begins dismantling its nuclear weapons programme, but it does allow civic groups to send essentials for children, such as flour and medicine.Shipments of food, medicine, and other aid from the South to the North fell dramatically last year, according to the Unification Ministry in Seoul, with total aid, including private donations, down to US$17·5 million, a fall of more than 50% from the previous year. The recent donations aside, UN agencies say that 3 million of North Korea's 24 million people will require food aid this year, adding that children are particularly vulnerable to malnutrition.Marcus Prior, Asia spokesman for the World Food Programme (WFP), said the recent donations were welcome, but would not solve the problem of chronic malnutrition. “Malnutrition in North Korea is largely chronic, and requires investment over time”, said Prior, who has visited the country several times. “All our monitoring missions over the past year to 18 months have reported a worrying level of malnutrition, either as told to them by local officials, or which they have witnessed with their own eyes.”According to a report by WFP and the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, North Korea faces a food deficit of 414 000 tonnes this year. “Health officials interviewed reported a 50% to 100% increase in the admissions of malnourished children into paediatric wards compared to last year, a sharp rise in low birth rate, and the mission team observed several cases of oedema [dropsy]”, the assessment said. Most at risk are children, pregnant and lactating women, and elderly people living alone. Two-thirds of the 3 million people considered most vulnerable live in the food-poor eastern and northern provinces; the at-risk group also includes 13 000 people in paediatric wards and 12 000 children living in orphanages.The WFP report revealed levels of stunting in children at 32%, while 18% were underweight. “The high national prevalence rate for stunting is a result of inadequate nutrition over a prolonged period and reflects the consequences of limited energy intake, limited protein and fat content, limited dietary diversity, and recurrent or chronic diseases”, it said.North Korea has depended on foreign supplies of food since the mid-1990s, when a famine killed an estimated 1 million people. But aid agencies with a presence in the country said the situation had deteriorated. “The Chinese reportedly sent a large amount of food, but there is no formal confirmation of quantity or food type”, said Ken Isaacs of Samaritan's Purse, a US non-governmental organisation whose members have made several trips to North Korea over the past 6 months. “It is still our position that an immediate, large response is needed to respond to the significant food need.” North Korea's food crisis has deepened since the death of Kim Jong-il, and despite recent aid deliveries, malnutrition rates remain high throughout the country. Justin McCurry reports. Relief agencies have warned that millions of North Koreans are malnourished, with the most vulnerable facing starvation in the coming months, despite reports that the impoverished state has received food aid from China and South Korea. The warning comes after the sudden death of the North Korea's former leader, Kim Jong-il, put on hold a possible deal in which it was preparing to accept 240 000 tonnes of food aid from the USA in return for suspending its uranium enrichment programme, which would give it a further means of developing nuclear weapons. Late last month, just weeks after Kim's youngest son, Kim Jong-un, was named the North's new leader, reports said thousands of Chinese lorries had been seen crossing the border to deliver shipments of rice. The Tokyo Shimbun, a daily newspaper in Japan, earlier reported that China had agreed to provide North Korea with 500 000 tonnes of rice and 250 000 tonnes of crude oil. China provides 45% of North Korea's food, according to the Council on Foreign Relations in New York. South Korea's Government cut off official aid in 2008 after its conservative president, Lee Myung-bak, ended the country's “sunshine” policy of engagement with its neighbour. As the North's new leadership warned the South against having military drills near their maritime border, it accepted a shipment of 180 tonnes of flour to primary schools and day-care centres from the Seoul-based Korea Peace Foundation. South Korea's Government has said it will not resume large-scale aid provision until the North begins dismantling its nuclear weapons programme, but it does allow civic groups to send essentials for children, such as flour and medicine. Shipments of food, medicine, and other aid from the South to the North fell dramatically last year, according to the Unification Ministry in Seoul, with total aid, including private donations, down to US$17·5 million, a fall of more than 50% from the previous year. The recent donations aside, UN agencies say that 3 million of North Korea's 24 million people will require food aid this year, adding that children are particularly vulnerable to malnutrition. Marcus Prior, Asia spokesman for the World Food Programme (WFP), said the recent donations were welcome, but would not solve the problem of chronic malnutrition. “Malnutrition in North Korea is largely chronic, and requires investment over time”, said Prior, who has visited the country several times. “All our monitoring missions over the past year to 18 months have reported a worrying level of malnutrition, either as told to them by local officials, or which they have witnessed with their own eyes.” According to a report by WFP and the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, North Korea faces a food deficit of 414 000 tonnes this year. “Health officials interviewed reported a 50% to 100% increase in the admissions of malnourished children into paediatric wards compared to last year, a sharp rise in low birth rate, and the mission team observed several cases of oedema [dropsy]”, the assessment said. Most at risk are children, pregnant and lactating women, and elderly people living alone. Two-thirds of the 3 million people considered most vulnerable live in the food-poor eastern and northern provinces; the at-risk group also includes 13 000 people in paediatric wards and 12 000 children living in orphanages. The WFP report revealed levels of stunting in children at 32%, while 18% were underweight. “The high national prevalence rate for stunting is a result of inadequate nutrition over a prolonged period and reflects the consequences of limited energy intake, limited protein and fat content, limited dietary diversity, and recurrent or chronic diseases”, it said. North Korea has depended on foreign supplies of food since the mid-1990s, when a famine killed an estimated 1 million people. But aid agencies with a presence in the country said the situation had deteriorated. “The Chinese reportedly sent a large amount of food, but there is no formal confirmation of quantity or food type”, said Ken Isaacs of Samaritan's Purse, a US non-governmental organisation whose members have made several trips to North Korea over the past 6 months. “It is still our position that an immediate, large response is needed to respond to the significant food need.”