North Korea is again facing a major famine, with concerns mounting over the possible impact on some of the world’s poorest people.

Serious food shortages in the country have already been made worse by a disastrous attempt to revalue the nation’s currency, which drove up inflation and majorly disrupted the economy. Pak Nam-Ki, the former head of the government’s planning and finance department, was shot last week after being blamed for the affair (AFP).

Problems with currency reform also disrupted the black market, notes the Times, meaning another avenue for obtaining food closed. “Hunger killed millions of North Koreans in the 1990s, and threatens to do so again,” says the paper in an editorial, where it also urges the world to send food aid and China to bring pressure to bear on the totalitarian regime.

A recent report from the ‘Good Friends’ group claimed thousands were dying of hunger in North Korea. The NGO notes that in March and April the country is between the period where last year’s rice is exhausted and this year’s barley can be harvested.

“Given that more than 300 people have died in Sinuiju, where no one died from starvation even during the March to the Hardship, the situation is irreversible,” it quotes an unnamed worker as saying earlier this year. “When the hardship period has yet to arrive and the situation is this dire, it only shows that our country is slowly facing the end. If the situation of our city is as serious as this, then I can’t imagine how South Hamgyong, Jagang, and Kangwon Provinces are coping.”

See also

3rd North Korean logger attempts to defect in Russia, propelled by dream of ‘freedom of life’ – AP

North Korea hit by Seoul move to end valuable sand imports – Financial Times

Nation divided over possible N.K. collapse – Korea Herald

Image: Korea / NASA