According to the Associated Press (AP), citing South Korean intelligence, the DPRK authorities had to start distributing rice to citizens who lack food, as well as to workers and agricultural departments. Natural disasters that hit the country became the cause of the disaster.
“Abnormal heat and drought have led to the loss of the harvest of rice and other grains, as well as to the death of livestock”, - the Interfax said in a statement.
Back in April, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un made a truly sensational statement under an authoritarian regime: speaking at a party conference. Kim urged citizens to prepare for a dire crisis, comparing the situation to the famine that erupted in the mid-1990s.
The National Agency of South Korean Intelligence (NIS) indicated that the authorities of the northern neighbor regard the scale of the disaster as "a matter of national survival." North Korea is on the brink of a severe famine. According to experts in South Korea, the DPRK needs 5.5 million tons of food to cover the food needs of its 26 million citizens. But there is no such amount of provisions in the country. The food shortage at the moment is about 1 million tons. North Korea is now on the verge of depleting its food supply.
Against the backdrop of crop failure and famine, rice in the DPRK has doubled in price. At the beginning of last month, the cost of the main food product stabilized for a short time, but soon prices began to creep up again.
At the same time, experts believe that such a deadly famine, which the country faced in 1996-1999, should not be expected in the DPRK. Then, according to official estimates, from 2 to 3 million people became victims of malnutrition.
China, which is extremely uninterested in the influx of refugees from the DPRK to its territory, can intervene in the food situation in the country. In addition, from a geopolitical point of view, it would be extremely unprofitable for China to allow the DPRK and South Korea to unite into one strong state, ideologically close to the United States. This risk is especially relevant now, when relations between the United States and China have once again become significantly aggravated.