This editorial appears in the newspaper of the ruling Workers’ Party, Rodong Sinmun. Amid warnings of severe food scarcity in the impoverished nation. Which has suffered in recent years from extreme weather, international sanctions, and the effects of COVID-19.
Despite worsening hardships and reported food shortages, the official newspaper of North Korea has stated that the country should refuse foreign aid, comparing it to “poisoned confectionery.”
Rodong Sinmun, the newspaper of the ruling Workers’ Party, warned against accepting economic aid from “imperialists” who use aid as a “trap to pillage and subjugate.”
According to the newspaper, eating this poisoned candy in an effort to boost the economy is a bad idea.
It follows warnings of a severe food scarcity in the nation, which in recent years has endured floods. Typhoons, and international sanctions aimed at halting its nuclear and missile programs.
Due to the effects of COVID-19, the country, ruled by Kim Jong Un as a totalitarian dictatorship, has also seen a sharp decline in trade with China, one of its only main external food sources.
The majority of UN agencies and Western aid organizations have fled North Korea.
Yonhap, a South Korean news outlet, reported on Wednesday, citing an unnamed source, that approximately 700 prisoners in three North Korean prisons. Including the capital city of Kaechon, had perished of starvation and disease over the previous two years.
The inter-Korean affairs ministry in Seoul, the Unification Ministry, declined to comment on the report.
On Tuesday, the UN warned of a possible increase in recent fatalities from starvation in certain provinces of North Korea.
A ministry official told reporters, “Food production has decreased from the previous year. And there may be distribution issues due to a change in their food supply and distribution policy.”
South Korea’s rural development agency assessed North Korea’s crop production in December at 4.5 million tonnes, down 3.8% from 2021.
The agency cited heavy summer rains and other weather conditions as a significant cause.
Unification Minister Kwon Young-se stated that Pyongyang had requested assistance from the World Food Programme, the food agency of the United Nations, but there had been no progress due to disagreements over monitoring issues.
North Korea’s top officials are expected to convene at the end of February to discuss a “fundamental change” to the country’s agricultural policy, according to state-run media.
Despite concerns about food security, Pyongyang has continued to conduct military demonstrations. Including multiple missile tests, in recent weeks and months.
As Kim Jong Un’s sister warned of “using the Pacific as our firing range.” It launched two ballistic missiles off its east coast on Monday.
The incident occurred just two days after North Korea launched an intercontinental ballistic missile into the ocean off Japan’s west coast, a move characterized by state media as an effort to bolster its “fatal” nuclear attack capability.
According to Japan’s Ministry of Defense, missile launches “threaten the peace and security of Japan, the region, and the globe.”
