Korea

3.5 Million North Koreans Have Now Starved To Death
BBC News, August 31, 1999

Up to 3.5m people have died of starvation in North Korea since 1995 and up to 300,000 have fled over the border to China, a Seoul-based charity says. And a United States congressman just back from North Korea hints at the possibility that Pyongyang could shelve plans for the launch of a new long-range missile in exchange for food. The Buddhist charity Good Friends has based its estimates on interviews with over 1,000 North Koreans living illegally in three provinces in China. It estimates that there are at least a 140,000 refugees who have fled to China in search of food, and says that the figure could reach 300,000. They face being sent back to North Korea, where they are likely to be punished for leaving. The charity's president, the Venerable Pomnyun, said at the launch of their report, based on analysis of the interviews with refugees, that the death toll from the famine in the North had to be estimated at 3.5m people since 1995.

Drought, Heat Attack DPRK
Xinhua, July 11, 2000

The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) has been hit by a sustaining drought and heat this year, the Korean Central News Agency reported Tuesday. According to the report, maize, rice and other crops were badly affected by the sustaining heat and drought, which left roots of rice plants rotten and non-paddy crops dried up in some areas on the west coast, including Pyongyang, South Pyongan province, North Hwanghae province and Nampo city. In consequence, agricultural production this year is expected to suffer a sharp drop, said the report.

South Korea Plans to Loan Imported Grain to North Korea
Associated Press, September 9, 2000

South Korea plans to import a large amount of grain from foreign countries and loan it to hunger-stricken, communist North Korea, a top government official said Saturday. Unification Minister Park Jae-kyu told leaders of South Korea's political parties that North Korea asked South Korea to loan it up to 1 million tons of grain during high-level government talks in Pyongyang late last month. "The North wants to get as much grain as possible and also wants it as soon as possible," said Chung Kam-kyu, a ministry spokesman, relaying the minister's remarks. For a sixth straight year, North Korea's farm industry was damaged by bad weather this year, forcing the country to depend on outside aid to feed its people. In past months, North Korea has reported heat waves, drought and floods. ... North Korea needs 4.7 million tons of grains to feed its 22 million people annually, but it usually produces less than 3.5 million tons, Seoul officials say. Since the mid-1990s, up to 2 million North Koreans have died of starvation, according to U.S. officials.