North Korea Faces Life-Endangering Food Shortage In The Wake Of COVID
There are very few places in the world that are as shrouded in mystery as North Korea. The Korean peninsula was divided by the United States and Russia after World War II, and less than a decade later, an attempted invasion of South Korea carried out by the Soviet-backed Northern state resulted in the prolonged, mass-casualty stalemate known as the Korean War (via History). After the war, North Korea retreated in on itself, and the country has remained in a state of near isolation ever since, which is enforced by a powerful totalitarian regime.
However, even a country that allows for minimal contact with the outside world cannot escape global events. North Korea's intense, militaristic brand of isolationism wasn't strict enough to secure the nation's borders against the dual threats of the COVID-19 pandemic and the rising tide of inflation, and recent breakdowns in the North Korean economy have left the country on the precipice of famine.
What Caused The Food Shortage In North Korea?
A report carried out by 38North tells us that a number of different factors play a role in the current North Korean food shortage. The stressors on the nation's supply chain include an aggressive policy of self-isolation geared toward curtailing the spread of the COVID-19 virus, domestic inflation, and the global rise in food prices. The report also notes that corn is an increasingly common fixture of North Korean citizens' pantries, due to the fact that rice, generally the more popular crop, has become inaccessibly expensive.
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A History Of Food Shortages In North Korea
Food insecurity is by no means an unfamiliar issue for the citizens of North Korea, a large portion of whom subsist on simple staples like rice and corn porridge, even at the best of times. The glaring discrepancy between the lavish lifestyle of the nation's totalitarian dictator, Kim Jong Un, and the impoverished common people becomes readily apparent when you examine Un's expansive appetites. In 2016, while many North Koreans struggled to find food, Kim Jong Un held a cooking competition in the style of "Master Chef." While most of the nation's citizenry survives on meager meals, Un dines on rare spirits and meat-laden pizzas.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/north-korea-faces-life-endangering-food-shortage-in-the-wake-of-covid/ar-AA17nrUU
And he's the guy Trump admires.
