North Korea’s food shortages are so serious that the rations of some military officers have been slashed, Daily NK has learned.
According to a Daily NK reporting partner in South Pyongan Province last Thursday, many officers serving in provincial regions are struggling with food shortages. In fact, some officers in these areas have been receiving only 60% of their allotted rations of rice since January, the reporting partner said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
For ordinary North Koreans, the public distribution system has virtually collapsed, existing in name only ever since the country’s economic deterioration during the 1990s. But some residents of Pyongyang, Workers’ Party cadres, and soldiers still receive rations from the state.
However, with the food situation worsening, even Pyongyang residents and soldiers sometimes fail to receive rations on time or receive corn instead of rice.
The reduction in rations for military officers has led to hardships for entire families, the reporting partner said.
Families of military officers typically rely on rations to survive and even sell the food they receive from the state from time to time to make cash when they need to. The reduction in rations this year, however, has meant there is a growing number of families borrowing money from friends and relatives or doing extra work to make money. The reporting partner said this is leading to more and more problems in the army because officers are unable to focus on their duties.
For example, an officer with an artillery battalion in Pyongsong, South Pyongan Province, recently got in trouble when he was reported to his superiors for going around borrowing rice and money from his neighbors and acquaintances. The officer had little choice because he could not pay the treatment costs for his wife, who was hospitalized for tuberculosis, the reporting partner said.
Daily NK reported in late February that with the military failing to procure enough rice after last year’s harvest, North Korean authorities demanded people contribute five or more kilograms of “patriotic rice.”
Most of the patriotic rice collected from people went into military rice stores managed by the General Rear Services Bureau, but officers are apparently still receiving insufficient rations.
Cho Chung-hee, director of Good Farmers and an expert on North Korean agriculture, told Daily NK that the North Korean military will have a tough time making up its food shortages with domestic supplies because last year’s agricultural production was less than in years past.
“Unless North Korean authorities import grain, they won’t make up the shortfall,” he said.
Translated by David Black. Edited by Robert Lauler.
Daily NK works with a network of reporting partners who live inside North Korea. Their identities remain anonymous due to security concerns. More information about Daily NK’s reporting partner network and information gathering activities can be found on our FAQ page here.
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