In mid-June, I visited Uganda for an agricultural survey. It fulfilled a long-held wish after turning 60 — an impossible dream had I still lived in North Korea. My key takeaway: Ugandans enjoy a better quality of life than North Koreans.
This observation echoes a memory from around 2010. A North Korean friend, returning from an African trade mission, whispered, “Even beggars eat fried chicken in Africa.” While an exaggeration, it highlighted that North Koreans lived worse than those in countries they once aided.
Uganda is considered one of North Korea’s traditional allies in Africa. President Yoweri Museveni, who has been in power since 1986, has visited North Korea three times, meeting with Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il. He also sent a congratulatory message to Kim Jong Un last August. North Korea first established diplomatic relations with Uganda in 1963, but severed them in January of the following year. Later, in July 1972, diplomatic relations were restored, and in December of that year, North Korea established a permanent mission in Uganda’s capital, Kampala (North Korea withdrew its mission from Uganda in October 2023).
Many North Koreans still pride themselves on living better lives than the citizens of their African allies, but this is far from the truth. At least in my experience, Uganda is more prosperous than North Korea.
N. Koreans live in utter poverty
The World Bank defines the poverty line as $1.90 per day. By my estimate, over 60% of North Koreans live below this threshold, with some surviving on less than $1 daily.
The root cause lies in the Kim Jong Un regime’s policies focused on maintaining power. In North Korea, land ownership — crucial for food production — is unequal, and farms are vulnerable to natural disasters. While resources exist, they’re inaccessible without political connections, leaving the lower class facing starvation and malnutrition.
Recent reports indicate that in South Pyongan province’s Yeongwon county, 50% of children under 5 suffer from malnutrition due to food shortages. This statistic exemplifies how political power overshadows rational thinking in North Korean society.
In such extreme poverty, addressing basic needs is paramount. North Korea desperately needs to promote a market economy with bold institutional changes. The key to solving North Korean poverty lies in establishing systems that support a market economy. This requires North Korea’s ruling Workers’ Party to embrace change, and for the North Korean people to demand such change.
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