'Seoul unready to help Pyongyang's food shortages'

In this photo taken on July 27, 2018, women push a cart laden with North Korean soda drinks across a road in Pyongyang. North Korea on Aug. 2 warned its people of "unprecedented" heatwaves that hit the peninsula and urged efforts to save crops against drought that may hamper food production at the impoverished country. AFP-Yonhap

South Korea has no immediate plan to provide food assistance to North Korea, a unification ministry official said Thursday, amid growing concerns about aggravating food shortages in the communist state.

"The government's stance remains unchanged that humanitarian assistance to improve the humanitarian situation for North Korean citizens should continue, which is also shared by the United States," the official told reporters on condition of anonymity. "At this point, however, we are not considering a provision of food on a government level."

North Korea's food situation appears to be worsening, apparently affected by years of droughts and floods. Global sanctions on its regime have also been cited as a major factor putting strain on the country's already fragile food supply system.

In this March 13, 2019, photo, a guide shows samples of food produced at Kumkhop Trading displayed in its show room Pyongyang, North Korea. North Korean factories are filling city store shelves with ever better and fancier snack foods and sugary drinks, while government officials and international aid organizations warn the nation could be on the verge of a major food crisis. AP-Yonhap

In February, North Korea's top envoy to the United Nations, Kim Song, requested emergency food assistance, saying that his country will suffer a food shortage estimated at around 1.5 million tons this year.

In what appears to reflect the sense of urgency, North Korea's media recently emphasized the importance of rice production ahead of the full-swing farming season, saying, "Rice is more precious than gold."

A South Korean think tank projected that the North's output of grains, including rice, reached 4.55 million tons last year, down 160,000 tons from a year earlier.

According to a recent report by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, about 10.9 million people in North Korea ― 43 percent of the total population ― are deemed "food insecure." In particular, one out five children in the North faces "chronic malnutrition."

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un inspects Kwail County in South Hwanghae Province, the county whose economy is based on fruit production, in this September 2017 file photo. KCNA-Yonhap

The unification ministry official declined to provide Seoul's assessment of the food supply situation in North Korea, saying that it awaits globally verified data and statistics.

In 2017, South Korea announced a plan to provide US$8 million worth of assistance to North Korea through international aid agencies. It has been put on the back burner, however, amid a lack of progress in denuclearization talks and the dim prospect of sanctions being eased against Pyongyang anytime soon.

Some observers expect that Stephen Biegun, U.S. Special Representative for North Korea, could discuss with his South Korean counterparts the possible provision of food assistance to the North when he visits Seoul next week. (Yonhap)

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