North Korea as a ComplexHumanitarian Emergency-Assessing Food Insecurity(22.9月)/Marcus Noland.PIIE
North Korea is a complex humanitarian emergency with food insecurity at its core.
As of August 2022, both quantity and price data point to a deteriorating situation,
made worse by the regime’s self-isolating response to the COVID-19 pandemic
and the war in Ukraine. Food availability has likely fallen below minimum human
needs and on one metric is the worst since the 1990s famine. Food insecurity
in North Korea is not only a humanitarian issue but also a strategic one. In this
context, the diplomatic leverage conferred by aid is unclear, nor is North Korea’s
priority as a recipient, in light of competing needs elsewhere. Resolution of North
Korea’s chronic food insecurity would require changes in the regime’s domestic
and foreign policy commitments, but this seems unlikely due to enablement by
China and Russia