by PressNorth Korean government opens state-run grocery stores to provide the population with rice
How the North Korean government fights food shortages
North Korea remains one of the most closed countries in the world with dictatorial rule. The state’s economy is extremely weak, the population is impoverished and lacks access to many of the resources that are an integral part of people’s lives in other countries. The situation is also worsening in terms of food. The North Korean government has announced the opening of grocery stores, but the main problem is the lack of goods there.
According to the authorities, the stores were opened in order to regulate the balance of supply and price of rice. However, the products themselves are simply not available for sale. And this situation is observed not only in small localities, but also in large cities. The services of such stores are mainly used by government employees who receive food in the form of rations.
Initially, the government of North Korea planned to provide the local population with grain for three months at below-market prices. However, that plan has failed because of the shortage of the commodity itself. Last month, only rice and corn were sold under the government program, a share of which was Chinese rice, which was imported by the former chairman of the country’s military commission. 80 percent of this shipment from the PRC was for emergency use. According to some sources, the Korean authorities decided to take this stock because of its origin and problems with China and the former chairman. The fact is that the official was fired after he violated the rules of importing products during quarantine, and arbitrarily imported grain into North Korean territory.
Not long ago, the country’s government announced a plan to produce 7 million tons of grain annually. However, the realization of this goal was a failure — in 2018 production was only 4.95 million tons, which was the lowest figure in the last 10 years. After such a fiasco, the authorities had to accept the fact that the plan was also unrealistic. Now the party says it will gladly accept food aid from the world community. The government wants to sell the products obtained this way through state stores.
This year the country also had a poor harvest due to the drought. Livestock has also suffered, and its numbers have declined. In addition, there is a shortage of mechanized machinery in North Korea, which also affects the development of agriculture. According to experts, to feed the country’s population of 26 million people 5.5 million tons of food is needed, and at the moment there is a shortage of 1 million tons of food.