U.N. Agency Reports Worst Drought in 16 Years in North Korea
Despite United Nations sanctions, North Korea’s external trade grew by an estimated 4.7 percent to $6.55 billion last
year, the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency, a government-invested organization in South Korea, said on Friday.
By CHOE SANG-HUNJULY 21, 2017
SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea is suffering its worst drought in 16 years, a United Nations agency reported on Friday, raising fears of worsening food shortages in the country, where children
and other vulnerable groups have been malnourished for years.
Also on Friday, South Korea’s central bank, the Bank of Korea, said that the North Korean economy grew by about 3.9 percent last year.
In September, after the North’s fifth nuclear test, South Korea did not offer humanitarian aid to tens of thousands of flood victims in North Korea, saying
that the country should divert the money spent on weapons to buy food for its people.
" the agency said in a statement. that Increased food imports, commercial or through food aid, would be required during the next three
months at the peak of the lean season, ensuring adequate food supply for the most vulnerable, including children and elders,
North Korea’s production of staple crops for this year, including rice, corn, potatoes
and soybeans, has been severely damaged by prolonged dry spells "threatening food security for a large part of its population," the agency, the Food and Agriculture Organization, said in a report prepared in collaboration with the European Commission’s Joint Research Center.
