N. Korea in need of 1.5 million tons of rice, S. Korean activist says

Posted on : 2006-12-26 20:12 KST Modified on : 2019-10-19 20:29 KST

The international community is required to provide at least 1.5 million tons of rice to North Korea to help prevent a repeat of the famine that struck the communist state in the mid-1990s, a South Korean civic activist said Tuesday.

"North Korea is most likely to face a serious food shortage next year, as many countries move to cut assistance after the North's nuclear test," said Ven. Beopryun, head of Good Friends, a Seoul-based civic relief organization, at a roundtable meeting on North Korea hosted by the Peace Foundation.

He said that three million people died of starvation in the mid-1990s when the North Korean government provided its people with 3.5 million tons of food a year, including outside aid. This year's rice supply is estimated at 3.07 million tons, he added.

"People in North Korea are more prepared for the food shortage, having experienced it before. They have realized that they won't survive only by depending on the government and its food rations."

The food crisis is likely to start next year among the most disadvantaged section of society, estimated at a maximum of 6 million people, he said.

Seoul, Dec. 26 (Yonhap News)

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