GEIS-新闻详情

North Korea began the summer in a food crisis. A heat wave and drought could make it worse.

2021-07-30 00:00:00.0 华盛顿邮报-世界原网页

TOKYO — At the beginning of the summer, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un described the country’s food situation as “tense” after border closures caused by the coronavirus pandemic and crippling floods. By midsummer, a cycle of grinding heat and record-low rainfall could be a sign of a greater food crisis and hunger ahead.

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Temperatures in North Korea have climbed as high as 102 degrees in some areas this week — a shock in a country where temperatures do not often break 100 degrees. The heat wave has been compounded by a growing drought.

North Korea had gotten 21.2 millimeters, or less than an inch, of rain as of mid-July, an unusually low amount for the country around this time, according to state media.

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It is so hot that state media reports have been repeatedly warning residents about the dangers of dehydration and low sodium levels, especially for the elderly and those at risk of heart disease or stroke. They are urging residents to stay out of the sun, eat more fruits and vegetables, and drink more than two liters (about two quarts) of water per day, according to NK News, which monitors North Korea’s state media.

The extreme conditions could have longer-range effects in a country with poor irrigation systems and an ongoing food crisis, potentially adding pressure to Kim’s regime amid a severe economic squeeze from U.N. sanctions over Pyongyang’s nuclear program.

“North Korea’s food situation was already so bad and the prolonged hot and dry spell is driving it to the rock bottom,” said Cho Han-bum, a senior researcher at the Korea Institute for National Unification in Seoul.

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The heat in North Korea is tied to an unusually intense zone of high pressure over the western Pacific. The “heat dome” — similar to ones that have gripped parts of North America this summer — extends over northeast China, the Korean Peninsula and northern Japan, where numerous record temperatures were set Wednesday.

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This summer’s heat wave in North Korea is one of the top three harshest summers on record, and is particularly notable for its high humidity rate, said Maximiliano Herrera, a Bangkok-based climatologist and weather historian who specializes in extreme weather. Temperatures are expected to drop a bit in a few days, but not by much, he said.

North Korea last year faced its worst economic slump in more than two decades from a combination of blows: closing its border with China in an effort to keep coronavirus infections from spreading, floods and typhoons that caused more damage. The South Korean government said this week that it is monitoring North Korea’s food situation and crop levels, including the effects of the recent heat wave.

North Korea’s Kim calls food situation ‘tense’ as reports of shortages mount

Experts say that the lack of a rural water supply exacerbates the struggles North Korean farmers are facing this year, including the lack of access to trade-dependent items such as fertilizer, fuel and specialized machinery that they can no longer obtain. North Korea has shut down much of its trade activity during the pandemic, and international sanctions have limited the country’s import options for farming activity.

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North Korea agriculture expert Kwon Tae-jin wrote in a recent report that the country is expected to experience significant food shortages this year, including grains and rice. “This amount of shortage is beyond what North Korea can handle on its own,” Kwon wrote in the report, published by the Korea Development Institute, a think tank based in South Korea.

The current food shortage is not as dire as the devastating famine in the 1990s, which killed hundreds of thousands of people, according to North Korean figures, yet estimates by independent experts cite up to 3 million lives lost. But Kim’s rare public warnings about food insecurity in June suggest a level of concern not seen in years.

The extent of potential damage to ordinary North Koreans as well as agricultural industries is unclear because of a lack of information and data. Experts on North Korea’s agriculture, however, anticipate that the conditions would harm the production of many of the country’s food staples, including rice.

“Extreme weather events could inevitably cause a sharp reduction of rice production this year, as well as vegetables and fruits, since the irrigation systems of DPRK are known to be quite poor,” said Kong Woo-seok, a geography professor at Seoul’s Kyung Hee University, referring to the official name of North Korea, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

Kong added that the drought may also affect the country’s fishery and livestock industries.

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“Hot and dry waves may also create serious socioeconomic damage to the daily life of people of DPRK, where air-conditioning and cooling systems are poorly supplied,” Kong added.

Laborers in “weeding battles” at collective farms in North Korea are working long hours to compete against one another picking weeds for payments to buy food, according to a report this week by Radio Free Asia, citing unnamed sources in North Korea. These laborers working in high heat have at times fainted, the report said.

North Korean officials have begun a nationwide effort to save crops from the heat wave, mobilizing workers to water the fields. Agricultural authorities are increasing management of water sources and repairing groundwater facilities, according to a report this week in the state-run Korean Central News Agency.

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“With a persevering willpower, we are on a battle to prevent damages from the high temperature,” according to a July 21 front-page article in Rodong Sinmun, a state-run newspaper.

Kim reported from Seoul. Jason Samenow in Washington contributed to this report.