North Korea defectors cite dwindling food rations, market reliance -study

The majority of North Koreans who resettled in South Korea over the last decade said they never received government rations in the isolated state and had to rely on an informal market to survive, a study issued by Seoul’s unification ministry showed.

The 280-page report on North Korea’s economic and social situation issued on Tuesday was based on interviews with more than 6,300 defectors between 2013 and 2022. The ministry began such surveys in 2010, but this is the first time results have been publicly released.

North Korea has faced serious food shortages in recent decades, including a famine in the 1990s, often exacerbated by natural disasters. Its economy has been hit by international sanctions, as well as slumping border trade during the pandemic.

More than 72% of defectors who arrived between 2016 and 2020 said they never received government food rations in North Korea, the study showed, compared with 62% of those who came before 2000.

About half of the 2016-20 arrivals said they did not receive any salaries or food from work, up from about a third before 2000.

via Reuters