Between Rain and Hunger: A Short History of the North Korean Food Crisis from 1995 to 2025

Between Rain and Hunger: A Short History of the North Korean Food Crisis from 1995 to 2025

The food situation in North Korea has been in a chronic crisis for the past 30 years. In particular, in the summer of 1995, record-breaking torrential rains hit the country, flooding about 15% of farmland. Agricultural production, which was already exhausted, was devastated, resulting in starvation on the scale of millions of people. This marked the beginning of the Great Famine, known as the "March of Suffering," and drew the attention of the international community.

In response to this devastation, the World Food Program (WFP) began providing assistance that same year, providing $635 million worth of food through 2023. However, the improvement in food supply was only temporary, and climate change, structural agricultural weakness, and political isolation have prevented the situation from improving since then.

Flooding and pest damage have been reported in 2024, and protein shortages are particularly severe. Kim Jong-un has clearly stated that the food problem is a "political issue" and has attempted to address it through aquaculture projects, but the effects have been limited. There is also grain assistance from Russia, but this has not led to a fundamental breakthrough.

Hunger continues to plague the lives of the people.