The number of “food-poor families” has recently grown as North Korea’s spring hunger season intensifies, worsening the already severe seasonal food shortages.
“The number of starving families in Sakju county and other agricultural districts in North Pyongan province is increasing daily,” a Daily NK source in North Pyongan province said recently. “They are barely surviving on grain borrowed at high interest.”
North Korean farming villages suffer spring lean periods every March as grain stores from the previous year’s harvest run out.
To borrow food during spring, one must repay double or triple the amount during the autumn harvest, perpetuating the vicious cycle of food shortages. Despite these harsh terms, families facing immediate starvation have no choice but to borrow grain at high interest.
In one neighborhood watch unit in Sakju county, 12 of 23 households had either barely any food or no food at all.
“Even when farmers work themselves to exhaustion for the entire year, they struggle to survive for two or three months because they’re left with very little food after delivering their rice quotas to the state and military,” the source said. “Families with many members run out of food especially quickly.”
Rice merchants who are aware that spring food shortages are worsening in agricultural communities lend food to rural residents at exorbitant interest rates.
“Urban rice merchants who understand the difficulties facing rural communities are targeting families suffering food shortages,” the source said. “They provide 1 kilogram of grain in spring on credit and collect 2 kilograms at harvest, making a substantial profit.”
Even now, urban merchants are bringing rice and corn to several rural districts and lending it on credit. Rural residents recognize this as essentially loan sharking but reluctantly borrow the grain anyway to avoid immediate starvation during the spring hunger season.
“Rural residents know perfectly well that borrowing grain is like drinking poison,” the source said. “However, they pay the high interest out of desperation to do anything just to survive from one day to the next.”
“The poorer the family, the more they rely on credit, falling into a vicious cycle where debts grow year after year,” the source added. “If they cannot repay their spring debt in autumn, their debt doubles the following year.”
This means if someone borrows 2 kilograms of rice this spring, they must pay back 4 kilograms in autumn. If they cannot pay it back in autumn, the debt grows to 8 kilograms the following year.
“To resolve the food shortages faced by rural residents, the state must reduce the amount of rice it takes,” the source said. “Food shortages will continue to worsen as the state ignores rural residents’ hardships and forcibly collects the state’s rice quota.”
April 03, 2025 at 12:55PM
by DailyNK(North Korean Media)