Sosok.ID – Famine seems to be in front of the residents’ eyes North Korea.
Supreme leader North Korea (Jewelry) Kim Jong Un it is even rumored to have issued a new policy to deal with the disaster.
Namely, by giving punishment to residents who still left food.
The decision was made by the Korean Labor Party amid difficulties Pyongyang feed its people due to various natural disasters this year.
In a directive issued by the party, the government threatened to impose “strong penalties” for anyone deemed failing to protect the country’s economy.
“The form of failure to protect his comrade is to leave food behind and throw it away,” the Labor Party directive.
The threat comes after after August to September, three storms hit North Korea.
Causes damage to rice fields.
The natural disaster has caused North Korea’s economy to suffer even more, after they were hit by international sanctions and the coronavirus pandemic.
China’s allies and neighbors moved quickly by donating rice and 550,000 tons of fertilizer to hoist Pyongyang’s rice fields.
An internal North Korean source told Radio Free Asia that the party’s central committee had ordered citizens to join in finding solutions.
In addition, they are required to begin promoting a food storage system, which the order also aims to protect their socialist system.
“The order also contains a warning that the government will not hesitate to take action if someone is caught throwing away their food,” said the source.
The source, who lives in North Hamgyong Province, highlighted that a decline in grain harvests will make it difficult for Kim Jong Un’s government to feed its people.
Since January, the government has stopped all trading activities because of the corona virus, including the “Panda Country”.
Another tightening that North Korea has made is that people are asked not to hold New Year’s celebrations with lots of food.
Kim’s government asked residents to only provide fruit and vegetables.
While for guests can only eat noodles.
Rice cakes or bread are prohibited from serving.
A second source from Ryangganag province said police patrolled the streets and made sure no one was carrying wheat or rice.
“Food prices went up in supermarkets because both rice and wheat were banned.
“So that the public is also affected,” said the source as quoted by the Daily Mail Wednesday (11/11/2020).
In May, experts stated that Pyongyang could only harvest at least 860,000 tonnes of food, out of the 5.5 million tonnes needed.
Starvation is a threat in an isolated country, which suffered terribly in the 1990s, known as “The Arduous March”.
The economic crisis that occurred in 1994 to 1998 began after the Soviet Union withdrew, exacerbated by floods and drought.
It is estimated that about 3.5 million people from North Korea’s total population of 22 million died, with the peak occurring in 1997.
(Ardi Priyatno Utomo)
This article has been published on Kompas.com with the title “Kim Jong Un Threatens to Punish North Koreans Who Leave Food”
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