Severe flooding caused by powerful typhoons in 2020 also created lingering effects on this year’s low crop yields. ![]() However, the pandemic has exacerbated hunger. officials estimated 43% of the population was food insecure. However, the closure of the China-North Korea border and North Korean ports has produced even greater suffering by blocking shipments of grain, as well as fertilizer and farming equipment.įood shortages and chronic malnourishment have long been a challenge in North Korea - in 2019, U.N. Targeted sanctions stemming from the regime’s nuclear recalcitrance have resulted in some humanitarian costs. Although trade with China had slightly improved by August 2021 to $22.5 million in Chinese exports, trade levels are still nowhere near pre-pandemic levels. As a point of comparison, in November 2020, Chinese official exports to North Korea were valued at $148,000, a far cry from the nearly $200 million in exports for the same month in 2019. Trade with China, which accounted for more than 90% of North Korea’s total trade volume, declined by more than 80%. However, as economist Bradley Babson explained, the border lockdown “accomplished in a matter of weeks what United Nations Security Council sanctions have failed to achieve since their expansion in 2017.” Heavy economic sanctions levied against North Korea since 2016 had already reduced external trade despite ongoing sanctions evasion. This marks North Korea’s steepest economic decline since the days of massive famine in the 1990s. Like other developing economies, North Korea’s economy has taken a hit, contracting by 4.5% in 2020. ![]() ![]() North Korea was one of the first countries to shut down its borders after Beijing’s announcement about the coronavirus. How dire is the humanitarian situation - and what has been the regime’s response? As I argue in my new book, despite widespread suffering caused by the coronavirus pandemic and border closures, the regime may find a way to muddle through the crisis.
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