Archive for the ‘North Korea’ Category
Video: North Korean children bear brunt of food crisis
Posted by UpdatedFrequently on October 7th, 2011
Posted in North Korea 
Tags: Al Jazeera, Async, Brunt, Createelement, Document Location, Food Crisis, Ga Document, Google, Google Analytics, Http Www Google, Insertbefore, Js, Korean Children, Korean Food, North Korea, North Korean, Protocol, Text Javascript, Ua 
Comments OffNorth Koreans escape from hunger
Posted by UpdatedFrequently on August 9th, 2011
From IRIN, a story about North Koreans fleeing the food shortages within their country.
Thailand is fast becoming a transit country for North Koreans fleeing severe food shortages and poverty, authorities say.
Thousands now make their way along the more than 5,000km, often-dangerous route, through China and Laos to the kingdom en route to South Korea.
Since 2004, when just 46 North Korean asylum seekers were reported by Thailand’s Immigration Bureau, the numbers have jumped to nearly 2,500 in 2010.
Thailand is the easiest route to access and the most accommodating, compared with Mongolia or Vietnam, where border security is tighter and in some cases, those fleeing have been sent back to face harsh punishment.
The trend is likely to continue, judging by a recent report by the World Food Programme (WFP), citing a bitter winter, crop loss, and lack of resources to secure cereal supplies from outside the country.
“We are at a crossroads right now: if we manage to get food into the country we can reach thousands of hungry children and their mothers on time,” Claudia von Roehl, WFP country director, told IRIN from Pyongyang, the North Korean capital.
Posted in North Korea Tags: Asylum Seekers, Bitter Winter, Border Security, Children And Their Mothers, Country Director, Country Thailand, Crop Loss, Food Agency, food security, Food Shortages, Harsh Punishment, Hungry Children, Immigration Bureau, Korean Capital, North Koreans, Roehl, Survival Strategies, Transit Country, Wfp Country, Winter Crop, World Food Programme Comments OffTo Avoid revolution, Will North Korea Become A Client State Of China?
Posted by War News Updates Editor on July 24th, 2011
China Key To N Korea Skirting Revolution — The AustralianNORTH Korea’s hostile and isolated regime might avoid an Arab Spring-style internal revolt or any other challenge to its six-decade grip on power by becoming a client state of China, a report by a respected think tank said yesterday.
The study, described as the most systematic and thorough public analysis of the threats posed by Pyongyang, warns of its nuclear potential and the possibility of the illicit sale of weapons to other rogue states and entities.
The International Institute of Strategic Studies, which is behind the 216-page report, estimates North Korea has enough plutonium for four to 12 nuclear bombs, though the actual figure is most likely to be fewer than 10.
Read more ….
My Comment: The executive summary of this report can be read here.
Posted in North Korea Tags: Institute Of Strategic Studies, International Institute Of Strategic Studies, Nuclear Bombs Comments OffTo Avoid revolution, Will North Korea Become A Client State Of China?
Posted by War News Updates Editor on July 24th, 2011
China Key To N Korea Skirting Revolution — The AustralianNORTH Korea’s hostile and isolated regime might avoid an Arab Spring-style internal revolt or any other challenge to its six-decade grip on power by becoming a client state of China, a report by a respected think tank said yesterday.
The study, described as the most systematic and thorough public analysis of the threats posed by Pyongyang, warns of its nuclear potential and the possibility of the illicit sale of weapons to other rogue states and entities.
The International Institute of Strategic Studies, which is behind the 216-page report, estimates North Korea has enough plutonium for four to 12 nuclear bombs, though the actual figure is most likely to be fewer than 10.
Read more ….
My Comment: The executive summary of this report can be read here.
Posted in North Korea Tags: Arab, China China, Decade, Entities, Executive Summary, Institute Of Strategic Studies, International Institute Of Strategic Studies, North Korea, Nuclear Bombs, Pyongyang, Regime, Revolt, Rogue States, Spring Style, Think Tank, Weapons Comments OffNorth Korea asks for more rice from other governments
Posted by UpdatedFrequently on February 10th, 2011
It appears that North Korea may be suffering through another famine as it is asking for food aid from individual governments. This presents a big change for the isolated dictatorship for in the past they only relied on assistance from the World Food Programme.
From the Guardian, writer Julian Borger gives us more details on North Korea’s change in asking for help.
The WFP and the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has begun a food needs assessment in North Korea, but the WFP said that last year it managed to raise only a fifth of the budget it needed for its North Korean aid programme.
That shortfall may be one of the reasons Pyongyang is trying a direct approach this year, observers said.
“This year, all 40 North Korean embassies have been ordered by Pyongyang to ask governments for food.
Posted in North Korea, World News Tags: Agriculture Organisation, Bad Weather, Dictatorship, Diplomat, Embassies, Famine, Famines, Fao, Farming Practices, Food Aid, Harvests, Julian Borger, Kim Jong Il, Mid 1990s, North Korea, Observers, Pyongyang, Shortfall, Wfp, World Food Programme Comments Off
