DATE=8/19/98
TYPE=BACKGROUND REPORT
NUMBER=5-41177
TITLE=NORTH KOREA FAMINE
BYLINE=ROGER WILKISON
DATELINE=BEIJING
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: A U-S CONGRESSIONAL STAFF DELEGATION THAT JUST CONCLUDED
A ONE-WEEK VISIT TO NORTH KOREA SAYS 300-THOUSAND TO 800-THOUSAND
PEOPLE HAVE DIED ANNUALLY AS A RESULT OF FOOD SHORTAGES IN THE
ISOLATED COMMUNIST STATE. CORRESPONDENT ROGER WILKISON REPORTS
MEMBERS OF THE DELEGATION SAY THE FOOD SHORTAGES CONTINUE DESPITE
MASSIVE INTERNATIONAL AID, BUT NORTH KOREA IS NOT ON THE BRINK OF
COLLAPSE.
TEXT: THE DELEGATION FROM THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES'
INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS COMMITTEE WAS GIVEN WHAT ITS LEADER
--MARK KIRK -- CALLED UNPRECEDENTED ACCESS TO REMOTE AREAS AND
WAS ALLOWED TO VIDEOTAPE EVERYTHING ITS FOUR MEMBERS SAW. THE
FOOTAGE THE CONGRESSIONAL STAFF MEMBERS SHOWED REPORTERS
(WEDNESDAY) IN BEIJING FEATURED IMAGES OF EMACIATED CHILDREN,
SOME OF WHOM APPEARED TO BE VICTIMS OF LONG-TERM MALNUTRITION.
THE FOOD SHORTAGES IN THE SECRETIVE COMMUNIST COUNTRY WERE CAUSED
BY TWO YEARS OF FLOODING, FOLLOWED BY A SEVERE DROUGHT LAST YEAR
THAT PUSHED NORTH KOREA'S INEFFICIENT COLLECTIVIZED FARMING
SYSTEM TO THE BRINK. MR. KIRK SAYS THE MOST CONSERVATIVE
ESTIMATE BASED ON U-S GOVERNMENT SOURCES IS THAT AT LEAST
900-THOUSAND PEOPLE HAVE DIED FROM FAMINE-RELATED ILLNESSES
DURING THE PAST THREE YEARS.
/// KIRK ACTUALITY ///
WE ARE ESTIMATING THAT, OF NORTH KOREA'S APPROXIMATELY
22 TO 23-MILLION PEOPLE, THREE TO 800-THOUSAND DIE
ANNUALLY FROM THE FOOD SHORTAGES, PEAKING IN 1997.
/// END ACTUALITY ///
MR. KIRK SAYS MOST OF THE DEATHS WERE FROM SUCH ILLNESSES AS
TUBERCULOSIS, PNEUMONIA, AND DIARRHEA RATHER THAN STARVATION.
THE BIPARTISAN DELEGATION SAYS THE PROSPECTS FOR OCTOBER'S
HARVEST ARE BETTER THAN IN YEARS PAST, BUT WILL NOT COVER NORTH
KOREA'S NEEDS BECAUSE THE PYONGYANG GOVERNMENT HAS FAILED TO
IMPLEMENT ANY SIGNIFICANT REFORMS THAT WILL REVERSE ITS ECONOMIC
DECLINE.
MR. KIRK SAYS FOOD AND MEDICAL ASSISTANCE DONATED BY THE
INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY HAS SAVED LIVES, BUT HAS CREATED A
DEPENDENCE ON FOOD AID.
/// KIRK ACTUALITY ///
THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY FEEDS EVERY CHILD IN NORTH
KOREA UNDER THE AGE OF SEVEN. BUT WHAT YOU WILL NOTE IF
YOU VISITED THERE IS THAT CHILDREN OVER THE AGE OF SIX
DECLINE IN HEALTH STATUS BECAUSE THEY ARE NO LONGER
COVERED BY THE INTERNATIONAL FEEDING PROGRAMS.
/// END ACTUALITY ///
MR. KIRK SAYS THE COUNTRY'S HOSPITALS HAVE NO FOOD, NO X-RAY
FILM, NO ASPIRIN. HIS COLLEAGUE, MARIA PICA, SAYS CONDITIONS IN
RURAL AREAS ARE EXTREMELY DIFFICULT.
/// PICA ACTUALITY ///
IF I WERE TO USE ONE WORD TO DESCRIBE OUR VISIT TO THE
RURAL AREAS, IT WOULD BE -- MISERABLE.
/// END ACTUALITY ///
MS. PICA SAYS HOSPITALS AND PRIMARY SCHOOLS HAVE EXTREME
SHORTAGES OF BASIC RESOURCES SUCH AS FOOD AND WATER. SHE AND HER
COLLEAGUES SAY NORTH KOREANS ARE SURVIVING ON WHAT THEY DESCRIBE
AS ALTERNATIVE FOOD -- HERBS AND CORNSTALKS MASHED INTO POWDER
AND OFTEN MIXED WITH FLOUR TO MAKE NOODLES AND CAKES.
PETER BROOKES -- AN AIDE TO INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS COMMITTEE
CHAIRMAN BENJAMIN GILLMAN -- SAYS THE DELEGATION CONCLUDED THERE
IS LITTLE LIKELIHOOD OF ANY CHANGE IN NORTH KOREA AFTER THE
COUNTRY'S LEADER -- KIM JONG IL -- BECOMES PRESIDENT, AS
EXPECTED, ON SEPTEMBER 9TH.
/// BROOKES ACTUALITY ///
I THINK NORTH KOREA CONTINUES TO BE RATHER INSECURE AND
PARANOID, BUT IS PERHAPS WILLING TO ENGAGE MORE WITH THE
OUTSIDE WORLD. I THINK CHANGE IS UNLIKELY, AND I THINK
BELIEFS BY SOME ANALYSTS IN THE WEST THAT NORTH KOREA IS
ON THE BRINK OF COLLAPSE IS PREMATURE.
/// END ACTUALITY ///
MR. BROOKES SAYS TOP NORTH KOREAN OFFICIALS ADMIT THEIR COUNTRY
IS EXPORTING MISSILES TO THE TUNE OF 500-MILLION DOLLARS A YEAR,
BUT WILL NOT SPECIFICALLY ACKNOWLEDGE THAT IT IS SELLING SUCH
HARDWARE TO IRAN AND PAKISTAN. HE SAYS SUCH SALES ACCOUNT FOR
ONE-THIRD OF NORTH KOREA'S YEARLY EXPORTS.
/// BROOKES ACTUALITY ///
AND THEY SAID THAT THEY WOULD BE GLAD TO STOP THIS
PROLIFERATION OF MISSILES IF THE UNITED STATES WOULD BE
WILLING TO COMPENSATE THEM ACCORDINGLY...THIS IS
UNACCEPTABLE TO THE UNITED STATES.
/// END ACTUALITY ///
MR. BROOKES ALSO SAYS THE NORTH KOREANS DO NOT APPEAR TO BE FULLY
COMMITTED TO THE SUCCESS OF TALKS WITH CHINA, SOUTH KOREA, AND
THE UNITED STATES AIMED AT ESTABLISHING A LASTING PEACE ON THE
KOREAN PENINSULA. HE SAYS WHAT PYONGYANG WANTS OUT OF THE TALKS
IS THE CHANCE TO DEVELOP CHANNELS OF BILATERAL COMMUNICATION WITH
THE UNITED STATES. (SIGNED)
NEB/RAE
19-Aug-98 7:56 AM EDT (1156 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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