DATE=5/10/99
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
NUMBER=2-249161
TITLE=N. KOREA / FAMINE (L-ONLY)
BYLINE=JOHN LARKIN
DATELINE=SEOUL
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: FAMINE-HIT NORTH KOREA HAS ADMITTED FOR THE FIRST TIME
THAT HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF ITS CITIZENS HAVE DIED FROM HUNGER.
JOHN LARKIN REPORTS FROM SEOUL THAT THE CONFESSION COMES AS THE
COUNTRY STRUGGLES TO SURVIVE THE LEANEST MONTHS OF THE YEAR.
TEXT: A SENIOR OFFICIAL WITH NORTH KOREA'S FLOOD DAMAGE
REHABILITATION COMMITTEE SAYS.THE NATION'S MORTALITY RATE JUMPED
TO MORE THAN NINE DEATHS PER THOUSAND PEOPLE LAST YEAR. THE
OFFICIAL, JON IN-CHAN, SAYS THE FIGURE IS AN INCREASE FROM SIX
POINT EIGHT DEATHS PER THOUSAND IN 1995, WHEN THE FOOD SHORTAGES
FIRST BEGAN.
THE STATISTICS SHOW THAT BY OFFICIAL RECKONING, UP TO
220-THOUSAND NORTH KOREANS HAVE DIED FROM FAMINE OVER THE PAST
FOUR YEARS. WESTERN AID AGENCIES PUT THE DEATH TOLL FAR HIGHER
-- ANYWHERE FROM ONE TO THREE MILLION PEOPLE.
MR. JON REJECTED THESE ESTIMATES, BUT CONCEDED THE COUNTRY'S
BIRTH RATE HAS DECLINED. HIS COMMENTS LEND CREDENCE TO REPORTS
THAT THE COMBINATION OF HIGH MORTALITY AND LOW BIRTH RATES HAS
FORCED A SIGNIFICANT DROP IN NORTH KOREA'S POPULATION, WHICH IS
ESTIMATED AT 22 MILLION.
LAST WEEK WESTERN AID OFFICIALS TOURED SOME OF THE WORST-HIT
AREAS IN THE COUNTRY'S NORTH EAST, WHERE THEY SAW CHILDREN AT
NURSERIES SHOWING SIGNS OF SEVERE MALNUTRITION.
GOVERNMENT FOOD STOREHOUSES ARE ALL-BUT BARE AND THE NEXT HARVEST
IS STILL SOME WEEKS OFF. NORTH KOREA'S COLLECTIVE FARMS, ALREADY
CRIPPLED BY MISMANAGEMENT, HAVE BEEN RUINED BY A SERIES OF
FLOODS, DROUGHT AND OTHER NATURAL DISASTERS.
THE DIRECTOR OF A CHONGJIN PEDIATRIC HOSPITAL TOLD THE AID
OFFICIALS THAT THREE-THOUSAND CHILDREN WERE TREATED LAST YEAR FOR
MALNUTRITION. 550 WERE BROUGHT IN FROM JANUARY TO MARCH THIS
YEAR. (SIGNED)
NEB/JL/FC/PLM
10-May-99 4:08 AM EDT (0808 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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