Dust mixed with water or mud
It is estimated that in 1996, the diet of North Koreans consisted of thirty percent “wild agricultural products.” People ate anything they could: roots, bark, grains, various berries, leaves, tubers, rice shoots, by-products and residues from alcohol and soy fermentation, mushrooms. Even dust mixed with water or mud was consumed to trick the stomach—this mixture caused constipation, often fatal. *1
The regime of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) is considered by the Western world to be the most totalitarian system of modern times. In satellite images, this communist country appears as an unlit black spot. The light began to fade in the early 1990s, following the collapse of the Soviet Union. The failing economy and flawed system plunged into darkness. Power plants fell apart, and hungry people stole pieces of copper wire from power lines to buy food.
In the 1990s, the country experienced one of the greatest humanitarian crises of our times. The famine, which lasted from 1995 to 1999, was called the “Arduous March.” In its propaganda campaign, the party referred to the narrative from Kim Il-sung’s era, describing the struggle against thousands of enemies in 20 degrees below zero, amidst heavy snowfall and hunger, but with a red flag. Suffering was incorporated into patriotic behavior, while the use of the word “famine” was banned because it suggested government failure.
People began eating grass, and bark from trees, ground into flour, became a popular food item available at illegal markets. Human flesh also appeared there. After the collapse of the food distribution system, people displayed incredible ingenuity in obtaining food. They learned to process inedible plants to make them edible. Nets for sparrows were hung on balconies, and homemade traps for small animals were constructed. People, driven to desperation, searched for undigested corn kernels in the feces of livestock. They also learned to collect rice grains and other edible components from residues scraped off the floors of port warehouses where food products were stored.
Famine became a tool of repression and a way to deal with Kim Jong-il’s political opponents, who were sent to labor camps where they died quickly without food. Regions with low support for the regime were deprived of food supplies. Foreign food aid was taken over by the state and distributed according to political criteria, rewarding those who supported the regime.
Despite the scale of the disaster, top DPRK officials lived in luxury, importing luxury goods from China and Europe. Hundreds of forced laborers worked in many countries around the world, and their earnings were used by the Korean Workers’ Party to fund a luxurious lifestyle.
Nearly 2.5 million people died, and life expectancy decreased by an average of 6-7 years.
Since 2018, new reports have emerged about the country’s economic problems related to hunger and malnutrition. The situation has been worsened by restrictions related to the coronavirus pandemic and harsh sanctions imposed on the DPRK due to the lack of agreement on nuclear weapons. The authorities provide guidance on what citizens should eat in the face of shortages of basic products. Turtle meat and pheasant hunting are being promoted.
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1* “North Korean Refugees: Witness Accounts” by Juliette Morillot and Dorian Malovic. W.A.B. Publishing, Warsaw 2012. Page 163