From printing coupons as a substitute for money to raising ornamental black swans for food, North Korea has been forced to innovate to deal with economic problems and food shortages as the closure of the pandemic borders drags on, Reuters reported. .
With the harvest coming to an end, international observers say North Korea’s food and economic situation is dangerous and there are signs that it is increasing trade and receiving large shipments of humanitarian aid through China.
South Korea’s intelligence service told a closed-door parliamentary hearing yesterday that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un had issued orders urging every grain of rice to be provided and all efforts to be devoted to agriculture, according to lawmakers present at the hearing.
However, the intelligence service estimated that this harvest could be better than last year’s due to the sunnier weather and specified that North Korea is taking steps to reopen its border with China and Russia in the coming months, MPs told reporters.
North Korea has long suffered from food insecurity, with observers arguing that poor governance is exacerbated by international sanctions over its nuclear weapons, natural disasters, and now the COVID-19 pandemic, which has led to unprecedented border closures there.
Kim Jong-un acknowledged the “tense” food situation and apologized for the sacrifices his subjects had to make to prevent the coronavirus epidemic.
But he also assured that the economy had improved this year, and North Korea denied a report by UN investigators this month that thousands of its most vulnerable people were at risk of starvation.
North Korea has not officially reported any cases of coronavirus. UN agencies say North Korea has recently begun allowing aid supplies, and data released by China show a slow increase in trade.
According to various media, citing unidentified sources in North Korea, the central bank is printing cash coupons worth about $ 1 due to a shortage of banknotes from the North Korean currency.
Rimjin-gang, a Japan-based site run by North Korean refugees, said the coupons have been circulating since at least August, in part because paper and ink for official currency no longer come from China.
The shortage of won banknotes may also have been exacerbated by the government’s harsh measures against the use of foreign currency, especially the US dollar and Chinese yuan, which had been widely used before, the Seoul-based North Korean website NK News reported. that he has confirmed the information.
Reuters was unable to confirm the use of the coupons on its own.
This week, North Korean state media promoted the consumption of black swan meat as a valuable food source and assured that the newly developed industrial-scale breeding would help improve people’s lives.
“Black swan meat is delicious and has medicinal value,” party official Rodon Sinmun wrote on Monday.
The study on raising ornamental birds for food began in early 2019, and authorities have ordered schools, factories and businesses to raise food, fish and other animals to increase their self-sufficiency, NK News reported.
“The decision aims to address both the failure of large-scale agriculture to ensure adequate food supplies across the country and the more recent government restrictions on COVID-19, which have largely blocked food and other imports since early 2020. “, writes Colin Tsvirko, who is a senior analytical correspondent for NK News.
