Powered by IFAD

Rural poverty in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea

Although the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (D.P.R. Korea), with its egalitarian system, does not have extremely poor or marginalized groups or classes, a succession of natural disasters and chronic food shortages have created a situation of generalized poverty and acute hunger. Recurrent food shortages severely affect poor people throughout the country. People in rural mountain areas are particularly vulnerable to extreme climatic conditions and soil erosion caused by severe floods. 

For most of the 1990s the agriculture sector was at the centre of emergency strategies to meet the overwhelming need for food. Despite the efforts of the government and international donors, food security remains precarious for many people in D.P.R. Korea.

Who are the country’s poor rural people and where are they?

The most disadvantaged of the country’s poor people live in areas that are poor in land and other resources, particularly in remote mountainous areas. Families with fewer able-bodied workers and larger numbers of children and/or elderly or sick members, tend to become relatively poor, as household income is not adequate to feed and care for all their members. 

Why are they poor?

In hilly areas, good farmland is scarce and soil and climatic conditions are ill-suited to agriculture. A succession of natural disasters such as devastating flooding, drought and hailstorms hit the country in the second half of the 1990s. At that time the economy was already in decline because of the loss of markets in the countries that had been members of the Soviet Union. Essential inputs such as fuel, fertilizer and farm machinery were costly and in short supply. The overall results of natural disasters and economic crisis were  decreased agricultural yields and production, reduced incomes and living standards and increased poverty. During recurrent and acute food shortages, the government’s emergency food distribution system could not reach the poorest areas because of their remoteness and the lack of transport infrastructure.

Source: IFAD