1990s North Korean famine
1994–2000 famine in North Korea
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Key Takeaways
- The North Korean famine (Korean: 조선기근 ), dubbed by the government as the Arduous March ( 고난의 행군 ), was a period of mass starvation together with a general economic crisis from 1994 to 2000 in North Korea.
- The famine stemmed from a variety of factors.
- A series of floods and droughts exacerbated the crisis.
- North Korea attempted to obtain aid and commercial opportunities, but failed to receive initial attention.
- Out of a total population of approximately 22 million, somewhere between 240,000 and 3,500,000 North Koreans died from starvation or hunger-related illnesses, with the deaths peaking in 1997.
The North Korean famine (Korean: 조선기근), dubbed by the government as the Arduous March (고난의 행군), was a period of mass starvation together with a general economic crisis from 1994 to 2000 in North Korea. During this time there was an increase in defection from North Korea which peaked towards the end of the famine period.
The famine stemmed from a variety of factors. Economic mismanagement and the loss of Soviet support caused food production and imports to decline rapidly. A series of floods and droughts exacerbated the crisis. The North Korean government and its centrally planned system proved too inflexible to effectively curtail the disaster. North Korea attempted to obtain aid and commercial opportunities, but failed to receive initial attention.
Estimates of the death toll vary widely. Out of a total population of approximately 22 million, somewhere between 240,000 and 3,500,000 North Koreans died from starvation or hunger-related illnesses, with the deaths peaking in 1997. A 2011 U.S. Census Bureau report estimated the number of excess deaths from 1993 to 2000 to be between 500,000 and 600,000.
Arduous March
The term "Arduous March" or "March of Suffering" became the official metaphor for the famine following a state propaganda campaign in 1993. The Rodong Sinmun urged the North Korean citizenry to invoke the memory of a propaganda fable from Kim Il Sung's time as a commander of a small group of anti-Japanese guerrilla fighters. The story, referred to as the Arduous March, is described as "fighting against thousands of enemies in 20 degrees below zero, braving a heavy snowfall and starvation, the red flag fluttering in front of the rank".
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