Is There A Famine In North Korea?

North Korea has endured persistent food insecurity since the collapse of its public distribution system in the 1990s, with the 1994–1998 famine claiming up to 3 million lives. The crisis has deepened in recent years due to COVID-19 restrictions, border closures, rising food prices, and poor harvests. By 2022, the UN estimated that 40% of North Koreans were malnourished, and evidence suggests that the country’s current food insecurity is the worst since the 1990s./ Given the limited availability of reliable data, this report analyzes the period from 2018 to 2024 using open-source reporting, GIS mapping, international trade data, and famine theories by Amartya Sen, Thomas Malthus, and Frederick Cuny. While absolute certainty is unattainable, the study offers a comprehensive overview of North Korea’s food crisis by integrating social, economic, agricultural, and political factors.