The country's last full farm crop, in 1994, met only two-thirds of that year's need for grain. In 1995 and 1996, hail storms, torrential rains, and flooding ruined harvests and left the land strewn with boulders and thick mud. Now the agricultural system has collapsed. World Vision has been watching indicators of approaching famine in North Korea for the past two years. People are selling household goods to buy food.
Communities have few or no dogs and cats because they've been eaten.
In some areas, people are making gruel from the bark of pine trees. The government has banned funerals as too depressing. Large numbers of the population are moving toward the capital city of Pyongyang in the hope of finding food there. Other humanitarian agencies are joining the effort. Now, however, its people need vastly more aid.