North Korean famine
The orphaned kotjebi first appeared "en masse" in the mid-1990s in the wake of the North Korean famine, which collapsed the food distribution system. In an effort to "stabilize the livelihood of vagrants throughout the country", the North Korean government established special "Children's Detention Camps" in 1995, which were effectively rundown apartments. Because of poor conditions in the detention camps children have died of malnutrition.