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| China-Japan-Koreas |
| North Korea orders ration cut to help feed army |
| 2008-10-23 |
| Oct. 23 (Bloomberg) -- North Korea cut rations for farmers in order to stock up on supplies for its military, a South Korean aid group said. ``Central party officials, after receiving this year's harvest reports from the Agricultural Ministry, were told that the lower-than-expected amount of harvest would not allow them to meet the quota for military stockpiles,'' Buddhist aid group Good Friends, which obtains information through contacts within North Korea, said in its newsletter today. All regions were told to set aside only three to five months of rations for the farming community, instead of the whole year, and divert the rest to the military, it said. The agency was among the first aid groups to disclose earlier this year that food shortages in the communist country were worsening. North Korea, a country of 23 million people, has been plagued by years of famine caused by floods, drought and economic mismanagement. The South Korean government said in August it is considering a United Nations request to help raise $60 million to buy food and other essential supplies for its neighbor. The UN Food and Agriculture Organization forecast North Korea's grain harvest this year would reach 3.5 million tons. The South Korean embassy in Beijing estimates that North Korea has harvested about 4.4 million tons, leaving a shortfall of about 990,000 tons. North Korea faces a ``potential humanitarian crisis,'' the UN said in April. Aid groups, including Good Friends, have since reported deaths from starvation. |
| Posted by:tu3031 |
| #6 That is exactly what Gore is trying to do. Get everyone else to 'cut back' on their lifestyle so he and his elitist friends can enjoy their private-jet-set lifestyle. As well as meet in exotic locations which doesn't have enough space to park all the private jets. |
| Posted by: CrazyFool 2008-10-23 16:46 |
| #5 Its like we are looking into a crystal ball for our country if we fall asleep at the wheel. Its not hard to imagine the liberal illuminati party forcing us to ration things like energy, food, or our pocket change due to rising prices, no domestic energy, and the removal of small businesses from the country. |
| Posted by: Zorba Glolusing8532 2008-10-23 16:34 |
| #4 yeah makes since, let the ones growing your food starve. civilians get ready for some more tree bark stew |
| Posted by: chris 2008-10-23 16:09 |
| #3 Exactly! Give that man a cigar! Same as in any other dictatorship. This is one of the reasons Africa is such a hellhole. |
| Posted by: CrazyFool 2008-10-23 14:07 |
| #2 So the farmers will starve, and suckers like us and the SKors will rush in with food aid to feed them, so that the army can eat. |
| Posted by: Steve White 2008-10-23 13:32 |
| #1 This should be example number one when discussing the concept of money as a fungible resource. The Norks will always pay for the things they want the most with there own money and then beg for the rest. In effect what any donation to them from the UN or anywhere else does is to fund the Nork military. "......then let them die and decrease the surplus population....." |
| Posted by: AlanC 2008-10-23 12:59 |