DATE=5/10/99
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
NUMBER=2-249161
TITLE=N. KOREA / FAMINE (L-ONLY)
BYLINE=JOHN LARKIN
DATELINE=SEOUL
CONTENT=
VOICED AT: 

INTRO:  FAMINE-HIT NORTH KOREA HAS ADMITTED FOR THE FIRST TIME 
THAT HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF ITS CITIZENS HAVE DIED FROM HUNGER.
JOHN LARKIN REPORTS FROM SEOUL THAT THE CONFESSION COMES AS THE 
COUNTRY STRUGGLES TO SURVIVE THE LEANEST MONTHS OF THE YEAR.

TEXT:  A SENIOR OFFICIAL WITH NORTH KOREA'S FLOOD DAMAGE 
REHABILITATION COMMITTEE SAYS.THE NATION'S MORTALITY RATE JUMPED 
TO MORE THAN NINE DEATHS PER THOUSAND PEOPLE LAST YEAR.  THE 
OFFICIAL, JON IN-CHAN,  SAYS THE FIGURE IS AN INCREASE FROM SIX 
POINT EIGHT DEATHS PER THOUSAND IN 1995, WHEN THE FOOD SHORTAGES 
FIRST BEGAN.

THE STATISTICS SHOW THAT BY OFFICIAL RECKONING, UP TO 
220-THOUSAND NORTH KOREANS HAVE DIED FROM FAMINE OVER THE PAST 
FOUR YEARS.  WESTERN AID AGENCIES PUT THE DEATH TOLL FAR HIGHER 
-- ANYWHERE FROM ONE TO THREE MILLION PEOPLE.

MR. JON REJECTED THESE ESTIMATES, BUT CONCEDED THE COUNTRY'S 
BIRTH RATE HAS DECLINED.  HIS COMMENTS LEND CREDENCE TO REPORTS 
THAT THE COMBINATION OF HIGH MORTALITY AND LOW BIRTH RATES HAS 
FORCED A SIGNIFICANT DROP IN NORTH KOREA'S POPULATION, WHICH IS 
ESTIMATED AT 22 MILLION.

LAST WEEK WESTERN AID OFFICIALS TOURED SOME OF THE WORST-HIT 
AREAS IN THE COUNTRY'S NORTH EAST, WHERE THEY SAW CHILDREN AT 
NURSERIES SHOWING SIGNS OF SEVERE MALNUTRITION.

GOVERNMENT FOOD STOREHOUSES ARE ALL-BUT BARE AND THE NEXT HARVEST
IS STILL SOME WEEKS OFF.  NORTH KOREA'S COLLECTIVE FARMS, ALREADY
CRIPPLED BY MISMANAGEMENT, HAVE BEEN RUINED BY A SERIES OF  
FLOODS, DROUGHT AND OTHER NATURAL DISASTERS.

THE DIRECTOR OF A CHONGJIN PEDIATRIC HOSPITAL TOLD THE AID 
OFFICIALS THAT THREE-THOUSAND CHILDREN WERE TREATED LAST YEAR FOR
MALNUTRITION.  550 WERE BROUGHT IN FROM JANUARY TO MARCH THIS 
YEAR. (SIGNED)

NEB/JL/FC/PLM







10-May-99 4:08 AM EDT (0808 UTC)
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Source: Voice of America
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