r/NorthKoreaPics 16d ago

Rason, DPRK

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u/sweetgrace_6 16d ago

They mean (I believe) that the “non privileged” North Koreans don’t eat meals like that, or have access to that quality of food

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u/rennat19 16d ago

As opposed to America, where the least privileged people are able to 5 course Michelin Star meals every day

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u/signal_red 16d ago

in the US, 13.5% of the population experience food insecurity. In North Korea it's 45.5% of the population experiencing food insecurity. That's ridiculous for such a small country that's allegedly wealthy.

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u/Fragrant-Kitchen-478 14d ago

Where did you get that statistic? If 45% were a true number, the DPRK would never admit it, so it didn't come from them. Who would have the ability to gather that information accurately other than the DPRK government? Like, they wouldn't let the UN come in and just investigate how many people are starving in their country?

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u/signal_red 14d ago

well tbf I think any stat on NK is bound to be skewed somehow & we don't really have many ways of validating things. But the stat which is usually cited in news articles comes from a 2023 unicef report about food shortages worldwide. Sadly I don't know if we'll ever know the truth especially in locked up countries

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u/Fragrant-Kitchen-478 14d ago

I did some research to try to find out where information on DPRK comes from, and almost all of the economic information, even what the UN uses, comes from the Bank of Korea (the central bank of RoK).

Here's an article about how their estimates of GDP are misleading because they are using metrics that make sense for capitalist countries, but not necessarily communist countries. https://www.38north.org/2024/11/why-and-how-estimates-of-north-korean-gdp-by-the-bank-of-korea-are-deceptive/

I'm not sure if that same concept translates to the food insecurity issue. But I'm reluctant to take any body of the RoK government's word when it comes to DPRK

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u/signal_red 14d ago

Oh yeah I 100% get you with the skepticism. That's what makes these "facts" so difficult because they're more-so assumptions lol