Famine and Reform in North Korea

IIE Working Paper No. 03-5

47 Pages Posted: 6 Oct 2004

See all articles by Marcus Noland

Marcus Noland

Peterson Institute for International Economics; East-West Center

Date Written: July 2003

Abstract

North Korea has been experiencing a food emergency for more than a decade, and in the 1990s experienced a famine that may have claimed one million lives. The crisis is distinguished by its protracted nature, and while conditions have eased somewhat in recent years, the situation remains quite precarious and the country could lapse back into famine.

This paper examines the origins of the food crisis, the impact of the 1990s famine, and the prospects for resolution of the North Korean emergency in light of economic reforms initiated in 2002 and the subsequent diplomatic confrontation over the country's nuclear program.

Keywords: famine, North Korea, reform of socialist systems, transitional economies

JEL Classification: P20, O53, I11

Suggested Citation

Noland, Marcus, Famine and Reform in North Korea (July 2003). IIE Working Paper No. 03-5, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=515023 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.515023

Marcus Noland (Contact Author)

Peterson Institute for International Economics ( email )

1750 Massachusetts Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20036
United States

East-West Center ( email )

1601 East-West Road
Honolulu, HI 96848-1601
United States

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