Tag: food

South Korea Asks Its Citizens to Not Eat at North Korean Restaurants

| February 19, 2016

South Koreans are asking their citizens to not eat at North Korean sponsored restaurants overseas to cut hard currency going to the Kim regime.  Should the US government takes this mentality a step forward and ban travel to North Korea by its citizens to also cut hard currency going to the regime, not to mention stopping the constant trickle of American detainee issues that have to be dealt with:

South Koreans’ stomachs are the latest front in the standoff with North Korea.

South Koreans have been told not to eat at North Korea’s restaurants around the world, although such visits aren’t illegal, the South’s Foreign Ministry said Wednesday.

Most of the restaurants are in China, and Chinese and other nationalities frequent them more than South Koreans do, so analysts see little impact. But the move is symbolic of a tougher stance from the South since North Korea’s nuclear test last month and its recent rocket launch, which many outsiders see as a banned test of ballistic missile technology.  [Associated Press]

You can read more at the link.

Kim Jong-un Claims North Korea’s Food Factory Products Are the “Envy of the World”

| January 25, 2016

If anyone knows about high quality food products it is Kim Jong-un:

Kim Jong Un provided field guidance at a food production plant on Saturday, Pyongyang time, marking his first public factory visit of 2016.

Pyongyang’s state-controlled media outlet KCNA reported Kim called on factory workers at Gold Cup Athletes Comprehensive Food Factory to produce more gustatory and nutritious food products for the state’s athletes.

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South Korean outlet Newsis reported it’s likely the plant was recently renovated and Kim was marking the new opening with an official visit.

Kim expressed satisfaction with the factory and said it had improved over the past year.

“Great improvements to the lives of the people will come, if everyone, like the factory’s cadres and employees here who make [North Korea] products that are the envy of the world, work with ambition and determination for the good of the [North Korean people],” Kim reportedly said.

The North Korean leader added cadres from other factories should learn from the plant’s example.

Pyongyang has previously stated the country’s top priority is to transform itself into an “economic powerhouse.”  [UPI]

You can read the rest at the link.

CFR: North Korean Nuclear Brinkmanship Strategy Showing Modest Results

| February 20, 2015

Here is what the wonks over at the Council for Foreign Relations have to say about North Korea nuclear brinkmanship strategy:

nk flag

North Korea’s food situation and its overall economy appear to be stable despite increased sanctions on the communist regime — an indication that Pyongyang’s policy of simultaneously pursuing nuclear and economic development is working, a U.S. expert said Wednesday.

Scott Snyder, a senior researcher on Korea at the Council Foreign Relations, cited the U.N. Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) saying in its latest assessment that the North’s food production is estimated at 5.94 million tons in 2014, compared to the 5.93 million tons in 2013-2014.

That represents the highest level since the North’s economic collapse in the mid-1990s.

Experts on North Korea’s agricultural sector have said that the increase in the country’s food production is attributable to agricultural reform measures that center on allowing farmers to keep at least one third of their harvests.

“The FAO assessment of North Korean food production is consistent with anecdotal reports that North Korea has made productivity improvements in recent years and that the North Korean economy is stable if not growing slowly,” Snyder said in an article on the CFR’s website.

“This means that North Korea’s two-pronged policy of simultaneous economic and nuclear development is showing some modest results on the economic side. The problem is that the nuclear priority remains in place and North Korea’s efforts to develop missile and nuclear programs continue to proceed unchecked,” he said.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has made the so-called “Byeongjin” policy one of the country’s biggest goals, pledging to rebuild the moribund economy while forging ahead with its nuclear program.  [Yonhap]

You can read more at the link, but remember this assessment the next time you hear someone claim North Korea has a food shortage and thus need free money from the international community.