北朝鮮、８６万トンの食糧不足の恐れ　国連

【ソウルＡＦＰ＝時事】国連食糧農業機関（ＦＡＯ）は５日付の報告で、北朝鮮で今年、約８６万トンの食糧不足が発生するとみられ、早ければ来月から「ひどく乏しい時期」が始まると警告した。（写真は資料写真）
　核兵器・弾道ミサイル開発をめぐり国際的な制裁を科されている北朝鮮は、食糧の自給に長年苦戦し、慢性的な食糧不足に陥っている。
　昨年は新型コロナウイルスの流行に加え、夏に台風と洪水が相次いで発生したことから、北朝鮮の経済状況はさらに切迫した。政府も先月、「進行中の食糧危機」に取り組んでいると認めた。
　ＦＡＯの報告書によると、今年の北朝鮮の穀物生産量は「平均水準に近い」５６０万トンだと推定される。
　これは北朝鮮の全国民を食べさせるのに必要な量より約１１０万トン不足しており、同国は「２０万５０００トンの輸入を公式に予定」していることなどから、実際には約８６万トンの不足に直面する可能性があるという。
　報告書は不足分が「輸入か食糧援助、またはその双方で適切に穴埋めされなければ、（北朝鮮の）家庭は８月から１０月にかけてひどく乏しい時期を過ごすことになる」と警告した。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2021/07/08-11:37）

North Korea is facing a food shortage of around 860,000 tonnes this year, the UN's Food and Agricultural Organisation forecast, warning the country could experience a harsh lean period as early as next month.
The impoverished country, which is under multiple sets of international sanctions over its nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programmes, has long struggled to feed itself, suffering chronic food shortages.
Last year, the coronavirus pandemic and a series of summer storms and floods added yet more pressure on the flagging economy, and Pyongyang admitted last month it was tackling a current food crisis.
North Korea is projected to produce a near-average level of 5.6 million tonnes of grain this year, according to the FAO report, which had a reference date of Monday.
That is around 1.1 million tonnes short of the amount needed to feed its entire population, the report added, and with commercial imports officially planned at 205,000 tonnes, North Korea will likely face a food shortage of around 860,000 tonnes.
If this gap is not adequately covered through commercial imports and/or food aid, households could experience a harsh lean period from August to October, it said.
But Pyongyang shut its borders in January last year to protect itself against the pandemic, and as a result trade with Beijing -- its economic lifeline -- has slowed to a trickle while all international aid workers have left the country.
A series of typhoons last summer triggered floods that destroyed thousands of homes and inundated farmland.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has made rare references to the hardship in recent months, saying the food situation was getting tense and warning the people to prepare for the worst-ever situation.
North Korea suffered from a nationwide famine in the 1990s, which killed hundreds of thousands of people after the fall of the Soviet Union left it without crucial support.