North Korea: Food shortages threaten 'an entire generation of children'

Eye-witness encounters and secret reports back up reports of widespread malnutrition in North Korea. "Widespread under-nutrition threatens an entire generation of children," said Tapan Mishra, the UN resident coordinator in North Korea. North Korean food production in 2018 fell to its lowest level for over a decade, according to the United Nations. An estimated 11 million North Koreans - nearly 44% of the population - are undernourished.

"Not too long ago I met a North Korean refugee family in China. Their children were the ages of my children at the time – nine and six – or so it seemed. I couldn't have been more wrong. They were 14 and nine. But their growth was stunted because they had been malnourished their entire lives."

This eyewitness report from an Open Doors source is a graphic demonstration of the food shortages in North Korea.

North Korean food production in 2018 fell to its lowest level for over a decade, according to the United Nations. An estimated 11 million North Koreans - nearly 44% of the population - are undernourished.

"Widespread under-nutrition threatens an entire generation of children," said Tapan Mishra, the UN resident coordinator in North Korea. His statement is backed up by Open Doors sources.

"From a region we cannot disclose we received a report that the prices of food products continue to rise," said an Open Doors regional expert. "A large portion of the harvest goes directly to the government and what remains is too little for most people to survive."

Where the UN cannot reach

Mr Mishra added that the UN had been unable to reach hundreds of thousands of people it planned to help.

Which makes it even more remarkable that, with your support, Open Doors secret workers are smuggling in enough food to keep 60,000 believers alive in North Korea. And it’s not just food – there is also medicine, illegal Bibles and Christian literature to nourish the soul.

"You take care of our North Korean underground church organisation and church believers," said one secret believer. "Your continuous and massive support helps our North Korean believers to be strengthened to fight at the frontline of the Christian battles."

Your support is bringing hope to tens of thousands of North Korean Christians.

And with a generation at risk, your help is needed more than ever.

• Every £59 could provide a monthly relief pack to keep a North Korean family alive during the freezing winter.