About the Author
James Fretwell
James Fretwell is a writer based in Seoul, South Korea. He was an analyst at NK News, and he has often discussed the two Koreas in interviews on the BBC, ABC News Australia, Deutsche Welle and elsewhere.
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Analysis Why North Korea may be on the brink of another deadly ‘Arduous March’ famineSanctions, flooding, COVID-19 and other 2020 conditions look eerily similar to what caused the devastating 1990s famine Economically stunted, battered by natural disasters and lacking foreign aid, today’s North Korea looks a lot like the North Korea of the mid-1990s — a time of famine known as the “Arduous March.” North Korea was already struggling under the Trump administration’s “maximum pressure” sanctions regime, and it’s now under further stress due to COVID-19. The DPRK claims it has zero cases of the virus as of July 30, but the country remains sealed off from the outside world in order to prevent it from spreading. © Korea Risk Group. All rights reserved. |