1. The following are excerpts from a Reuters news report by Michelle Nichols, dated 22 February 2019, under the headline "North Korea warns of food crisis, slashes rations before next leaders' summit".
(Begin excerpts)
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - North Korea has warned that it is facing a food shortfall of some 1.4 million tons in 2019 and has been forced to almost halve rations, blaming high temperatures, drought, floods and United Nations sanctions in a memo seen by Reuters on Thursday.
The release of the undated two-page memo by the North Korean mission to the United Nations comes ahead of a second summit next week between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on denuclearization of the Korean peninsula.....
The United Nations estimates a total of 10.3 million people - almost half the population - are in need and some 41 percent of North Koreans are undernourished, Dujarric said.
Along with extreme weather, the North Korean memo also blames U.N. sanctions for restricting the delivery of farming materials and hindering fuel supply for the agricultural sector....
Humanitarian aid nearly ground to a halt in 2018 as the United States stepped up enforcement of U.N. sanctions, even though the Security Council North Korea sanctions committee has said sanctions “are not intended to have adverse humanitarian consequences for the civilian population.”
“While Security Council sanctions clearly exempt humanitarian activities, there have been unintended consequences on humanitarian operations,” Dujarric said.... (End excerpts)
Source: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-northkorea-sanctions-un-idUSKCN1QA2X9
https://www.history.com/news/north-koreas-devastating-famine
2. Donald Trump wants China to buy large quantities of agricultural products to address trade imbalances. Due to high cost of living and labour in the US, American goods are too expensive for the majority of Chinese.
Like the restaurant customer in the following political satire of mine, China will discover to its horror that it has no absolute freedom to do whatever it likes with the US goods even though it has paid the US with hard cash.
Despite the brotherly Sino-DPRK ties which were once labelled “as close as lips to teeth”, China could be helpless in easing the food shortfall in North Korea even if it has surplus US agricultural products because the US will punish any country for not complying with the UN sanctions.
3. The following are excerpts from my "Political Satire: The Old Man of the Mountain (22)" at https://politicalfray.com/threads/political-satire-the-old-man-of-the-mountain-22.7919/
(Begin excerpts)
Narrator: In the midst of their argument, a waiter rushed in to alert the restaurant owner that a customer had given away his packet of takeaway meal to a beggar woman and her son outside the restaurant. Still holding his bottle of liquor, the restaurant owner staggered out with the waiter to punish the "troublemaker".
Having footed the bill, the priest followed them to find out what was happening. Outside, they saw a young man standing beside a beggar woman who was feeding a small boy with food from a small bowl. The restaurant owner reproached the young man for giving away his takeaway meal to the beggars.
Restaurant owner: You are not supposed to give, not even sell, my restaurant food to beggars.
Young man: This woman beggar and her son were kneeling and crying when they begged me to give them some food as they had not eaten for the whole day. Don't you, as a human being, treat your fellow countrymen with compassion and respect?
Restaurant owner: I repeat, don't give or sell MY restaurant food to beggars, especially in front of my restaurant.
Young man: What? YOUR food? It's MINE after I bought it from your restaurant. Why can't I have the freedom to do whatever I like with something that I have purchased? The takeaway meal belongs to me, not you, after I paid for it with my own money. Can I claim that the money which I have paid to you still belongs to me?
Restaurant owner: My restaurant is first rate in this region. Its patrons include the prince, the mayor, government officials, celebrities and tycoons. What will be the impact on my restaurant’s business and prestige if they know beggars are eating the same food as them? What will be the impact on my restaurant’s business and prestige if they think the food sold here is too “low class” for their consumption? You are doing irreparable damage to my restaurant's business and prestige.
Narrator: In the midst of the argument, the waiter told his employer that he suddenly recalled seeing the young man winning a fighting match last year to become the new martial art champion of the principality.
Restaurant owner: I have long cherished an ambition to be the top fighter in the principality. Hence I am glad to learn that you are the new kung fu champion. Let us cross the road to the field over there to settle the score. We shall find out whose kung fu will win, my “drunken fist” or your “snake fist”.
Narrator: As the two men went over to the field to settle the score, the priest went around the town in search of lodging for the night. On the way he could not help thinking: "It's unsettling to learn that the goods you purchase won’t belong to you but to others instead." (End excerpts)
(Begin excerpts)
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - North Korea has warned that it is facing a food shortfall of some 1.4 million tons in 2019 and has been forced to almost halve rations, blaming high temperatures, drought, floods and United Nations sanctions in a memo seen by Reuters on Thursday.
The release of the undated two-page memo by the North Korean mission to the United Nations comes ahead of a second summit next week between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on denuclearization of the Korean peninsula.....
The United Nations estimates a total of 10.3 million people - almost half the population - are in need and some 41 percent of North Koreans are undernourished, Dujarric said.
Along with extreme weather, the North Korean memo also blames U.N. sanctions for restricting the delivery of farming materials and hindering fuel supply for the agricultural sector....
Humanitarian aid nearly ground to a halt in 2018 as the United States stepped up enforcement of U.N. sanctions, even though the Security Council North Korea sanctions committee has said sanctions “are not intended to have adverse humanitarian consequences for the civilian population.”
“While Security Council sanctions clearly exempt humanitarian activities, there have been unintended consequences on humanitarian operations,” Dujarric said.... (End excerpts)
Source: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-northkorea-sanctions-un-idUSKCN1QA2X9
https://www.history.com/news/north-koreas-devastating-famine
2. Donald Trump wants China to buy large quantities of agricultural products to address trade imbalances. Due to high cost of living and labour in the US, American goods are too expensive for the majority of Chinese.
Like the restaurant customer in the following political satire of mine, China will discover to its horror that it has no absolute freedom to do whatever it likes with the US goods even though it has paid the US with hard cash.
Despite the brotherly Sino-DPRK ties which were once labelled “as close as lips to teeth”, China could be helpless in easing the food shortfall in North Korea even if it has surplus US agricultural products because the US will punish any country for not complying with the UN sanctions.
3. The following are excerpts from my "Political Satire: The Old Man of the Mountain (22)" at https://politicalfray.com/threads/political-satire-the-old-man-of-the-mountain-22.7919/
(Begin excerpts)
Narrator: In the midst of their argument, a waiter rushed in to alert the restaurant owner that a customer had given away his packet of takeaway meal to a beggar woman and her son outside the restaurant. Still holding his bottle of liquor, the restaurant owner staggered out with the waiter to punish the "troublemaker".
Having footed the bill, the priest followed them to find out what was happening. Outside, they saw a young man standing beside a beggar woman who was feeding a small boy with food from a small bowl. The restaurant owner reproached the young man for giving away his takeaway meal to the beggars.
Restaurant owner: You are not supposed to give, not even sell, my restaurant food to beggars.
Young man: This woman beggar and her son were kneeling and crying when they begged me to give them some food as they had not eaten for the whole day. Don't you, as a human being, treat your fellow countrymen with compassion and respect?
Restaurant owner: I repeat, don't give or sell MY restaurant food to beggars, especially in front of my restaurant.
Young man: What? YOUR food? It's MINE after I bought it from your restaurant. Why can't I have the freedom to do whatever I like with something that I have purchased? The takeaway meal belongs to me, not you, after I paid for it with my own money. Can I claim that the money which I have paid to you still belongs to me?
Restaurant owner: My restaurant is first rate in this region. Its patrons include the prince, the mayor, government officials, celebrities and tycoons. What will be the impact on my restaurant’s business and prestige if they know beggars are eating the same food as them? What will be the impact on my restaurant’s business and prestige if they think the food sold here is too “low class” for their consumption? You are doing irreparable damage to my restaurant's business and prestige.
Narrator: In the midst of the argument, the waiter told his employer that he suddenly recalled seeing the young man winning a fighting match last year to become the new martial art champion of the principality.
Restaurant owner: I have long cherished an ambition to be the top fighter in the principality. Hence I am glad to learn that you are the new kung fu champion. Let us cross the road to the field over there to settle the score. We shall find out whose kung fu will win, my “drunken fist” or your “snake fist”.
Narrator: As the two men went over to the field to settle the score, the priest went around the town in search of lodging for the night. On the way he could not help thinking: "It's unsettling to learn that the goods you purchase won’t belong to you but to others instead." (End excerpts)
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