North Korea: Suffering in silence

Index Number: ASA 24/001/2004
Date Published: 19 January 2004
Categories: Asia And The Pacific, North Korea

For more than a decade, North Korea has suffered from a "silent famine" in which hundreds of thousands are reported to have died of starvation and related illness. One of the main reasons is that the North Korean government has imposed severe restrictions on independent monitors, food donors, international governmental organisations and NGOs.