North Korea runs short of ingredients for winter kimchi supplies | Hacker News Reader

North Korea runs short of ingredients for winter kimchi supplies

theguardian.com

54 pointsfisherjeff28 comments

This is just a reminder of how much stuff we take for granted due to international trade. While one country's supply of something could be all but wiped out it is "unlikely" that several countries will lose their supply.

So while we do definitely see price increases, they aren't often in the order of a 100% increase as is this case.

Random question: How much can/do NK import from China? Is their ability to import limited by financials or has China limited food imports?

PS - I feel bad for the NK people. Nobody should literally starve. Unfortunately international aid is unlikely, charities are unlikely, and importing foods from non-China/Russia is extremely unlikely.

I don't know how much they import from China (probably a lot, as you say, they have poor relations with very few other nations), but I do know some charities operate in North Korea and often come in through China. A twist is that many of these charities are operated by churches, which often leads to their running afoul of authorities in both countries (but mainly North Korea).

But don't worry about the Kim family - they won't lose a kilo.

Kim Jong-un is probably the only person in his nation who is seriously at risk of type 2 diabetes.

There is actually a growing middle class - the Donju - earning money through the black market. They certainly have enough resources to (over)feed themselves - and buy expensive electronics.

As for the larger population, while most of the country still suffers from food shortages, starvation is not the problem it was in the 90s.

See for example: http://uk.reuters.com/article/2015/06/04/uk-northkorea-chang...

Didn't they switch to Kimograms? His grandpapi invented the unit, I believe.

I hate to say it, but crises like these are going to be what pushes North Korea to reach out for help. They are slowly pissing off their closest allies, and it won't be long before they at least have to play by the same rules as (China, Russia, etc) who at least pretend.

Back in the mid-1990s they went through a four-year-long famine called the "march of suffering" in which somewhere between hundreds of thousands and several million people starved to death (see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Korean_famine). Nobody really knows how many died.

But the regime is still there, you know? The North Korean people are so thoroughly indoctrinated not even an apocalyptic famine could shake them. I'm not sure exactly how bad things would have to get to pierce that level of belief.

Hopefully internet and mobile phones change some of that.

They've gone through quite a few of these before, though. I feel really bad for the North Korean people. I wish I had some way to give the innocent victims of this regime good food.

I don't know what it would take to solve this, though.

I also feel very bad for the North Korean people, I am really hoping that the efforts in South Korea to educate the North Korean people is paying off. North Korea has always been bad, but never this bad. There has got to be a breaking point.

I doubt it, the ruling families are a-ok, and since they're absolutely worshiped, I doubt they give a damn...

Only if there is some kind of coup. Kim Jong Un is not going to contaminate the good thing he has going just because some people are dying from starvation.

Given the importance of kimchi to most Koreans of either stripe, this might very well spell the end of the Kim dynasty.

..the Kim dynasty controls the weapons...

Isn't cabbage actually pretty inefficient food anyway?

As far as I remember it takes a lot of energy to digest it, barely leaving a positive balance.

Fermenting it improves digestibility. As does cooking it.

Thanks, but then again I guess it removes some nutritional value and buffs it up with water.

Fermented foods are generally thought to be quite nutritious due to the benefits from the added bacteria.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/on-parenting/post/ferme...

For an average four-person family, a minimum 350kg of cabbages and 200kg of radishes are required during kimjang. A winter’s supply of the fermented cabbage dish also requires 3kg of garlic and 18kg of salt.

350kg/4people = 87.5kg/person 87.5kg/person / (0.25*365days in a season) = 0.96kg/person per day

That's actually quite a lot (granted I'm assuming the "season" is 1/4 of a year, and at that latitude it could be longer).

For the hell of it, that 200kg of radishes is another 0.55kg/person per day. ~3 pounds of low-caloric food per day might be plenty.

cabbage: 250 calories per kg radish: 160 cal per kg

That's not enough calories to sustain sedentary life in nice weather. It is, however, enough vitamin C to prevent scurvy, and enough of several other vitamins to keep you from other deficiencies. You still need 1-2 thousand calories from some other source.

Interesting, that's ~$120 to feed a family of four for the winter. I apparently need to re-think my budget.

>At Chongjin’s Sunam Market, 1kg of cabbage now goes for 3,000 North Korean won ($0.35)

Anybody knows where that exchange rate came from?

"Though the official won-dollar exchange rate is about 130 won to $1, the source said that the unofficial (or black market) rate is closer to 7,300-1." ( 2014 )

http://www.nknews.org/2014/09/black-market-cash-the-real-val...

Appears to be very off. xe.com has it at 3,000 KPW to about 22.49 USD[1]

[1] http://www.xe.com/currencyconverter/convert/?Amount=3000&Fro...

That's probably an official exchange rate, with the currency being much weaker unofficially.

I'm reasonably sure that you could not buy cabbages in the United States for that price/pound. From what I remember when I still had a garden, you'd be a little pressed to buy seed to grow cabbage that cheaply.

http://www.thepacker.com/vegetables/cabbage/commodity-pricin... says that bulk price for cabbage is around $0.26-30 per pound, so your grocery store is in fact buying it wholesale cheaper than North Koreans are paying retail.

California agriculture is a scientific miracle.

That headline ... #nottheonion

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