Red Cross: Famine has spread to government officials

November 10, 1998

SINUIJU CITY, North Korea (CNN) -- The impact of North Korea's famine, soon entering its fourth winter, has now spread to government officials who stretch their meager food rations by mixing them with grass and acorns, senior Red Cross officials said Tuesday.

"The situation is critical," said Astrid Heiberg, president of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. She and other Red Cross officials returned to Beijing after spending several days inspecting the aid agency's operations in North Korea.

They described elderly North Koreans looking swollen, a sign of long-term hunger, and a generation of children whose growth has been stunted, causing 10-year-olds to look like 6-year-olds and 5-year-olds like 2-year-olds.

"A generation of North Korean children is scarred for life, malnourishment is common and we need to continue to mobilize resources to prevent an even greater catastrophe," Heiberg told reporters.

Despite the enormous scope of the problem, the isolated communist country shows little willingness to adopt far-reaching changes to revive its ruined economy, said Margareta Wahlstrom, the Red Cross' undersecretary of disaster relief.

'Cattle food' making people sick

Everywhere, from bakeries to government ministries, people were being served noodles and biscuits made from soybeans mixed with acorns, grass and herbs, Heiberg said. She likened the additives to "cattle food," and noted that doctors reported a rise in stomach illnesses from the mixtures.

Some of the substitute food mixtures contain only 50-percent-digestible grains, Heiberg said.

"You would not give them to your children or your elderly mother, knowing she would get cramps in her stomach and diarrhea."

Heiberg urged the international community to continue its fight against starvation in North Korea, saying even well-heeled officials were underfed.

"This was not something done in just one place; there were factories that produced it," she said, emphasizing the widespread lack of food throughout all levels of society.

Floods and drought

Floods and drought since 1995 have devastated North Korean agriculture. Its industry has ground to a halt, along with international trade, leaving the once fiercely self-reliant country dependent on handouts from other countries.

With few goods or money to barter or buy supplies from other nations, the country lacks sufficient fertilizer for crops, and fuel and parts for machinery.

International aid agencies expect the grim situation to continue, because the 1998 grain harvest is likely to reach just 3 million tons, or two-thirds of North Korea's minimum need.

About 4.5 million tons of grain are required to feed North Korea's 20 million people, according to the United Nations' World Food Program.

At a hospital, beds for 10 but only food for 3

Heiberg said the food shortage has led to a breakdown of the country's health care system. Hospitals are unable to feed patients, many of whom suffer from stomach ailments because of the coarse food substitutes.

"What impressed me the most was a small hospital in the countryside that had 10 beds, but only food for three patients," she said.

"So they only had three patients in the hospital even if the demand in the area was great. This again underlines the need for food."

Heiberg said the Red Cross will nearly double its aid to health institutions in the country next year to $9 million. The money will be used for basic medicines, heating coal and essential repairs to hospital buildings.

The federation also was considering plans to bring food to the hospitals it was assisting.

Beijing Bureau Chief Rebecca MacKinnon, the Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.