North Korean famine

Arduous March (고난의 행군)
Country	North Korea
Location	national
Period	1994–1998
Total deaths	240,000 to 3.5 million
Observations	Economic mismanagement, natural disasters,collapse of the Soviet bloc, military-first policy
Relief	food and humanitarian aid (1994 – present)
Consequences	Militarization of economy; spread of limited market activity; food aid from South Korea, China, United States, Japan and the European Union

North Korean famine
Chosŏn'gŭl	고난의 행군
Hancha	苦難의行軍
Revised Romanization	gonanui haenggun
McCune–Reischauer	konanŭi haenggun

The North Korean famine (Hangul: 북한기근), which together with the accompanying general economic crisis are known as the Arduous March (Chosŏn'gŭl: 고난의 행군) in North Korea, occurred in North Korea from 1994 to 1998.

The famine stemmed from a variety of factors. Economic mismanagement and the loss of Soviet support caused food production and imports to decline rapidly. A series of floods and droughts exacerbated the crisis. The North Korean government and its centrally planned system proved too inflexible to effectively curtail the disaster. Estimates of the death toll vary widely. Out of a total population of approximately 22 million, somewhere between 240,000 and 3,500,000 North Koreans died from starvation or hunger-related illnesses, with the deaths peaking in 1997. Recent research suggests that the likely number of excess deaths between 1993 and 2000 was 500,000 to 600,000.

The term "Arduous March" became a metaphor for the famine following a state propaganda campaign in 1993. The Rodong Sinmun urged the North Korean citizenry to invoke the memory of an apocryphal fable from Kim Il-sung's time as a commander of a small group of anti-Japanese guerrilla fighters. The story, referred to as the Arduous March, is described as "fighting against thousands of enemies in 20 degrees below zero, braving through a heavy snowfall and starvation, the red flag fluttering in front of the rank."

As part of this state campaign, uses of words such as 'famine' and 'hunger' were banned because they implied government failure. Citizens who said deaths were due to the famine could be in serious trouble with the authorities.

The great famine, known in North Korea by the officially mandated code words konanŭi haenggun (The Arduous March), was a central event in the country's history, forcing the regime and its people to change in fundamental and unanticipated ways.

Only about 20% of North Korea's mountainous terrain is arable land. Much of the land is only frost-free for six months, allowing only one crop per year. The country has never been self-sufficient in food, and many experts considered it unrealistic to try to be.

...
Wikipedia