South Korea's rice supply exceeds demand, North Korea faces poor harvest

At a time when the South Korean government is fretting about how to solve the problem of oversupply of rice, North Korea is facing its worst crop failure in decades.

South Korean rice production this year is 1.5% higher than last year, reaching 4.91 million tons, according to data released by the South Korean government yesterday. In order to keep rice prices stable, the Ministry of Agriculture has agreed to buy 710000 tons of rice from local farmers.

An Agriculture Ministry official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, pointed out that South Korea currently has strategic rice reserves of 840000 tons.

As South Koreans began to eat more vegetables and meat, local demand for rice also declined and hit a low in 2007.

In the past, the South Korean government shipped 400000 tons of rice and 300000 tons of fertilizer to North Korea every year. However, the current conservative government has stopped providing such aid to North Korea since it came to power last year, and South Korea is hoarding more and more rice.

Experts say the bad weather has damaged the production of rice and corn in North Korea, and the local food shortage is likely to become more serious in the coming years.

Good Friends, a South Korean welfare organization, points out that North Korea is facing the worst crop failure in decades.

There was a great famine in North Korea in the 1990s, causing thousands of people to starve to death. Since then, North Korea has been dependent on foreign food aid.

The head of the organization said that local food shortages and famine have attracted more and more attention. But he doesn't think the famine of the 1990s will happen again, because many North Koreans know how to deal with such a crisis.

He was referring to the fact that locals used to rely on government food rations, but now they are starting to buy food from the private market.