Kyodo (Hat Tip DPRK Studies)
6/1/2007
China, North Korea’s major food supplier, exported roughly the same amount of grain to the country in the first four months of the year as it did a year earlier, according to recently released Chinese customs figures.
China’s January-April exports of maize, rice and wheat flour to the country totaled 55,446 tons, up 0.6 percent from the same period in 2006, according to the figures.
When compared to 2005, exports were down 66.7 percent.
The World Food Program warned earlier this year that the food shortage in North Korea is worsening.
While North Korea has faced a chronic food shortage, the shortfall had been made up in the past by multilateral aid channeled through the WFP as well as bilateral shipments from countries such as China and South Korea.
But external food aid has gone down recently, leaving the North with a huge food deficit.
China does not explicitly reveal its food assistance to North Korea, and analysts rely on export figures to assess the amount of aid Beijing gives Pyongyang.
