Asia

Democratic People’s Republic of Korea

2002

mission start date

national staff

expatriate staff

2002

mission start date

national staff

expatriate staff

Context

North Korea was one of the first countries to close its borders when the COVID-19 pandemic broke out in China. The country’s economy, based mainly on its agriculture and trade with China, has been heavily impacted by the health crisis.

The country regularly faces phases of food shortages, caused both by the strong climatic variations alternating between droughts and floods, but also because of its political situation. Indeed, the international community imposes economic sanctions on North Korea, mainly because of its nuclear activity and ballistic missile launches.

18 million people, or nearly 70 per cent of the population, currently depend on food distributions from the regime, which obtains food from the country’s collective farms. The latter are subject to a quota policy whose objective is to rationalize all agricultural production.

Our approach
Description of the mission

Present in the country since 2002, Première Urgence Internationale is one of the few non-governmental organizations (NGOs) authorized to carry out humanitarian and development programs in North Korea. Historically present in the health sector, the association has focused since 2007 on food security, nutrition, water, hygiene and sanitation and support to education.

Until 2020, the NGO focused on local production and food processing at the scale of collective farms and households, to develop their food and economic resilience in the face of climatic shocks and during lean periods.

The reopening of borders following the COVID-19 pandemic is still not envisaged, making any further intervention by Première Urgence Internationale in North Korea in the immediate future uncertain.