As a severe drought takes hold of North

Korea, it has been reported that serious damage to farms resulting from a huge

influx of seawater into the rivers of the western plains is expected. Sources

have reported that the damage to farms is increasing as seawater flows into the

rivers, whose water levels are low due to the drought.

“Recently, the huge drought that has swept

across the entire region has been severely damaging rice, corn, potato, and

other crops. In particular, the water levels in the rivers that flow through

the ‘rice bowl’ regions of South Hwanghae Province and South Pyongan Province

(including the western plains region) have been so low that a large amount of

seawater has flowed in, rendering the water completely unusable for agricultural

purposes,” a source in South Pyongan Province told Daily NK via telephone on

June 17th.

The river water, which should flow to the

sea, is 3~4m below its previous levels, leaving the entire riverbed exposed and

the ground completely dried out, she said, explaining, “Because of this, at high

tide the seawater flows back up the river several kilometers and the river has

become salinated.”

“When saline water enters

farmland, the roots of the rice plants lose their vitality and have an enormous

effect on the branches of the rice plants; as a result, the rice crops are

going bad,” she asserted, lamenting that farmers and workers have little

choice but to stand around waiting for rain.

Floodgates on rivers cutting through

Hwanghae Province and the provinces of North and South Pyongan would suffice to

effectively block the influx of saltwater, the source pointed out, but a dearth of such mechanisms has the authorities scrambling

to mobilize everyone from farmers to soldiers to mitigate damage wrought by the

drought.

This source has dealt with the deleterious

effects of the drought firsthand, and as such contended that the only viable

solution going forward is for the state to invest in floodgate infrastructure.

Temperatures in the western plains region,

which includes Pyongyang, have been rising sharply since the beginning of

spring, recently soaring above 30 degrees Celsius. Due to the heat, the rural community

support projects for rice planting have been delayed, with citizens mobilized

for the cause having a difficult time working outdoors.

“Plowing rice paddies that have already

been planted is impossible and they have already started to cut paddies that

haven’t been irrigated. Corn, potatoes, vegetables, and other crops have been

withering for a long time,” she said.

“When our country was affected by a

serious drought last year, we prepared water jugs and used those, but this year

it is more than twice as severe.”

A source in North Pyongan Province also

weighed in on the situation, noting, “Although current newspapers and

broadcasting stations are reporting that 80% of the rice planting is already

finished, our province hasn’t even completed half of the rice planting yet.

With the exception of the major producers, all of the regular farmers, lacking

water, have to use a dry planting technique where we plant rice seedlings by

digging holes in the ground with wood.”

North Korea has routinely implemented this same practice in the past during its most severe droughts.

Residents have wasted no time pointing out

the innumerable flaws of forced farming policies pushed on an innocent

population under a state consistently failing to make the necessary national

investments in agriculture, he asserted.

“The bellies of the executives are full, so

they don’t care about (farmers),” he concluded, citing one of many grievances expressed

by those toiling on the farms.