North Korea is excluding the children of single mothers from UN-sponsored vaccinations and nutritional efforts, Radio Free Asia reported in June 2020. The revelation comes as UN experts warn the coronavirus pandemic is worsening food shortages in the already hunger-stricken “Hermit Kingdom” and have asked for international sanctions to be lifted temporarily.
NORTH KOREA IS STARVING
A fatal combination of economic isolation, deforestation, and dysfunctional state rationing has left around 10 million North Koreans, approximately 40% of the population, malnourished, according to the UN World Food Program. A further 5 million North Koreans are unable to meet basic needs, such as shelter, education, and healthcare, bringing the total population living in absolute poverty to around 15 million. As a consequence, many North Koreans are unable to afford adequate food or vaccinations for their children, leading to an infant mortality rate eight times greater than neighbouring South Korea.
Although food and health care shortages are a common occurrence in North Korea’s recent history, for years the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) and the World Food Programme (WFP) have mitigated against the worst: UNICEF vaccinates around 325,000 newborns each year against tuberculosis and other diseases; while the WFP has provided around 4.6 million metric tonnes of food since 1995.
However, in 2019, North Korea suffered its worst famine in 10 years. At the same time, the country was hit by UN sanctions over its unlawful nuclear ambitions, leading to worsening economic conditions. Now the coronavirus pandemic has added to the country’s woes, stressing its already crumbling health system and stymieing trade with China, which had previously continued despite UN sanctions. Reports of panic buying and shortages of staples “like vegetables, flour and sugar” in the capital Pyongyang and of food shortages in the military, which is normally better fed than the civilian population, have begun to emerge.
RADIO FREE ASIA’S STORY
On 10 June, Radio Free Asia cited unnamed sources from inside the Hermit Kingdom, who report that UN vaccination and nutritional programmes are not reaching the children of unmarried mothers. Under North Korean law, children born out of wedlock cannot be registered. In the eyes of the regime, such children do not exist and are not afforded legal protection: they are not included on the vaccination lists provided by North Korean health authorities to UNICEF or other UN agencies. A source from South Pyongan province said “parents have turned up at hospitals… unmarried mothers pleaded with local hospital doctors to provide nutritional supplements for their babies… but they were rejected.”
The relevant law appears to have been introduced last year, but precise details are not yet available. While North Korea is a conservative and patriarchal society, where single motherhood is frowned upon, one source suggests the law is part of a broader ideological campaign: “the Kimilsungist-Kimjongilist Youth League”—the government-run youth organisation “labels single mothers as ideologically corrupt women”. UNICEF have not commented on the revelation.
WILL NORTH KOREA FACE REPERCUSSIONS?
North Korea is already facing sanctions over its nuclear programmes, although China continues to trade covertly with the country and has called for sanctions relief. The coronavirus pandemic has also lead some UN experts to call for temporary sanctions relief to avoid a humanitarian crisis in North Korea. The revelation that the regime is intentionally discriminating against the children of unmarried mothers will make sanctions relief less likely. But, the regime is unlikely to suffer further repercussions in the immediate future, with coronavirus and mounting US-China tensions absorbing most of the international community’s attention.
Samuel is a trainee solicitor and postgraduate at Cardiff University. He is active in several U.K.-based organisations campaigning on behalf of Hong Kong and BNOs. His research interests include transitional justice and the rule of law.