Re: Info guerillas

[Michael Hoover <hoov@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

> The land of NK is barren compared to that of Cuba or Vietnam.
>
> Dennis R Redmond wrote:
> > On Wed, 26 Apr 2000, Louis Proyect wrote:
> > > roots of wild plants." If you read most of the post-famine reports, you'd
> > > never guess that the desperate acts were a function of natural catastrophe
> > > mixed with economic isolation brought on by the collapse of the USSR and
> > > western sanctions.
> >
> > The Cold War has been over for a decade now. Vietnam is now a net rice
> > exporter, Cuba has turned the corner and China continues to boom, while
> > North Korea clearly needs outside food aid. This suggests something
> > important about these respective governments, no?
> > -- Dennis
> --
> Michael Perelman

North Korea is more mountainous than South Korea, has only about 15% of
land suitable for agricultural use compared to SK's 25%, has less
favorable soil quality than South, and has colder climate less
suitable to agriculture.

Despite SK's larger population and more fertile arable land, NK was
more successful in crop production until floods & draughts in mid-to-
late 1990s.  NK's per capita production of rice was higher than
South's and agricultural sector was considered efficient (albeit
with heavy use of chemical fertilizers).  North Korea used to
export considerable amount of agricultural production.

NK has never been particularly good at fishery and livestock production.
Prior to floods & draughts, visitors to North Korea pointed out that
basic food needs of general population were met even as they noted there
was little diversity in its diet.    Michael Hoover