N. Korea Begs World for Food

A rough winter, livestock diseases, and natural disasters have North Korea panhandling the international community for food. The U.N. World Food Program, which coordinates aid for the country, says it has only a month of food left, so it’s soliciting donations to ward off hunger. But that’s making for an awkward choice for world governments: many of them have sought to weaken Kim Jong Il’s regime through isolation and sanctions, but they’re also hesitant to let civilians starve to death. The U.S. says it currently has no plans to contribute. North Korea has long subsisted on food donations, and about one million citizens died during a famine in the 1990s.