{"id":123944,"date":"2026-08-18T23:33:17","date_gmt":"2026-08-18T23:33:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/123944\/"},"modified":"2026-08-18T23:33:17","modified_gmt":"2026-08-18T23:33:17","slug":"north-korea-releases-reserve-grain-to-hungry-farm-workers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/123944\/","title":{"rendered":"North Korea releases reserve grain to hungry farm workers"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Truck<\/a>A truck loaded with crates hauls produce past greenhouse tunnels and orchard rows at the Yonpho Greenhouse Farm. Rodong Sinmun reported July 6, 2026, that the farm’s vegetable output is helping improve the diet of Hamhung and South Hamgyong province people. (Image: Rodong Sinmun-News1)<\/p>\n

North Korean authorities urgently released state reserve grain<\/a> to farms in South Hwanghae province, the country\u2019s principal grain-producing region, after a growing number of farm worker households struggling to find food caused a sharp drop in farm attendance.<\/p>\n

According to a source in the province, the Cabinet, the administrative body that oversees North Korea\u2019s economy, issued an emergency directive on Aug. 8 ordering farms in South Hwanghae province to release state reserve grain and immediately supply a 10-day food ration to farm worker households facing shortages.<\/p>\n

The directive followed reports that a growing number of farm workers in the province had run out of food entirely<\/a> and could not manage even one proper meal, causing attendance to plunge and disrupting crop management, according to the source\u2019s account.<\/p>\n

\u201cSouth Hwanghae is called the nation\u2019s rice bowl, but the very people farming the land had completely run out of food, to the point where they couldn\u2019t come out to the fields, and some were on the verge of starving to death, so the authorities hurriedly opened the reserve warehouses,\u201d the source said. \u201cThat\u2019s how serious conditions have become for farm workers.\u201d<\/p>\n

Most of the food supplied this time consisted of substitute staples such as recently harvested potatoes, corn, wheat and barley rather than rice, the source said. Authorities also sent each farm detailed distribution guidelines specifying the amount to be supplied per household and the method of payment.<\/p>\n

Farm workers in South Hwanghae have expressed some relief that they can stave off immediate hunger, but they have also voiced disappointment that the supply amounts to only 10 days\u2019 worth of food and consists of substitute grains rather than rice. \u201cAmong the farm workers, people are asking how they\u2019re supposed to hold out again until autumn,\u201d the source said.<\/p>\n

Concerns over this year\u2019s harvest<\/p>\n

North Korean authorities\u2019 decision to urgently release state reserve grain appears driven by concern that continued departures of farm workers due to food shortages, at a moment when crop management is most critical ahead of the fall harvest<\/a>, could seriously damage this year\u2019s grain production.<\/p>\n

The assessment is that a drop in farm worker attendance would directly translate into a drop in this year\u2019s harvest, prompting the emergency measure.<\/p>\n

More farm workers appear to be returning to the fields since the food was supplied, but a 10-day supply is unlikely to resolve the underlying food shortages facing farm worker households.<\/p>\n

\u201cFarm officials are using this 10-day food supply as leverage to send farm workers back out to the fields, but it remains to be seen how enthusiastically the workers, who have only barely filled their stomachs, will work going forward,\u201d the source said.<\/p>\n

Read in Korean<\/a><\/p>\n

Reporting from inside North Korea<\/p>\n

\n Daily NK operates networks of sources inside North Korea who document events in real-time and transmit information through secure channels. Unlike reporting based on state media, satellite imagery, or defector accounts from years past, our journalism comes directly from people currently living under the regime. We verify reports through multiple independent sources and cross-reference details before publication.\n <\/p>\n

\n Our sources remain anonymous because contact with foreign media is treated as a capital offense in North Korea \u2014 discovery means imprisonment or execution. This network-based approach allows Daily NK to report on developments other outlets cannot access: market trends, policy implementation, public sentiment, and daily realities that never appear in official narratives.\n <\/p>\n

\n Maintaining these secure communication channels and protecting source identities requires specialized protocols and constant vigilance. Daily NK serves as a bridge between North Koreans and the outside world, documenting what\u2019s happening inside one of the world\u2019s most closed societies.\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A truck loaded with crates hauls produce past greenhouse tunnels and orchard rows at the Yonpho Greenhouse Farm.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":123945,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[15623,6105,2593,31,34,30718,17669,6103],"class_list":["post-123944","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-north-korea","tag-distribution","tag-farming","tag-food-shortages","tag-korea","tag-north-korea","tag-rations","tag-south-hwanghae-province","tag-workers"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/123944","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=123944"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/123944\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/123945"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=123944"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=123944"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=123944"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}