Hints of Change in North Korea

http://blogs.aljazeera.com/blog/asia/hints-change-north-korea

In North Korea the legislative body the Supreme People's Assembly met for the second time this year and brought with them the winds of reform. Though the major news was extending the school age from 11 to 12 years old the major talk was about agriclutural reforms. The govenment controls most of the food supply and what the farmers grow is either taken by the govenment or sold in an auction. Naturally, this creates many problems such as over inflated food prices and as a result malnutrition for the mass population. The new leader Kim Jong-un who took over in 2011 wants to reverse the strict crackdown on private farming that his father put in place. Over one -third of their population is malnurists and they need 5 million tons of grains and potatoes to feed their people and right now they are producing only 3-4 million tons of food. As a result of this reform farmers will have more incentive to grow and thus the food supply and economy will grow as a result. This is all very interesting because this is the secind time this year that this lagislature has met this year and normally it rarley meets so as you can see change however small is happenning in North Korea. It is crazy to me that people are still hungry when I have so much to eat whenver I want its almost heartbreaking that a government would do that to its people. Now change is happening in such a bleak and horrific place, this makes me think if North Korea can change so can all of us.

Posted by Katelyn Krumreich