North Korean drought - 북한의 가뭄

  With food experts predicting a possible famine in North Korea as a result of prolonged drought, Unification Minister Hong YP told the National Assembly that the government stood ready to cooperate with Pyungyang in tackling the emergency. The entire Korean Peninsula has been hit by a drought this year as aresult of El Nino weather phenomenon and Pyongyang last month said that it was experiencing the worst drought in 100 year. In a statement by official Korean Central News Agency, North Korea said that some 30 percent of rice paddies around the country were drying up. While some Western observers dispute the claim that it is the "worst drought in 100 years," the fact that the North is going through a period of severe drought is well corroborated by meteorological observations and a field inspection by an international group led by U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization. 

  The U.N. represnetatives visiting the breadbasket region of North Hwanghae and South Hwanghae provinces on June 10 said that potato, wheat, and barley harvests could fall by 50 percent in areas hit by the drought. The FAO said that rainfall in 2014 and early 2015 was far below normal, causing wells and reservoirs to dry up. While there isn't enough information to say whether people are starving or not, the situation is serious, according to an FAO official. The third year of drought may indeed just send the country over the brink in term of food security. The Unification Minister, a few days before KCNA's statement on the severe drought, estimated that the North's grain production may drop by as much as 20 percent from 2014 if drought continues through early July.

 

1) famine [^|fӕmɪn] : 기근.  cf. die of famine.  War and famine bring devastation to a country.

2) rice paddies : (벼를 심어놓은) 논

3) go through (~ hard time) : (힘든 시기를) 겪고 있다.

4) corroborate[kə^|rɑ:bəreɪt] : (흔히 수동태로) 진술을 뒷받침하는 증거나 정보를 제공하다

5) meteorological [mì:tiərəlɑ́dƷik(əl)] : 기상관축으로

6) wheat 밀,  barley[^|bɑ:rli] 보리

7) reservoir [^|rezərvwɑ:(r)] : 저수지, 급수장