North Korea has problems.
Huh:
North Korea has ordered its local war reserve rice supplies released [for a price] to reduce hunger and avoid starvation deaths between now and September, when the next harvest comes in. The local war reserve rice is meant to feed, for 90 days, the local militia. These are former soldiers organized into military units and armed with older infantry weapons and ammunition stored in local armories. Both the food reserves and armories are guarded 24/7 by police and party volunteers. Local Workers Party officials are in charge of these food reserves and armories. Given the growing incidence of corruption among local officials, release of the local rice reserves will reveal if that has included plundering those rice reserves for personal gain.
I assume this means there is a war reserve supply earmarked for the army.
Still, the situation isn't good even with that reserve. I was only half joking when I've mentioned that South Korea should build lots of malls and grocery stores south of the DMZ on the roads to Seoul. No North Korean invasion force will maintain momentum and cohesion as troops stop to loot and eat.
But North Korea has long had problems. Another food shortage, a looming harvest shortfall, the Xi Jinping Flu, and even a slave labor shortage haunt the ruling elites. How crucial is this latest series of problems?
Or will the North Koreans simply steal the global aid the UN has organized for North Korea, and live to abuse its people and threaten foreigners another day?
