Elderly people in North Korea are reportedly being forced to sell their beer ration coupons in order to pay for food in times of severe scarcity.
Pensioners in need of food are using beer ration coupons distributed by the regime to supplement their meager $0.12 monthly state pensions, according to sources.
Every six months, twelve $1.20 coupons are distributed to allow the bearer to purchase approximately four pints per month.
“Now in the third consecutive year of the Covid-19 pandemic, the hardships of the residents are high, but the living conditions among the elderly are even worse,” a Pyongyang resident told RFA’s Korean Service. “Most of them are struggling to earn money for food.
“You can see the elderly who are old and weak selling beer tickets to earn money near the Taedonggang Beer Bar.” Taedonggang is North Korea’s most popular beer.
‘The scale of the food deficit is absolutely massive.’
The rationing system, which could be exchanged for alcohol, was revealed in a 2018 documentary on North Korea by actor Michael Palin, and was said to be contributing to a nascent pub culture at the time.
However, the reclusive country has been hard hit by the pandemic, punitive international sanctions, and natural disasters, all of which have exacerbated pre-Covid-19 food insecurity problems.
Prof Hazel Smith of the School of Oriental and African Studies’ Centre for Korea Studies told The Telegraph last month that the current level of food insecurity was comparable to the 1990s famine.
“The scale of the food deficit is absolutely enormous,” she said. During the North Korean famine of 1994 to 1998, also known as the “Arduous March,” an estimated 240,000 to 3.5 million people died of starvation or hunger-related illnesses.
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