Explainer: This top Irish charity is working in North Korea... and it has been for 19 years

'People are stunted because they don’t get enough nutrition as children. The physical work that they do every day is enormous'

Women farmers in work team 2 using the new mobile paddy thresher, Pungsan Co-farm, Tongchon County, Kangwon Province). Photograph by Project Officer

Solar water pumping station newly constructed in Pungsan Ri, Tongchon County, Kangwon Province- Photograph by Project Officer

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thumbnail: Women farmers in work team 2 using the new mobile paddy thresher, Pungsan Co-farm, Tongchon County, Kangwon Province). Photograph by Project Officer
thumbnail: Solar water pumping station newly constructed in Pungsan Ri, Tongchon County, Kangwon Province- Photograph by Project Officer
Cathal McMahon

An Irish charity worker has spoken of her fears that the current international crisis surrounding North Korea could lead to further food and fuel shortages in the region.

Concern Worldwide is one of only six international aid agencies working in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), also known as North Korea, and it has been there for almost 20 years.

Their work in food production and water provision is helping over 60,000 people every year. However this is now being put in jeopardy as tensions continue to mount between US President Donald Trump and North Korea’s leader Kim Jung Un.

Bríd Kennedy, regional director with responsibility for the DPRK, explained that she has visited the country eight times in the last decade.

Bríd Kennedy

“In recent times as more and more sanctions are applied the access to fuel is getting more difficult. Fuel is now very expensive in the region.

“That is fuel for transport and cooking.

It is a country with extreme temperatures and as we approach winter that fuel is crucial for heating homes.

Ms Kennedy said she hoped that "calm rhetoric" would prevail and that the charity would be able to continue their good work in the region.

Farm Manager, Pak Yon Chun of Anbyon Up-farm, DPRK. Photograph by Concern Worldwide

Asked how Concern came to be one of only six international agencies in North Korea, Ms Kennedy explained that it stems back to 1998 when a cyclone struck the country.

North Korea was already going through a crippling famine and the then leader Kim Jong-il - father of the current leader - was forced to open the secretive state to international aid agencies.

Irish charity Concern was one of the first in and it has remained there ever since.

Ms Kennedy first visited the country 10 years ago and she explained that the differences between then and now are astonishing.

Local farmers watering and planting rice fields in Unpa county in DPRK - photo by Noel Molony

“In 2007 it would have been a 20 minute journey from the airport to the compound where Concern is based. At that point we met one point we met one car.

“Last year, when we did the same journey, we met vehicles everywhere.”

Asked to explain why she thought this was, Ms Kennedy responded: “Some of it is that the markets have opened up and more vehicles allowed in. Some people are simply better off and able to afford vehicles.”

Telecommunications networks have also vastly improved.

“Mobile phones were only allowed into the country for the first time four to five years ago and now everywhere has access to them.”

Despite these improvements Ms Kennedy said the problems of mass poverty and hunger in the region still exist.

The country has 22 million people and much of its land mass is taken up with a major mountain range that stretches along the spine of the country.

Only 20pc of land is arable and that makes it difficult for North Korea to be self sufficient from a food perspective.

This means that whatever farming land they do have needs to be cleverly managed but this isn’t easy in a country where many suffer from hunger and where they have only limited access to farm machinery.

Ms Kennedy explained: “You see groups of people out everywhere working physically.

“People are stunted because they don’t get enough nutrition as children. You see a lot of short short people.

“The physical work that they do every day is enormous. Because of restrictions on importing goods there are no machines so a lot of the work is done manually or with rudimentary machines.”

She said the physical differences between people living in the DPRK and those in South Korea are “stark”. “People in South Korea are much taller and healthier.”

There is a high infant mortality rate in North Korea and life expectancy is significantly less than the south.

Concern primarily works in the Hwanghae and Kangwon regions where their programmes focus on improving food production and supplying safe water.

Their three international and 10 national staff members train people in these regions in sustainable food production and improved farming techniques.

“Our programmes also supply food processing equipment to the cooperative farms so that they can process their crops into nutritious and easily digestible foods like popped maize or soy noodles.”

Concern works closely with the government in the region and is assigned a liaison officer by the regime.

Ms Kennedy said: “Over the years there has been a lot of trust built up. We discuss plans with the government and they say where priorities are and where they need programmes.”

As an NGO they do not get involved in politics or government affairs. Ms Kennedy is slow to criticise the government and insists they have seen no human rights offences in North Korea.

“Concern’s primary mandate is to help people in countries where there is massive poverty. It is a country with massive poverty. Many of these countries are poor because of poor governance. “DPRK is not the only country with poor governance. Concern would not be following our mandate to address extreme poverty if we were to leave the region.”

You can support Concern's work in North Korea by donating here