Storing Survival: Food Storage in North Korea

By: Alvin Shin, Joseph Kim

Peter Ward, “What North Korea’s inflated grain prices reveal about persistent food insecurity,” NK News, July 23, 2024.

North Korea’s agricultural industry is shaped by constant chronic shortages, harsh winters, and limited infrastructure. How food and supply is stored becomes just as crucial as how much is produced in a poverty stricken country such as North Korea. Storage methods range from state grain warehouses to buried kimchi jars and meat revealing how vulnerable the regime and its strategies for survival are. International intelligence estimates that millions of North Korean people regularly face starvation and food insecurity due to weak storage facilities making supplies highly unstable.

At a national level, grain that is farmed is stored in large silos and warehouses strictly managed and distributed by the state. These stocks funnel into the Public Distribution System (PDS), which, in theory, allocate rice and grain to political and occupational status. In reality, storage facilities are vastly lacking to modern day requirements making farmed supply vulnerable to moisture and pests. Additionally, the farmed grain is not sufficient enough to feed the population of North Korea in the first place, making outdated facilities a fraction of the real problem. FAO/WFP assessment missions assume post-harvest losses around 15% for rice and maize and another 10% for wheat and barley. For a country that grows and harvests food not even able to feed half their population, these figures are dreadful.

On cooperative farms, grain is typically dried in fields or on concrete yards before being moved into simple on-farm storage structures, wooden or masonry bins, sheds, or stacked sacks. At the household level, families receive grain rations in one or two large deliveries a year and then store them in smaller bins, cloth bags, or metal drums inside their homes. Poor families often lack cool, dry, rodent-proof space, so they face significant spoilage over time. Reports suggest that storage losses at farm and household level can make up a substantial share of total post-harvest losses, further squeezing already tight food supplies. 

Because fresh vegetables are highly seasonal, traditional Korean preservation techniques are crucial. Kimchi, fermented cabbage and other vegetables, remains one of the most important ways to store nutrients through the winter. Historically, families prepared large batches in autumn (a practice called gimjang) and stored them in clay jars (onggi) buried in the ground to keep the temperature stable and prevent freezing.  Fermentation not only preserves vegetables without electricity but also improves safety by allowing lactic acid bacteria to outcompete spoilage organisms. 

Lastly, North Korea’s food storage is not just a technical issue; it is also political. Over the last decade, legal changes have re-focused on the control of agricultural production and supply, making people’s accessibility to state stocks more dependent on their political status rather than their ability to pay. Practically, this means that modern storage facilities, better grain, and steady rations are more accessible to favoured groups, while others rely on informal markets, small kitchen gardens, and traditional preservation methods to buffer against shortages. 

Overall, food storage methods in North Korea are a combination of low-tech tradition and weak state infrastructure. Developments on basic storage, better drying, sealed bins, and reliable cold chains, could significantly reduce losses. However, as long as politics and resources constraints limit who benefits from these improvements, many households will continue to depend on simple jars, bags, and fermentation to sustain resources through lean seasons

Reference

Despite offers of international aid food security in North Korea remains critical. (n.d.). Welthungerhilfe.de - Für Eine Welt Ohne Hunger Und Armut. https://www.welthungerhilfe.org/global-food-journal/rubrics/crises-humanitarian-aid/food-security-in-north-korea-remains-critical

Grain storage Facilities - North Korean Special Weapons Facilities. (n.d.). https://nuke.fas.org/guide/dprk/facility/food.htm

Keeping food safe in North Korea, “Solar Cooler Bicycle” | The Bridge International. (n.d.). https://www.thebridgeint.com/en/projects/449/?comment=0