It has been confirmed that North Korea is seeking to import 200,000 bags of rice from India. It is unusual for a large amount of rice to be imported from a third country other than China, and attention is being paid to whether it has anything to do with the North Korean food crisis that has been raised in recent months. Reporter Ham Ji-ha reports.
The situation in which North Korea is promoting the import of Indian rice was confirmed through the ‘ship arrangement guide’ delivered to officials in the shipping industry recently.
According to the ship arrangement notice obtained by VOA, that is, the notice issued by the shipper to find the ship, the shipper is in the process of transporting 10,000 tons of rice from Vizag Port in eastern India to Nampo, North Korea.
10,000 tons of rice will be transported in the form of 50 kg sacks, and the expected departure date was announced between September 25 and 30.
If 10,000 tons of rice are distributed by 50 kg, it is calculated that the number of rice sacks to be transported by ship is regarding 200,000.
Considering that the concept of one bag of rice is generally used for 10 to 20 kg, the amount of brewed rice that North Korea promotes imports ranges from regarding 500,000 to 1 million. It means that we are regarding to import a small amount of rice.
An official from the shipping industry told VOA on the 28th in relation to this notice, “We are not using ‘short grain’ that North Korea normally consumes, but ‘long grain’ produced in India, Pakistan, Egypt, Vietnam and Thailand. They seem to want to import,” he said.
He also explained that the area around the port of Bishakapatnam, the port of departure, said, “It is a ‘monsoon’ period until the end of September.
As of now, there is no specific information regarding the company or institution that promotes the import and export of the rice.
North Korea may be importing a large amount of rice through general companies, but at the same time, the possibility of humanitarian food aid from the Indian government or international aid organizations cannot be ruled out.
An official from the shipping industry said, “In the case of humanitarian food aid to North Korea, the name of a publicly trusted institution or organization such as the ‘World Food Program (WFP)’ is written on the first line of the notice. to block it,” he said. However, he added that “the name of the institution is not listed in this notice.”
It is unusual for North Korea to import large amounts of rice from a third country other than China. Therefore, attention is focused on whether it stems from the food shortage that has been raised in recent months.
Earlier, in the ‘Crop Prospects and Food Situation Quarterly Global Report’ released last month by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), North Korea was redesignated as a country in need of external food aid.
According to the FAO, the food security vulnerability of North Koreans is further exacerbated by a significant decline in imports of essential agricultural products and humanitarian goods as economic restrictions increase due to measures to control the global spread of the novel coronavirus, the FAO said.
He added that North Korea’s below-average precipitation between April and May was disrupting crop harvesting activities in 2022.
North Korea also imported large amounts of rice from China last month.
As a result of VOA examining detailed data on ‘North Korea-China trade’ from the General Administration of Customs of China, North Korea imported regarding 10,000 tons of polished rice worth US$5,155,500 from China in July.
This is the largest monthly import in 2 years and 10 months since imports of US$7.79 million worth of rice from China in October 2019.
It is also noteworthy whether the Indian rice purchased or supported by North Korea can actually go to North Korea.
In general, when a ‘ship arrangement notice’ is distributed to the shipping industry, shipping companies or charterers who rent vessels all over the world make a bid for the shipper, and then the shipping opportunity is returned to the ship with the best conditions.
However, it is reported that many shippers who recently posted a ‘ship arrangement guide’ with North Korea as the departure and arrival destination gave up shipping because they might not find the vessel.
This is because of concerns that, if caught up in controversy over violating sanctions once morest North Korea, they may be detained for a long time until the investigation is over, or that the vessel may be refused entry to a UN member state, including the shipping country.
In fact, in 2019, Dongtan, owned by a Vietnamese company, received North Korean coal from the North Korean ship Wise Ernest, but has been floating in the open sea for regarding 7 months due to government refusal to enter the port.
At that time, it was reported that the Dongtan had participated in the bid through the ‘ship arrangement notice’ without realizing that the coal in question was from Bukhan.
The shipping industry has estimated that the Dongtan suffered a loss of at least $2 million, at a rate of $10,000 per day, due to the refusal of each country to enter the port.
In addition, some countries, including South Korea, are implementing their own sanctions that refuse to enter ports for six months for ships from third countries that call North Korea.
This means that even vessels involved in legal transport cannot carry cargo to and from South Korea for at least six months if they call in North Korea.
However, an expert in the shipping industry said, “As cargo is food, there is little chance that the ship will fail,” he said.
This is Jiha Ham from VOA News.
