North Korea Experiences Drought; Plans to Bolster Rocket Plans
North Korea is now experiencing a prolonged drought that has been affecting the entire nation. Despite that, North Korea is still engaging actively with their rocket plans thus bolstering their nuclear deterrent.
Drought in North Korea
North Korea is experiencing one of the worst droughts in its history. If this unusual weather would still persist, it can be the driest May for the western coastal areas in the past 50 years. The Korean Central News Agency also gave a warning to all North Korean citizens that the "drought is expected to worsen" in the coming days.
In line with this, the Rondung Sinmun newspaper is experiencing people from workers to government employees to help farmers as they struggle with this kind of weather. In their website, they highlighted about the possible cause of drought stating that "The fight against drought is a race against time. All sources of water must be developed and used efficiently." Though no official tally has been released, there are reports stating that many have died due to this extreme weather condition.
North Korea has been experiencing famine and hunger for the past years and this extreme weather condition has made the country's state even worse.
Nuclear Efforts in Korea
Though drought is becoming a major concern in North Korea, the country is still persistent regarding its nuclear projects. The reason behind this is due to the "hostile policy" that the U.S. has against North Korean. A spokesman from the North Korean Foreigncy Ministry released a statement regarding this stating "We had access to nuclear deterrence for self-defense because of the hostile policy of the U.S. to stifle the DPRK by force and we will expand and bolster it nonstop as long as this hostile policy goes on."
North Korea has previously conducted two nuclear tests despite the objection from UN and other countries. Many people believe that a third nuclear test would be devastating and could lead to dire consequences both for North Korea and the rest of the world.