North Koreans face shorter lives than they did 15 years ago and more children are dying, a UN report showed, in a sign of deteriorating health among people that have suffered chronic food shortages.
North Koreans’ average life expectancy dropped to 69.3 years in 2008 from 72.7 years in 1993, a census report by the UN Population Fund, or UNFPA. The infant mortality rate climbed to 19.3 per 1,000 children from 14.1 during the period, the report showed.
The report was posted on North Korea Economy Watch, a Web blog that carries information on North Korea and which was cited earlier by the Wall Street Journal. While the report couldn’t be found on the UNFPA Web site, the agency confirmed its contents.
North Korea has relied on outside handouts since the mid-1990s when famine caused by floods, drought and economic mismanagement is estimated to have killed about 2 million people. The country will suffer a shortfall of at least 900,000 tonnes of food this year, the Seoul-based Korea Rural Economic Institute said in a Feb. 10 report.
The country’s population grew at an average annual rate of 0.9 percent to reach 24 million in 2008, the UNFPA report showed. The proportion of children below 15 years old declined, while those 65 years old and over increased to comprise nearly 9 percent of the population, it said.
The state-run Korean Central News Agency reported on Dec. 16 the country’s population stood at more than 24 million, citing results of its 2008 census conducted jointly with the UN. The report didn’t carry further details at the time.
In other news, North Korea yesterday proposed holding military talks next Tuesday with South Korea, just days after threatening to conduct live-fire drills at the border.
Pyongyang last week designated eight coastal “firing zones” along the east and west coasts, a month after firing a barrage of artillery shells toward the western maritime border it shares with the South. However, there were no signs North Korea was moving to carry out any drills, Seoul’s Joint Chief of Staff said yesterday.
The two Koreas technically remain in a state of war because their three-year conflict ended in a truce, not a peace treaty, in 1953.
The waters off the west coast are a frequent flash point, with Pyongyang refusing to recognize the border drawn by the UN at the close of the war.
The proposed military-level talks with Seoul would focus on the two Koreas’ joint factory park in the northern border town of Kaesong.
Seoul was still considering whether to accept the proposal for talks, a South Korean Defense Ministry official said. The official spoke on condition of anonymity, citing department policy.
Meanwhile, South Korea’s navy said it would deploy eight advanced patrol aircraft as part of scheduled plans. The aircraft are armed with missiles capable of striking land-based artillery along the North Korean coast, a naval official said, requesting anonymity because of department policy.
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