How are the North Koreans coping?

“A Korean Table Without Kimchi?”
It is difficult to imagine a Korean meal without kimchi. Koreans would even say that a bowl of steamed rice and well-fermented kimchi would make a good meal without any additional side dishes. Although kimchi is regarded as side dish while the rice is thought as the staple food, kimchi is almost like a main dish to Koreans who eat it every time. North Koreans call kimchi ‘a half-year food,’ reflecting that they consider it as a main dish.
The present edition delivers news on many North Korean people suffering from running out of kimchi that they made and stored last year. Those who barely eat rice sip salt-added water instead of kimchi, while somewhat better off families occasionally eat kimchi just as they eat steamed corn meals. Meanwhile, those who are much better off or official’s families eat four to five kinds of kimchi at every meal. In the food culture with more than 200 kinds of kimchi, whether you can afford kimchi or not now defines your social class and wealth.

People Eat Meals with Boiled Salt Water Soup as Kimchi Runs Out
Many households ran out of Kimchi, which is considered a half year long food. Families who can have Kimchi until June are considered very affluent. Those who are able to have 4-5 kinds of Kimchi such as Napa Kimchi, Chae-Kimchi, or Kakdugi are families of high ranking officers, judges, and money holders. Most families ran out of Kimchi last February. Even though fresh vegetables are beginning to come to market, many families can only afford salted radish. Poor families cannot even afford a piece of Kimchi. The only side dish they can have is soybean soup or salt-added water soup. Ko, Sunduk (alias) who sells household goods in Chaeha market, Sinuiiju, North Pyungan Province said, “It is not that I cannot afford Kimchi at all. It depends on how much I sell for the day. If the sale of the day is good, I can buy a small amount of cucumbers, Napa, or radish and make kimchi. Those who have salt-added water soup are really poor people, and for those who can have 1- 2 meals a day, like us it is not that bad.” She meant her situation is somewhat better than those who eat salt-added water soup, but that does not mean that she eats sufficiently nutritious food.