It appears that the expected food shortage in North Korea that One Free Korea has been reporting on in detail these last few months is in fact true:

North Korea recently asked China to provide massive rice aid for its hungry people amid a flare-up in tensions with South Korea, a news report said Friday.

Pyongyang has also decided not to request rice and fertilizer aid from South Korea until Seoul moves to improve ties, the report by the vernacular daily Hankyoreh said.  [Hankyoreh]

Hankyoreh says that the North Koreans are blaming the current tensions with South Korea for the request.  This "massive" food request explains why the North Koreans probably inflamed tensions in the first place, to use the spat with South Korea as cover for their food request from China.  I would think the Chinese would meet any food aid demands from North Korea because the last thing the Chinese government would want is a famine going on in North Korea which would spill refugees into China during the Olympics. 

Make sure to read One Free Korea’s latest posting which explains how the worsening food situation is causing rising dissatisfaction with the regime and North Koreans are even beginning to speak out without fear of the government repressing them.  This is a significant because it is a sign that the regime is loosing control along the periphery of the country.  Will it lead to collapse, probably not because I expect China to give them the rice aid, however it is just another sign of the slow decay of the regime that will collapse one day.  The big question is whether South Korea and America will be ready to react when it does.

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