North Koreans are Starving. Shouldn't We Do Something?

The U.N. World Food Program just visited North Korea and found desolation. More than 10 million people, or roughly 40 percent of the country, suffer from “severe food insecurity,” meaning they don’t have enough food to eat until the next harvest. Official rations are at 300 grams of food daily, and many people subsist on a diet of rice and cabbage. The U.N. diplomatically blamed weather conditions. A U.S. State Department spokeswoman more accurately criticized Pyongyang for exploiting and neglecting its own people “in order to advance its unlawful nuclear and weapons program,” and added that North Korea could feed its people if it chose.

As if to underscore the State Department’s point, on Friday night Pyongyang conducted its first known missile test since November 2017. Pyongyang spends obscenely on its military while its people starve. The State Department correctly blames North Korea’s government for the suffering of its citizens. And so where does that leave the American government and the American people?