Politics using people as pawns.

"How sanctions, weather and a bad harvest have left North Koreans without enough to eat" PBS NewsHour 6/20/2019

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  In North Korea, hunger is pervasive, and medical supplies are inadequate, in part because of U.S. and U.N. sanctions.  While China and South Korea are offering humanitarian assistance, U.S. officials fear aid would be usurped by the government rather than distributed among the people who need it.  But as Nick Schifrin reports, conditions in the world’s most isolated country are only worsening.