DENVER – Meet any Korean of a certain age, and you will learn about barley season, which begins in February and stretches through the cold months of early spring until the first of the winter barley crop is harvested. Few South Koreans remember those straitened months anymore, but for North Koreans, hunger in the countryside during this time of year is very real.
发自丹佛——如果碰到那些上了年纪的朝鲜半岛居民，你就有机会了解到一些关于“麦荒”的故事。这场饥荒一般从每年二月开始，一直延续到早春最冷的那几个月份，直到秋（播）大麦收获时才告终结。如今只有极少数韩国人还记得那段艰难的时光，但对朝鲜人来说，农村地区在这一时节的饥饿感却是实实在在的。