During the 1990s, North Korea was ravaged by famine, causing the death of between 500,000 and 3 million people.[1] Food shortages are ongoing today, with factors such as bad weather, lack of fertilizer and a drop in international donation meaning that North Koreans do not have enough to eat.[2] A study of North Koreans in 2008 found that three-quarters of respondents had reduced their food intake.[18] Extreme poverty is also a factor in the hunger faced by North Korean people, with 27% of the population living at or below the absolute poverty line of less than US $1 a day.[3]