Little children were so hungry that they went out eating poisonous azalea flowers, a common ornamental garden plant. It does make one wonder whether they were just extremely hungry because of widespread starvation due to food shortages, or whether perhaps it might be a form of suicide because they can't stand going hungry all the time. Children in North Korea died after eating azalea flowers in Daehongdan County. In Sambong Middle School, 9 students were dead from azalea poisoning. Adults know what to eat and what not, but young children can’t tell and just put anything in their mouths because they are hungry. After eating three or four potatoes, they are still hungry and they run up to the mountains and pluck anything to eat. This spring, they ate fistful of azalea petals several times and they died of poisoning. Chang Mi-oak says, ‘They pick basketful of azalea petals and eat them, but if they eat too much at one time, it causes stomach spasms. If they eat them when their stomach is empty, they will die foaming in their mouth. I suffered stomach spasms when I ate azalea. Adults like me cannot control hunger; it is needless to say in case of children.’ Lee Sung-ja says, ‘I warn my older child everyday. The older one would not do, but my younger one may eat flowers while I am not around. So whenever they go out together I admonish the older one, ‘don’t let your brother eat flowers’ several times. My older one tells me that many of his classmates die and asks me, ‘Mother, what can I do?’ It pains me greatly. Children who have no parents die so easily.’ North Korea Today No. 154 Jun 2008
We should do food drops with American flags all over them, along with blankets and shoes. We should encourage them with leaflets filled with propaganda to overthrow their tyrants. Hershey bars for the kids and a pack of smokes for the adults. I don't know how that could be accomplished. Any plane would be shot at. A missile carrying them could start a nuclear war. I guess they would have to be packed in from Russian territory with their permission? I don't know. Those NoKos in charge are nutty.
