The entire countryside had a strong odor from the "night soil," or human waste, used as fertilizer.
North Korea's souring relationship with South Korea is a major problem. The conservative new government in Seoul this year withheld a planned shipment of 300,000 tons of fertilizer. Moreover, prices for fertilizer on the private market have skyrocketed because China closed many of its production facilities in its northeast to clear the air for the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.
In addition, China has enacted heavy export taxes on fertilizer and grain to prevent inflation at home during a period of worldwide economic instability.
At the same time, North Korea's rigidly Communist regime has banned the sale of grain on the private market. The government has also restricted private market activity with rules prohibiting women younger than 40 from working in that sector, on the theory that they should instead be working in state jobs.
Reporters driving through Nampo in a van were forbidden to take photographs until they had passed through the center of town. North Korea, which follows an ideology based on self-sufficiency, has long played down the extent to which it is dependent on foreign aid to feed the population.
North Koreans say that the food situation is improving and that a good harvest is expected this autumn, as a result of improved weather conditions. The last two years were disastrous because of heavy flooding.
"There was a problem before, but it is getting better. We expect a bumper harvest," said Choe Jong Hun, an official of the Committee for Cultural Relations With Foreign Countries.
North Korea experts, however, are skeptical. "One good harvest is not really going to alter the picture," said Stephan Haggard, a UC San Diego professor who has written widely on the North Korean famine.
The World Food Program and the U.S. aid organizations are providing food for the most vulnerable, including children and pregnant women. A U.S. ship carrying more than 27,000 tons of bulk corn and soy is slated to arrive in Nampo within days.
International agencies have been trying to raise money to expand their food aid to the general population. Many urban North Koreans are dependent on food rations, which have dwindled to 150 grams a day, or a little more than 5 ounces.
Even in Pyongyang, one can see signs of scarcity behind the facade of what is supposed to be a showcase capital. Foreign residents say they have seen homeless children in the last few months -- a notable sight in a totalitarian country where nobody is supposed to wander away from their legal residence.
At the 82-foot-high statue of the nation's founder, Kim Il Sung, a delegation of soldiers looked well-dressed in their uniforms as they approached with a bouquet of flowers.
But when the men bowed down to show their respects, their pants hitched up just enough to reveal that many had no socks.
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demick@latimes.com
