Fast Held to Publicize Hunger in North Korea

Community groups and student organizations staged a one-day fast and candlelight vigil Wednesday to shed light on the plight of millions of people in North Korea they fear will become victims of an imminent famine.

Members of the Campaign to Stop Famine in North Korea and their supporters fasted in a parking lot near the corner of Olympic Boulevard and Vermont Avenue.

“We are doing this to give hope to people in North Korea,” said spokeswoman Alyssa Kang, who predicted hard times in North Korea for years to come.

Today’s food for those who fasted will consist of roots, leaves, tree bark and other seemingly inedible things, Kang said. The effort is to show solidarity with the estimated 24 million people in danger of the feared famine, she said.

Two years of floods in North Korea have destroyed half of the nation’s food supply, washed out bridges and damaged hospitals, schools and other vital infrastructures, organizers said.