It’s an article of faith among North Korea’s critics that the regime can’t feed it’s own people, and that its problems with food insecurity are among the worst internationally.

But what if what they know just isn’t so?

Hazel Smith, professor of Resilience and Security at Cranfield University in the United Kingdom, has some startling statistics on public health in North Korea that suggest the regime might not be as exceptional as you’d otherwise think.

For one, the rate of severe malnutrition in the North, at 5 percent, is in fact significantly lower than the 17 percent average in Asia.