A War Without End

As Sudan's civil war approaches its third anniversary, UN agencies sounded the alarm on Friday that conditions on the ground show no sign of improvement. Since fighting erupted between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) on April 15, 2023, approximately 14 million people—a quarter of the population—have been forced to flee their homes. Of these, 9 million remain internally displaced while 4.4 million have crossed into neighboring countries, primarily Chad, South Sudan, and Egypt.

Marie-Helene Verney, UNHCR's representative in Sudan, told reporters from Khartoum that "there is no clear progress toward any resolution." Fighting continues across large swaths of the country—the Kordofans, Darfur, and Blue Nile State—with a notable increase in aerial bombardments and drone strikes targeting civilian infrastructure "with no warnings."

Attacks on Civilians

Beyond airstrikes, serious human rights violations persist: massacres, forced recruitment, and arbitrary arrests. Women and girls face acute risks of conflict-related sexual violence, often occurring as they attempt to flee to safety. The UN human rights office (OHCHR) documented over 500 sexual violence victims in 2025 alone, while a record 11,300 civilians were killed that year, with thousands more missing or unidentified.

The World's Largest Hunger Crisis

FAO representative Hongjie Yang described the situation as not only the world's largest displacement crisis but also a hunger crisis. An estimated 21 million Sudanese now face acute food insecurity. Sudan's health system has been largely destroyed—hospitals attacked or looted, leaving the wounded and sick without care—while humanitarian access remains severely restricted.

Historical Context

Sudan's tragedy did not emerge overnight. After longtime dictator Omar al-Bashir was ousted in 2019, a power struggle between civilian transitional authorities and the military ensued. A 2021 coup derailed democratic transition, and tensions between the SAF and RSF escalated into open warfare in April 2023. The conflict quickly spread beyond Khartoum to Darfur—a region already scarred by genocidal violence in the early 2000s—raising fears of history repeating itself.

Multiple international mediation efforts, including Saudi- and US-brokered talks in Jeddah in 2023, have failed to produce a lasting ceasefire.

Outlook [AI Analysis]

With the UN officially declaring no visible path to resolution, a near-term end to hostilities appears unlikely. Both the SAF and RSF appear to favor military advantage over negotiation, suggesting the stalemate will persist.

The hunger crisis risks worsening as the rainy season approaches, compounding agricultural collapse and limiting humanitarian access. The 21 million figure could climb higher without sustained international intervention.

For South Korea, while Sudan is not a major trade partner, the ripple effects—regional instability in Egypt and Chad, pressure on UN humanitarian funds to which South Korea contributes, and indirect impacts on global food prices—merit attention. Without sustained international focus, Sudan risks becoming a "forgotten war," precisely the outcome UN agencies are working to prevent.