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North Korea food shortages critical in places
Parts of North Korea are experiencing their worst levels of hunger in nearly a decade, the UN World Food Programme said on Wednesday.
- Agencies
- Published: 10:46 July 30, 2008
- Flooding and poor harvests have caused North Korea's worst food crisis since the late 1990s.
- Image Credit: AP
Beijing: Parts of North Korea are experiencing their worst levels of hunger in nearly a decade, the UN World Food Programme said on Wednesday.
Jean-Pierre De Margerie, the World Food Programme's (WFP) country director, said that a food security assessment conducted last month showed the situation in parts of the country could deteriorate into a humanitarian emergency ahead of the autumn harvest.
"What is critical for us is to be able to address the immediate needs,'' De Margerie told reporters in Beijing.
Particularly in the northeast of the country, hunger is the worst it has been since the late 1990s when famine killed an estimated 1 million people, De Margerie said.
The WFP called on international donors to provide urgent assistance over the next few months, and contribute to the $20 million needed to enable the WFP to expand its food distribution.
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