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BEIJING: Hungry North Koreans, and especially children, face a "critical" food situation as donations have dried up amid the country's nuclear standoff with the world, the UN's food aid agency has said.
Torben Due, the World Food Programme's (WFP's) representative in North Korea, said the agency also had been told by the government there to scale back its operations, without being given a specific reason.
"It is a very serious problem for the population in the DPRK (North Korea) as they do not have enough to eat," Due told reporters.
He said the agency, which launched an emergency operation late last year amid a deteriorating food outlook, has had to pare back its original goal of reaching 6.2 million of the hungry to just 2.27 million.
"For adults it doesn't mean a lot if you live for a few months on a diet of cereals and vegetables but for children it is critical," he said.
"We see an increase in the number of children being admitted to hospitals with severe malnutrition," he added, while stressing that observation was based on anecdotal evidence and could not yet be quantified or verified.
An escalating standoff over North Korea's nuclear programmes spiked on May 25 when it carried out its second nuclear test, followed by further missile launches, which resulted in new UN sanctions.
"We have not really received any contributions after the nuclear test was carried out," Due said.
The WFP will now operate in only 57 counties in six provinces, compared to 131 counties in eight provinces previously, Due said.
The North suffered a severe famine in the 1990s which killed hundreds of thousands. Poor weather was blamed but analysts said the inefficient command economy also played a large part.
Since then it has relied on overseas aid to feed millions of its people.
However North Korea in March refused to accept further food aid from the United States amid an escalating standoff over the country's nuclear programme.
- AFP/yt
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