One-third of N. Koreans face famine

The North Korean government has been exhausted and the starved North Korean population is left with no energy to mount a resistance, said Le Figaro daily of France Tuesday. The newspaper quoted World Food Program representative in Pyongyang, David Morton, to report that one-third of North Koreans faces famine.

According to him about two million residents perished in the wake of nationwide starvation in 1995 and 1996 and in rural areas children and aged people are out in the hills foraging for edible plants and gleaning in the fields. He said food situation was the worst last winter since 1998 and it is running short of 1.8 million tons of grain until the coming harvest in autumn. That amount is only 30 percent of the minimum required to feed the North Korean population. Morton said a daily ration of 200 grams per person is possible until early May with food aids given by other countries and international organizations. The remaining stock would be exhausted by that time, and no more provisions would be available after that time except for some ``alternative foods.``

Yonhap