Six million North Koreans are at risk of famine, a United Nations official warned Friday after a five-day tour of the country, dpa reported.
"There is a high level of malnutrition, particularly among children," said Valerie Amos, the top UN emergency relief coordinator, upon returning to Beijing from her trip.
"There are very real needs. The children are very thin," she added, noting that every third child aged 5 or less was experiencing growth problems.
She said the public food distribution system has had to halve daily rations from 400 grams to 200. There was a shortfall of about 1 million tons of wheat in this year's harvest. Normally, 5.3 million tons would be required to cover the country's needs.
One hospital has reported that the number of children being admitted with problems related to food deficiencies has more than doubled.
It was the first visit by a representative of the UN's Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs since 2002.
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