North Korean Regime Acknowledges Food Problems

Kim Jong Il's regime has acknowledged problems feeding its people, South Korea's Unification Minister Kim Ha Joong said as the government in Seoul tries to organize the delivery of 50,000 metric tons of food aid to North Korea. “They have said that, yes, they are experiencing some difficulties, but not to the level of large scale famine-related deaths,'' Kim told reporters in Seoul.

Aid agencies are warning that North Korea may experience a repeat of food shortages [as per] the mid 1990s. The United Nations warned in April of a "potential humanitarian crisis'' in North Korea and the World Food Programme last week asked the government in Seoul to provide food aid to the nation of 23 million people.

The regime is diverting more than 90 percent of international food aid to the military in order to maintain its grip on power, defectors told reporters in Seoul yesterday.

[Bloomberg.com]