U.N. agency warns of food crisis in North Korea

By Jon Herskovitz

SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea faces a looming food and humanitarian crisis after a poor harvest that has caused food prices to skyrocket and supplies to dwindle, the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) said on Wednesday.

Agricultural experts in Seoul have said the shortfall, the result of flood damage last year, high commodity prices and political wrangling with major food donor South Korea, may be one of the worst since famine hit North Korea in the 1990s.

"The food security situation in the DPRK (North Korea) is clearly bad and getting worse," said Tony Banbury, the World Food Programme's regional director for Asia.

"It is increasingly likely that external assistance will be urgently required to avert a serious tragedy."

The U.N. Food and Agriculture Organisation said in late March it expects North Korea to have a shortfall of about 1.66 million metric tons in cereals for the year ending in October 2008, which would be the largest deficit in about seven years.

North Korea, which even with a good harvest still falls about 1 million metric tons or 20 percent short of what it needs, relies heavily on aid from China, South Korea and U.N. aid agencies to fill the gap.

South Korea has yet to send help this year and China, trying to stem a rise in commodity prices at home, appears unwilling to provide major assistance.

A U.N. official based in Asia told Reuters last week that North Korea was seeking international help.