WORLD NEWS MARCH 6, 2019 / 2:02 AM / UPDATED 18 HOURS AGO

U.N. warns of worst food harvest in North Korea in a decade

Hyonhee Shin
4 MIN READ

SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea’s food production last year fell to its lowest level in more than a decade as natural disasters hit the country already under crippling international sanctions over its weapons program, the United Nations said on Wednesday.

North Korea has for decades been grappling with chronic food shortages in the face of a dysfunctional state ration system and international sanctions imposed over its nuclear and missile programs.

Last year, Pyongyang called for an “all-out battle” against “an unprecedented heat wave” and its mission to the United Nations in New York last month warned of a food crisis.

A prolonged heat wave, along with typhoon and floods has taken a toll on food harvest, which posted a 9 percent drop from 2017 to the lowest level in more than a decade, the United Nations said.

Margareta Wahlstrom, president of Swedish Red Cross, told Reuters after her visit to the North late last year that maize yields fell more than 30 percent from average levels in some areas and rice prices would likely rise this year, aggravating food security.

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