Ten million North Koreans suffering severe food shortages: UN

Four in 10 North Koreans are chronically short of food and further cuts to already minimal rations are expected after the worst harvest in a decade, the United Nations said on Friday.

Official rations are down to 300 grammes - under 11 ounces - per person per day, the lowest ever for this time of year, the UN said following a food security assessment based on UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and World Food Programme (WFP) missions to the country last month and in November 2018.

It found that 10.1 million people were suffering from severe food insecurity, "meaning they do not have enough food till the next harvest," WFP spokesman Herve Verhoosel said.

North Korea's population is around 25.2 million, according to its Central Bureau of Statistics, Friday's UN report said.

Verhoosel said the word "famine" was not being used in the current crisis, but it might come to that in a few months or years. "The situation is very serious today - that's a fact."