Rome - Drought and a tidal wave have snuffed out the faint hope that North Korea might be able to increase food production this year, UN agencies said yesterday.
They said the latest natural disasters, which followed two years of devastating floods in North Korea, would almost certainly reduce the 1998 harvest, too.
"Guarded optimism expressed earlier for some recovery in food production this year is now replaced by very serious alarm at food security prospects for the coming months and year ahead," the World Food Programme said. - (Reuter)