N. Korea faces food shortage of over 1.2 mln tons this year: unification minister
SEOUL, Feb. 18 (Yonhap) -- North Korea faces a food shortage of 1.2 million to 1.3 million tons this year due to damage from last year's heavy downpours, the unification minister said Thursday.
Minister Lee In-young made the remarks during a plenary session of the diplomacy and unification committee at the National Assembly, attributing the cause of the increasing food shortage to damage from flooding and typhoons in the North last year.
"If we add the 200,000 to 300,000 tons (from the typhoon damage) to the approximately 1 million ton annual shortage, we can estimate the North's food shortage," he said.
North Korea was hit hard by flooding prompted by back-to-back typhoons from July to September last year, which experts presume to have devastated large swaths of farming areas and further accelerated the North's chronic food shortage problem.
julesyi@yna.co.kr
(END)
-
N. Korea fires ballistic missile toward East Sea: S. Korean military
-
N. Korean propaganda outlets slam S. Korea-U.S. amphibious exercise
-
Actor Yoo Ah-in appears for questioning over alleged drug use
-
(LEAD) S. Korean police search for 2 Kazakhstanis who fled airport
-
(URGENT) N. Korea fires ballistic missile toward East Sea: S. Korean military
-
Five years after its full nuke armament claim, N. Korea's threat becomes real, further complicated
-
(News Focus) S. Korea grapples with calls for nuclear armament
-
Talk of 'normalizing' GSOMIA raises hope, skepticism around Seoul-Tokyo ties
-
S. Korea, U.S., Japan close ranks amid growing N.K. threats
-
N. Korea says month-old virus crisis under control, but skepticism lingers