Leftovers, such as cabbage stalks, are ground with wheat to make noodles that offer little nutrition. We still see malnutrition. His account gives a rare glimpse into the Stalinist society, which has suffered famine for six years. Drought and flood in 1995, plus a legacy of decades of communist mismanagement and the loss of Soviet subsidies, have brought economic collapse. Conditions have improved since the darkest years of 1996 and 1997, but Mr Morton said food will be a problem until North Korea finds a way to revive its economy.
Humanitarian aid is only a safety net.
The World Food Program, a UN agency, supplied more than 800,000 tonnes of food to North Korea last year. Most went to feeding six million children in about 80per cent of the country. Mr Morton said children and pregnant women had suffered most from famine. Almost two-thirds of North Korean children are too short for their age. Health care is poor, with drugs scarce and a power outage that left hospitals without heat for most the winter.