People starving to death in NKorea: aid group
Updated
A South Korean aid group says some people have starved to death in North Korea's latest food crisis.
South Korea's Good Friends organisation says its sources report famine has hit remote rural towns in the province of South Pyongan.
It says local government officials fear hunger may cause a large number of deaths by starvation in the province and elsewhere, unless the government takes urgent action and resumes suspended food rations.
The group says suicides and crimes driven by hunger have increased sharply across the country.
Good Friends says the prices of staple foods have almost tripled over the past year despite a clampdown to stop the rapid rise.
The United Nations World Food Program says time is running out to avert a humanitarian tragedy due to acute and worsening food shortages.
