North Koreans in the rice belt of starvation

South Korea: Food shortages worsened, even in the belt southwest of North Korean rice and some residents have died of hunger there, a newspaper based in Seoul online Monday. "Because of the worsening food shortages this year, there were reports of people dying of hunger, even in the South and North Hwanghae provinces," a Daily NK journalist told AFP, referring to agricultural heart the country.

Six people - children or the elderly - have died in one village in the county Shingye after authorities released an emergency supply of only one or two kilograms 2.2-4.4 pounds) of corn to each household, the newspaper said.

He quoted another source as saying that about 10 people had died of hunger on each collective farm in and around the coastal city of Haeju by April, following shortages in late winter.

Good Friends, a support group based in Seoul, also said on its website that a famine has continued to claim victims throughout South Hwanghae. The Hwanghae Steel Mills some workers had died because the food rations stopped, he said.

The Ministry of Unification, which manages the affairs southern border said he had no information.

AFP