10 million North Koreans face food shortages after bleak harvest

2018 harvest was the smallest in a decade amid dryness: UN FAO

About 10 million North Koreans — 40 percent of the population — are in urgent need of food assistance after heat and drought crippled last year’s harvest, according to the United Nations.

The country collected about 4.9 million tons of food crops last year, the least in a decade, after a prolonged dry spell and limited agricultural inputs cut yields, the agency’s Food and Agriculture Organization said in a report. Post-harvest losses are also expected to mount as fuel and electricity shortages crimp crop transportation and processing.

North Korea is under economic sanctions amid pressure for it to abandon nuclear weapons and